Good Morning,

I hope you are all well and you enjoyed a break from the home schooling last week. It feels a little like spring is coming and there is hope in the air. Given the six nations are going ahead I though we could have a rugby inspired week for all the home learning troops out there.  As always these can been done anywhere that is suitable to you and your situation but if you are able to get outdoors to a local green space or park that would add in a bit more activity and vitamin d to your day.

Cat and Mouse

This game is played with two players. The ‘mouse’ tucks a piece of material such as a sock/soft belt/tea towel into the back of their trousers or up a sleeve if in a chair and moves a few meters in front of the ‘cat’  catcher(or more depending on mobility and space). On go, the cat the has to chase the mouse and try to steal their tail before they reach a designated spot ahead.

Cat & Mice Game – YouTube A similar example but having to catch tails and you already know who is chasing who on the ‘go’.

 

Touchdown

This is a physiotherapy type exercise which helps with your balance, core strength and proprioception. Using your ball or ball alterative kneel on one knee or sit up comfortably in your chair and tap the ball onto three target areas at full reach in front of your body (one in the middle and one either side) then change knees. The target can be an adults hand/pillow/switch or marked area on a wall). This can be made harder by placing your knee on wobble board/gym ball or cushion.

Half Kneel on Stool Wall Taps – YouTube Another similar example but without the stool and/or a cushion under the knee not the foot.

Goal Kick

Why not take a ball to a local park which has goals and try taking a goal kick. As most parks have football goals the aim will be to kick the ball high over the goal and not into the net. If this is not possible maybe you can make a big obstacle with whatever toys or things you have in your garden and aim to kick the ball over it without knocking anything over.

9 year old Rugby Goal kicking Practice – YouTube

Drop Punt

This is another rugby specific skill that can be quite tricky so best to try with a balloon first before a ball or rolled up socks. You need to drop the balloon from hip height then aim to kick it before it touches the ground. A string can be attached to the balloon or ball for young people using a wheelchair to dangle at the right height for pupils to try and strike with their foot. Alternatively if you have a gym ball you could use this too as its lots of fun (with the foot plates up for W/C users if appropriate).

Dan Carter : Spiral & Drop Punt Rugby Kicking – YouTube

Tune In

Lastly why not get faces painted blue and white, half time snacks at the ready, Scotland flags in the air and your singing voice warmed up  to blast out the national anthem and tune in to the next Scotland 6 nations match with your family. Unfortunately this weekends fixture has been cancelled but the next one is on the 14th of March at 3pm BBC.

As always if anyone needs any more info, ideas or even just a chat about how to get started with some PE home learning activities don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Cheers, Susie.

 

Good Afternoon,

Another week down and some well needed holidays are on the horizon for all the hard working home learning hero’s in  your house.  This weeks blog will be brief as it’ll be a much shorter week for you all and will look at some simple parachute games that you could do at home or outdoors. Don’t worry, I’m sure no one has a parachute lying around, you can easily use an alternative like a bed sheet/large scarf/blanket or any big piece of material you have. If possible try and get everyone in the household/bubble involved as it works best with a few people. However if this isn’t possible you can always tie the ends onto something and it should still work for most of the games. All our young people enjoy the parachute when it comes out and they each have their preferences on what things we do with it. Here are a few of them………

Nursery Rhymes

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes:

Pull the material up or down in line with that body part each time it is sang.

Wheels on the bus:

The wheels on the bus go round and round (hold material with one hand and walk around in a circle)
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep (two feet together jump/bounce in place)
The door on the bus go open and shut (raise parachute above head and lower parachute by touching toes)
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish (hold parachute with 2 hands in front of body and move arms from side to side)
The babies on the bus go waa, waa, waa (pretend to wipe eyes with parachute—like a handkerchief

The Parachute Dance Song | Maple Leaf Learning – YouTube

Relaxation

Often before a yoga session or during a cool down we get everyone under the parachute/material lying facing up. We usually turn off the lights and have calming music on. We practice some deep breathing by taking a breath in through our nose as the parachute falls down and breathe out by blowing the parachute away towards the ceiling as it gets lifted up.

