Fall Fit Games

Setting: Intramurals

Season: Fall

Activity Goal

Participants engage in a fun activity in a fall environment to build healthy relationships and social connections with others and for additional opportunities to be active throughout the school day.

For participant safety, please review the contents of the Beyond the Walls: Safety Considerations page for information on Safety Standards, Fall Safety Considerations, and Outdoor Playing Areas and Surfaces.

Equipment

• Exercise mats (for push-up challenge)
• Pylons
• Timer

Preparation

Plan ahead by identifying and generating ideas through planning sessions with intramural student leaders to identify fitness games that provide opportunities for mass participation and can be adapted for play outside during fall. Have intramural leaders consider:

• Promoting the event to garner mass participation and promote the benefits of outdoor fitness opportunities in the fall.
• Encouraging participants to sign up as a team or compete individually. Leaders might consider creating two event categories: team and individual.
• Creating a point structure and an awards system for fun (e.g., most grit, most encouraging of the team, best fitness costume).
• Determining the optimum set-up and location for each fitness challenge (e.g., mats on the sidelines for push-ups) and assume responsibility for overseeing each fitness challenge.
• Designing and running an appropriate dynamic warm up and/or the fitness challenges.

How to Play

• Review the safety rules and activity instructions with participants prior to the activity.
• Establish the boundaries for the designated playing area and share them with participants. Make sure the field is clear of debris.
• Use cones/pylons to mark the sideline distance, and to mark the start and end of the one lap run.
• Review proper form for each fitness challenge with participants.
• The objective is to complete the circuit in the fastest time possible.
• Participants begin on the sidelines of the designated playing area and work as a team, or individually, to complete the fitness challenges. For example:

1. Run across the field (sideline to sideline)
2. Complete 25 Ski Strides
3. One foot hop to centre line, one foot hop to sideline (sideline to sideline)
4. Walking lunges from sideline to sideline
5. 25 Jumping Jacks
6. Bear Crawl across the field (sideline to sideline)
7. Run one lap around the field or track
8. Bounding, two-foot take-off, two-foot landing across the field (sideline to sideline)

Adaptations

Consider these tips to maximize the challenge and the fun for participants.

• If competing as a team, have each participant complete one round of the circuit and the winning team is the first to finish.
• Participants may compete individually for time, or teams can elect team members to complete one of the challenges for the team.
• Individuals or teams can try to complete as many rounds as possible within a designated time period.
• Encourage student leaders to use available natural or built outdoor features when designing fitness challenges to model how to design fitness workouts in the outdoors (e.g., outdoor bleachers for step ups, trees to denote lines for shuttle runs, or mark different fitness stations, hills for running).
• Work in teams of two. Designate one as the coach, one as the participant and keep track of time for completion of the circuit. Switch positions and complete the fitness circuit. Add the two times to get a team score.
• Divide the class into two teams. Have a team challenge to see which team can collectively complete the fitness circuit.

Modifications

Consider these tips to maximize inclusion and fun for all participants.

• Connect with provincial Paralympic organizations to access equipment, resources, and adaptations for your activities.
• Consider inclusive approaches to increase or decrease the challenge to find a role for every participant and to encourage full participation.
• Invite student leaders to consider ways to include a variety of fitness challenges suited to all participants to ensure inclusion and success for all.
• For participants with mobility challenges, adjust the fitness challenges and invite the whole group to think of a way to make challenges more static, so everyone is competing at the same level.
• For participants with mobility challenges, include a fitness buddy program so that all can participate successfully.