Setting: DPA
Season: Winter
Activity Goal
Participants engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity in an outdoor winter environment to enhance their fitness and overall health and wellness. Participants reflect on ways to be active in winter and engage others in activity to build a habit of engaging in outdoor activity throughout the year.
For participant safety, please review the contents of the Beyond the Walls: Safety Considerations page for information on Safety Standards, Winter Safety Considerations, and Outdoor Playing Areas and Surfaces.
Equipment
Cones or pylons
Before Play
- Review the safety rules and activity instructions with participants prior to the activity.
- Use cones to establish a beginning line (winter) and an end line (spring) in the activity space.
During Play
- Explain to participants that the objective of this 'Simon Says' inspired game is to travel through winter to reach spring by following what winter tells them to do. If participants move towards spring without winter’s command beginning with “Winter says…”, they must return to the beginning of winter (the start line).
- Have participants practice the locomotor skills they will use when responding to “winter’s commands”:
- Hop like a snowshoe hare 3 times - participants hop forward 3 times
- Complete 4 skate strides to cross the ice - participants mimic 4 skate strides forward
- Cross country ski for 5 strides - participants stride forward 5 steps
- Toboggan down the hill for 6 seconds - participants sit down and scoot across the snow 6 times
- Freeze like an icicle - participants freeze in any position they choose
- Shiver and shake to warm up for 5 steps - participants shake their body as they take 5 steps forward
- Have participants line up on the winter line.
- Call out the different winter commands, reminding participants that if the command starts with “winter says” they follow it. If it does not, then they remain still.
- Monitor participants’ actions as they move toward spring or return to the start of winter.
- After a participant has crossed into spring, invite them to call out commands as other participants continue to travel toward spring, or have them return to the start.
After Play
Use the following prompts for participants to reflect on ways to be active in winter and engage others in activity to build a habit of participating in outdoor activity throughout the year.
Question prompts:
- What did you enjoy about this activity?
- Notice how you feel before, during and after physical activity in the outdoors. How can participating in DPA outside in winter affect how you are feeling?
- How can the changes in your feelings affect other activities you have at school or at home?
- How can you use this activity with friends or family to encourage them to stay active outdoors in winter?
Adaptations
Consider these tips to maximize the challenge and the fun for participants.
- Invite participants to create additional commands that reflect winter activities or a winter environment.
- Invite participants to change the rules (e.g., rather than returning to the start line, they move the required number of steps back toward the start line).
- Have participants adapt this game to use it during other seasons.
Modifications
Consider these tips to maximize inclusion and fun for all participants.
- For participants with reduced mobility, have them decide on the movement they will use to respond to the winter commands.
- For participants who depend on accessible playing surfaces, play the game on a smooth surface, free of obstacles. Consider ways to slow down the movement so that all participants can be successful and engaged.
- To include participants who have challenges with physical tasks, invite all participants to think of a way to modify the game where it can be played in a smaller playing area with limited movement.