Get Active Challenges

Overview

Students develop movement skills, coordination and problem-solving through four progressively challenging games. They practise safe participation, communication and adapting strategies, then transfer these skills to the Fly stick game. Check the Schoolhouse Museum instructions before teaching and introduce the game respectfully as a cultural activity rather than a competition to imitate without context.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• recognise and perform movement skills, including leaping, balancing, passing and tracking.
• identify and apply strategies to solve movement challenges.
• communicate, cooperate and adapt movement strategies when a challenge changes.
• participate safely and respectfully in physical activity.

Success criteria

• I can perform each movement with control and awareness of others.
• I can explain and try a strategy to improve my group’s performance.
• I can communicate respectfully and contribute to my team.
• I can identify one safety action and one movement skill I developed.

Curriculum links

• Movement skills and sequences in physical activity.
• Strategies for solving movement challenges.
• Transfer of movement strategies and actions to new challenges.
• Self-management, interpersonal skills, safety and participation in lifelong physical activity.

Equipment

• Cones to mark boundaries and activity zones
• 6–8 hula hoops
• 6–8 soft foam tubes or approved fly sticks
• Small soft foam balls or beanbags, if required by the checked Fly instructions
• Whistle and stopwatch
• Whiteboard or activity instruction cards
• First-aid kit, drinking-water access and sun protection

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and safety briefing. Teacher explains that the lesson uses four main activities, establishes boundaries, demonstrates stop-on-whistle and checks footwear, space, hydration and any injuries. Students listen, move to their assigned group and identify a safe stopping position.

2. 5–15 min · Activity 1: Adapted leapfrog-style warm-up. Teacher marks three lanes and demonstrates the low-risk version: students travel to a cone, place hands gently on a partner’s shoulders or on a marked low obstacle, bend knees and step or make a small controlled leap over the obstacle; no student jumps over another person unless the teacher has explicitly checked the height, spacing and supervision. Students work in groups of four, rotating roles as mover, spotter, queue manager and encourager, then repeat using different pathways and speeds. Ask: “Where should your eyes look?” “How can you make the movement safer?” Check that students land softly, keep distance and use controlled hands.

3. 15–28 min · Activity 2: Hula-hoop passing challenge. Teacher places groups of five to six in a circle holding hands and slips one hoop over two joined hands; students must pass the hoop around the circle without breaking the hand link. After a practice round, introduce a second hoop or a target time, ensuring the challenge remains safe rather than rushed. Students communicate, bend, step and rotate their bodies to move the hoop, then discuss which strategy helped. Ask: “Did speed or coordination improve your result?” “How did your group include someone who needed more time?” Formatively assess communication, cooperation and controlled movement.

4. 28–41 min · Activity 3: Hula-hoop coordination challenge. Teacher sets up four stations with a hoop and gives each group a movement goal: roll and retrieve, step in and out, partner pass, or keep a beanbag balanced while moving around the hoop. Groups practise for two minutes, then modify one variable such as direction, distance, speed or non-dominant hand. Students choose a manageable challenge, observe one another and explain what they changed when the first attempt was unsuccessful. Ask: “What was the movement problem?” “What did you change?” “Could the same strategy work in another game?” Offer a simpler or more complex version as needed.

5. 41–54 min · Activity 4: Fly stick game. Teacher gathers students, explains the respectful cultural context and states that the activity is taught from the checked Schoolhouse Museum instructions. Demonstrate the complete sequence before equipment is distributed, including where players stand, how the fly stick is launched or moved, how turns work and how scoring or success is determined according to the source instructions. Students play in small, spaced groups, with one player active at a time and others observing, retrieving equipment only when told and giving constructive feedback. Use foam tubes and soft alternatives first; do not allow throwing sticks at people. Stop immediately for unsafe movement. Ask: “Which skills from the earlier challenges helped here?” “How did your group adapt when the first strategy did not work?” If the exact source equipment or sequence is unavailable, teach a teacher-demonstrated foam-tube adaptation without claiming it is the original game.

6. 54–60 min · Cool-down and reflection. Teacher leads slow walking, breathing and gentle mobility movements, then asks students to reflect verbally with a partner: one skill improved, one strategy used and one safety action. Students share one example and complete a quick whole-class confidence check using fingers from 1–5.

Setup and safety

• Pre-mark separate zones so hoops, sticks and moving groups cannot overlap.
• Complete a head count before and after each activity; use a whistle signal for freeze and equipment down.
• Inspect hoops and sticks for damage, remove hard or sharp equipment, and use foam tubes for students requiring increased safety.
• Keep fly sticks below shoulder height unless the checked source instructions require another controlled action; never aim equipment at people.
• Establish a retrieval rule: students wait for the teacher’s signal before collecting a stick or ball.
• Provide walking, seated, lower-impact or observer roles for students with injury, disability, anxiety or temporary limitations.

Assessment

• Observe whether students demonstrate controlled movement, safe spacing, cooperation and strategy changes across the four activities.
• During questioning, listen for students identifying the movement problem, explaining an adjustment and transferring a successful strategy from one activity to another.
• At the end, ask each student to state: “A movement skill I used was…”, “A strategy that helped was…” and “A safety action I followed was…”.

Differentiation

• Support: reduce distance and speed, use larger hoops, allow walking rather than leaping, provide a partner model and give one instruction at a time.
• Provide mixed-ability groups with rotating roles so every student can participate meaningfully without being identified by ability.
• Extension: add a time, direction or communication restriction, or ask students to design a safe variation and justify how it changes the challenge.
• For EAL/D students, demonstrate before explaining, use gestures and visual cues, and repeat key words such as control, communicate, adapt and safe. Students may respond through demonstration rather than extended speech.