Beautiful Relaxing Music for Stress Relief ~ Calming Music ~ Meditation, Relaxation, Sleep, Spa – YouTube

Catch

This is a fun game where the young people run or are wheeled under the material and have to avoid being trapped under the parachute as it comes down.

Parachute Games – YouTube

Ball Launch

This can be done with soft toys or rolled up socks  instead of balls. The idea is you put all the objects in the middle and everyone takes an end or the material. You then count up or down and launch them all high up into the sky and try and catch as many as you can before they hit the ground.

Physical Education at Home – Parachute Games – YouTube

This is only a selection of the ones we play most so if anyone would like more ideas or would like them adapted to suit an individual child then please get in touch. Take care everyone and enjoy the holidays.

Cheers, Susie.

 

Hello all,

It’s another week of lockdown learning and I hope you are all doing ok.  In light of getting outside and trying to add a little more activity to your day I’m going to share a few of the warm up games we play in school.  All of these can be played in the garden, at a park or any green space you might visit during your daily walk. I’ll also add a choice board to use if appropriate for your child.

What’s The Time Mr Wolf

This is a big playground favourite at Hillside. I’m sure you all know it well but here is how we play it.

• Someone is the wolf and stands at one end of the space with their  back to everyone else.
• The others then ask ‘what’s the time Mr Wolf’ and the wolf replies one, two ,three, four or five o clock. The players then take the associated number of steps towards the wolf.
• This continues until the wolf answers ‘its dinner time’ when he/she then chases all the players.

Traffic Light Game 

This is an easy one that can be done in any space and indoors as it can be done on the spot.

• Someone is the caller and shouts red, amber or green. Everyone can take a shot at being the caller and pupils with switches or talkers can have fun with this too.
• Everyone else has to follow the callers instructions.
• RED- means stop or freeze. AMBER- means walk/wheeled slowly. GREEN- go as fast as you can.

Blast Off

We have lots of fun playing this at school.

• We usually use a few hula hoops spread out over the gym hall but these could be substituted for chalk drawn circles, circles made up from stones/twigs or old pillowcases/rags laid out within the area.
• The players then wind in and around the circles and a caller shouts rocket launch. Each player has to get into the circle as quick as they can.
• They then count down from 10 and blast off, weaving in and out the circles again.

Shark Attack

We always used to play this with our buddies from Barshare.

• Its set up the same as above with circles  spread out within the area and players weave in and out.
• The catcher shouts shark attack and the players need to get to a safe zone before getting eaten (tagged) by the shark.

Body Part Game

Make sure you have clothes on you don’t mind getting dirty for this one if you are playing outside.

• Players move quickly around the space and a caller shouts out different body parts.
• The players then need to put that body part on the ground. For wheelchair users players would put their hands on the body part called.

Ball Steal

We play this in teams at school and our young people always love shouting their teammate on. However it works fine with one player too and can be timed for a competitive element.

• This game is usually played with balls but these can be swapped for any objects around the home like toys, socks rolled into a ball or even stones.
• The object is to place the objects a reasonable distance away from the player.
• The player has a basket or bag or box and has to steal all the objects as quickly as they can. However they can only retrieve one item at a time.
• Try timing one another and aim to beat your partners time or if you have a sibling get them involved and race and count out who collects the most items.
• For wheelchair users you might want to try and put the items on a chair or somewhere higher up so the young person can be more independent when collecting.

Choice Board- warm up games

 

Take care everyone and please share any photos of the young people taking part in any learning at home if you manage to snap any. As always please please don’t hesitate to contact me for any more information, ideas, personalisation of activities or just for a chat about how best to support your young person with these activities.

Thanks and stay safe,

Susie