Week 2

Movement exploration games - Static balance

Equipment

marker cones
bean bag, ball or skittle
music

Download the Week 2 Movement exploration games - Static balance task card to support teaching before and during the sport session.

FMS focus: Static balance

Learning intention

Students are developing proficiency in the static balance.

Success criteria.

Student has:

Non-support leg bent, not touching the support leg.
Head stable, eyes focused forward.
Trunk stable and upright.

When proficient in above, student has:

Support leg still, foot flat on the ground.
No excessive arm movements.

Explicit teaching of the static balance

Model the skill

Model the static balance to students while explaining the components needed to effectively balance.

Say to the students:

- Stand still with your foot flat on the ground.
- Hold your bent leg away from your other leg.
- Look at something in front of you.
- Stand up tall when you balance.
- Relax your arms.

Guided practice

Ask students to talk about what is needed for good balance. Discussion should centre around the components of the balance.

Students stand with one foot in front of the other, the heel of one foot touching the toe of the other.

Ask students to:

hold arms out to the side
place hands on hips
balance a bean bag on their head
repeat these activities on the other leg.

Ask students to identify which leg provides the best base for a balance: which is the preferred leg?

Students stand on the preferred leg and position the non support leg:

behind preferred leg
near preferred leg
high above preferred leg.

Ask students which position they feel most comfortable with.

Skill development games

FMS focus activity - Leader balance

FMS focus: Static balance

Equipment: Marker cones for playing area

How to play: Students follow a leader around a designated playing area. On the teacher's signal the leader performs a static balance that students replicate.

Teacher selects a locomotor movement.
Students follow their selected leader while performing the movement.
On the teacher's signal the leader stops to perform different static balances (for example, one foot, two feet and knee balances).
All students attempt to replicate this balance.
Once the leader has performed a balance they move to the back to allow for a new leader.

Fast starts activity card - Leader balance

Playing for life - Pirate's gold

FMS consolidation activity - Pirate's gold

FMS: Sprint run

Equipment: An item that can be used as the gold (e.g. a bean bag, ball or skittle)

How to play: The pirate’s crew try to steal the gold from the pirate and make it home without being tagged.

One player, the pirate, stands with their back to the group (the pirate’s crew). The gold is placed on the ground 1 metre behind the pirate.
The pirate’s crew line up across the starting line, 15 metres behind the pirate.
When the pirate’s back is turned, the pirate’s crew approach the gold.
When the pirate turns around, the pirate’s crew must freeze. If the pirate sees any of the crew moving, they call out their names. These crew members return to the starting line, and begin again.
When the pirate turns back around, the game continues.
The first crew member to reach the gold picks it up and tries to run back to the starting line before being tagged by the pirate.
Swap pirates after each game.

Modified small-sided games

It's game time!

Teams play each other in the game outlined below.

What happens?

Skill focus: Balance

Equipment: Music, designated playing area

How to play: Players experiment with movements by pretending they have lost movement of a particular body part.

Players move freely around the room in time with the music.
When the music stops, students freeze by performing a static balance.
While students are 'frozen', call out a particular body part [e.g. knees].
When the music re-starts, players move around the room pretending they cannot move this body part (e.g. players walk without bending their knees).