Elf Express is a holiday-themed game for physical education. Elves need to work together to get their sled to move and collect all of the toys that fell out of Santa’s bag! Will they be able to gather all of the presents and deliver them to each chimney in your neighbourhood?
The teacher sets up a play area with six buckets, the chimneys, scattered throughout it. The class is divided into three to six teams, each assigned a colour. Each student is given a hula hoop in their team colour, and teams line up in sleigh formation with every player standing inside their hoop. Each team is then given six beanbags, the toys, in their colour.
Work with your team to move your sleigh around the neighbourhood and be the first to deliver a toy to each chimney in town.
Make sure that the distance between the hoops is never so great that students need to jump from one hoop to the other (landing on a hoop can cause it to slide).
Builds allow you to increase the game's complexity, one layer at a time.
Santa's elves are getting ready for the big night. Can you and your team work together to move your sleigh as fast as you can?
Set up the play area, divide the class into teams, and distribute the hoops. Each team forms their sleigh line behind one of the end lines.
On the teacher's signal, teams work together to move their sleigh across the playing area toward the opposite end line.
The first team to get their entire sleigh, meaning every hoop, across the opposite end line wins the race.
Repeat this build a few times so that different students get to experience being the first and last player on the sleigh.
Santa hit some turbulence and the toys fell out of his bag. Can the elves gather them all up in time?
Scatter beanbags throughout the playing area, with an equal number per team using the team colours. Each team forms their sleigh line behind one of the end lines.
On the teacher's signal, teams work together to move their sleigh across the playing area toward a dropped toy.
Once at the toy, the first player in line may pick it up, as long as they do not step outside their sleigh.
The goal of this round is to gather all of the toys in your team's colour before the end of the round, with the teacher setting the timer.
If a player steps outside of their sleigh, they lose one of the toys they gathered and the teacher places it in a new open spot.
The elves have gathered all of the scattered toys. Can they deliver them to each house in time?
Scatter buckets, the chimneys, throughout the playing area. The number of buckets should equal the number of beanbags per team used in the previous build.
Each team forms their sleigh line behind one of the end lines with their toys in hand.
On the teacher's signal, teams work together to move their sleigh across the playing area and visit a chimney. Once there, they may place a toy inside it. Teams may only place one of their toys in each chimney they visit.
The goal is to be the first team to deliver a toy to each chimney in town.
If a team drops a toy or a player steps outside of their hoop, the teacher takes the toy and places it in an open space. That team must go and gather it before it can be delivered.
Print the game sheet, leave it on your desk, and your sub has everything they need: the diagrams, the builds in order, what to say, and what to watch for. This one is $4. #PhysEdU Plus members get all 39, free forever, for $49 a year.
Games that build on the same tactics.
