Setting: DPA
Season: Winter
Activity Goal
Participants engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity in a 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
- Hoops
- Pinnies
- Pool noodle
- Pylons
- Scarves
Before Play
- Establish the boundaries for the designated play area and share them with participants.
- Review rules of play and relevant safety standards with participants.
- The objective of this activity is for teams to free their teammates who have been tagged by using their bodies to create winter images they notice around them, or are common in winter (e.g., tree branch shapes, a snow formation, winter geese flying, leaves stuck in a schoolyard fence, icicles hanging from a roof).
- Identify the ‘it’ participants by having them wear a pinny. Communicate to all participants that a tag is a touch on the back or arms, and not a punch, push, slap, or grab.
- Provide time for teams to create their image with their bodies.
- Before starting the game, provide teams with practice by scattering about the play area. On your signal, participants move quickly to gather with their teammates and create their image.
During Play
- The “it” participants chase the other participants within the playing area. When the participants who are “it” tag another participant, their team members move quickly to create their team image, which frees up the tagged participant.
- Teams hold their image for five seconds. Teams cannot be tagged when forming or holding their image and have five seconds to scatter after the five-second image hold.
- Invite other participants to be “it”, having the “it” participant join the team of the new participant who is “it”.
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 engaging in outdoor activity throughout the year.
Question prompts:
- What are some of the challenges of creating a balanced position with others?
- How does holding a balanced position change when performed on snow versus a harder, clear surface?
- Describe the similarities and differences when participating in physical activities outdoors versus indoors. Think about your exertion level and its effect on your heart rate and breathing.
- What did you enjoy most about this activity? How might you change this activity to encourage others to join you to stay active outdoors in winter?
Adaptations
Consider these tips to maximize the challenge and the fun for participants.
- Invite participants to create safe zones.
- Challenge participants by having them balance an object or control an object with either a body part or an implement as part of their winter image.
Modifications
Consider these tips to maximize inclusion and fun for all participants.
- For participants with cognitive disabilities having challenges understanding multi-step tasks, designate them to be “it”. When they tag a participant, they become a tagger who can join them and become an additional “it” in the game.
- For participants with physical disabilities, having challenges in mobility, stability and locomotion skills, change the tagging role into a static position and provide them with an implement to use when tagging others.
- Invite participants to consider ways to move around the playing area at reduced speeds to ensure inclusion and success for all.
