Extreme sports! (extended version)

The Government’s latest School Sports Survey found that 90 per cent of children in partnership schools participate in at least two hours’ high quality sport a week. With this in mind, Davies Sports linked up with All Souls’ RC Primary School in Salford to showcase a selection of fun activities aimed at keeping young children active in the playground. This involved a Year 1 class with different abilities and interests competing using a variety of simple resources.

Warm up with Top Gear!

It’s really important that children understand they must warm up and cool down their bodies before and after active play. This fun, simple warm up is the perfect start to get their little engines running!

The children were first invited to find a space and sit down. The teacher said, Have you ever heard someone starting the engine of an old car? The car may not start first time and then it will need to run for a little while to warm up the engine before it can drive away. She then went on to explain that the children were going to warm up their bodies by playing Top Gear.

The children were asked to pretend they were driving a car, while listening to the teacher’s instructions: first gear is slow walk; second gear is fast; third gear is jog; fourth gear is run! Reverse is moving backwards slowly, while ‘brake’ is freezing on the spot. Children were encouraged to gradually move from one gear to another, so their bodies warmed up and their joints loosened.

The Magic Moment

Aim

Children are encouraged to use observation skills and judgement in a variety of situations.