After School Time Period
Week _____
Lesson Plan #1 : Gym / Outdoor Green Space
Grades: K-6
Equipment Needed: Whistle, Pylons, Parachute, Dodge Balls
Introduction: Gather everyone in a circle and introduce yourself and your volunteers.
Be aware that you may have new children join your group each week. This is where you
sign in the children that are present on your clipboard. Review the go! Play program and
what it is designed to do. Remind children they are there to be physically active, interact
with others, develop new skills or build on existing ones and most importantly have fun!
Warm-up Activity:
(10 Minutes)
(Whistle, Pylons)
Begin each session with a warm-up walk/jog to get the blood pumping and the muscles
stretched. You may control the time intervals, however, children should go at their own
pace and their own distance. Set up pylons or use gym lines and have the children begin
by walking around the outside of the boundary (all in one direction). After one minute
of walking blow the whistle. Children should then begin jogging at their own pace for
the next minute. Blow the whistle again and everyone walks. Continue this for 5 whistle
blows then switch directions and do 5 more whistle blows. If children complain that
they cannot jog for one full minute, those children should slow their pace. If children
complain that they want to jog longer or need more of a challenge get them to run faster.
Have your volunteers participate and encourage children.
Main Activities:
Group Knot
(5-10 Minutes)
(No Equipment)
Have the campers stand in a tight circle, with their hands in the center. Then have them
grab other hands at random. Make sure each hand is only holding onto one other hand
and that all hands are being held. The puzzle is for the whole group to work together to
get themselves untangled by stepping over and crawling under arms. Nobody can let go!
(Sometimes you’ll find that the group has actually formed several smaller circles.) If the
group is too large, have two or three smaller circles to begin with.
After School Time Period
Week _____
Lesson Plan #1 : Gym / Outdoor Green Space
Grades: K-6
Equipment Needed: Whistle, Pylons, Parachute, Dodge Balls
Duck, Duck, Goose
(10-15 Minutes)
(Parachute)
Create a mushroom cloud with the parachute and sit under it facing the middle. Select
someone to go around the inside of the circle playing the classic game, “Duck, Duck,
Goose”. The twist is that once they select the Goose they have to run back to their original spot, crawl under the parachute and run around the outside to the Goose’s spot and
crawl back inside. The Goose, in turn, has to crawl out their own spot and run around
the outside of the parachute to the other available spot. The last person back inside the
parachute and sitting down in the opposite person’s spot then begins the next round as
the person selecting the next Goose. If someone is selecting more than twice, choose a
new person to select.
Dodge Ball Tag
(10-15 Minutes)
(Dodge Balls, Pylons)
Use pylons to set a boundary if necessary. Have two or more soft, inflatable balls for the
game, depending on the number of children playing. When a child picks up a ball they
have 5 seconds to throw it at another child to try and hit them (you can make up different rules such as underhand throwing only or hit only below the shoulders or waist,
etc.). The child with the ball is only allowed to take three steps with the ball before they
throw it. Once a child is hit with the ball they must do a predetermined exercise to get
back into the game. The exercise could be 15 jumping-jacks, 10 push-ups, 20 crunches,
10 burpees, 15 squats, 20 calf raises, etc. It may be a good idea to have a separate area
for the children to do their exercise to get back in the game. Also, if a child has a ball in
hand they can still be ‘struck out’ by another child who has a ball.
Cool-Down Activity:
Birthday Switch
(10 Minutes)
(Parachute)
Create a mushroom cloud with chute and sit under it. The Leader calls out months and
the children born on that month jump up and run or crawl to an empty space as quickly
as they can. Try to get as many months completed without the chute collapsing. Have
the children shuffle positions and start the next game at the month you ended on. (Can
alter the game by calling “all boys”, “everyone wearing red shirts”, “everyone”.)
Don’t forget to sign children out as their parents pick them up.