PE Activities for Thanksgiving

You can jump rope to various Thanksgiving poems.

Thanksgiving is a time to remind students about the historical events surrounding the Pilgrims' and Native Americans' encounters when the Pilgrims first came to America. It also is a time to remind students to be thankful for their blessings. You can carry out the theme of Thanksgiving in physical education class by using activities that focus on this holiday.

Acrostic Warm Up

You can use the letters that spell the word "thanks" as a means of warming up at the beginning of class. Write the letters vertically, along with the following actions for each letter:

T - toe touches (20)

H - high fives (high-five all other classmates as quickly as possible)

A - arm workout (5 push-ups)

N - neck stretches (tilt the head to each side 5 times)

K - knee bends (20)

S - skip around the gym or playground for 3 minutes

Jump Rope Poem

You can jump rope to virtually any simple, rhythmic poem that centers on the theme of Thanksgiving. One poem that you can use goes as follows: "It's Thanksgiving, can't you see, won't you come give thanks with me!" Instruct your students to say the poem as they jump rope in rhythm. Make the activity competitive by seeing who can recite the poem the most times without missing a jump.

Turkey Tag

This game is similar to traditional freeze tag. For Turkey Tag, choose one or two students to be "It." Create a home base for the students. The students must then run around the area, trying not to be tagged by "It." If they do get tagged, they must squat, flap their arms and gobble until another student runs to them and tags them. Switch out the people who are "it" every few minutes.

Thanksgiving Toss

This activity works on throwing and catching skills. Have your students sit or stand in a circle. Write letters of the alphabet at various positions on a beach ball. Toss the beach ball to a student. The student must look to see which letter is closest to his right index finger. Then the student must say one thing that he is thankful for that begins with that letter. If a student gets stumped, he can ask for ideas from the others. Continue tossing the ball until everyone has had a turn.

References

• PE Central: Holiday Lesson Ideas
• Lesson Plans Page: Thanksgiving