Week 3

Target games - Static balance

Equipment

Marker cones
Tape to mark playing area
Bean bags
Tennis balls (1 per students)
Medium round balls (1 per pair)
hula hoops

Download the Week 3 Target Games - Static balance activity 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.

In small groups students stand behind a leader on a line and complete the following activities.

Students walk forwards, backwards, sidewards along a line with arms out to the side and head held up.
As a variation, students repeat the movements balancing a beanbag on their head.
Students walk forwards along the line heel to toe, then backwards toe to heel, with arms out to the side and head up. As a variation, students repeat the movements balancing a beanbag on their head.
Mark a number of zig-zag patterns along the ground with markers. Students stand behind a leader and walk heel to toe, toe to heel with arms out. As a variation, students walk in pairs heel to toe, toe to heel, holding hands and facing sideways. This can form a train, caterpillar etc.

Skill development games

FMS focus activity - Hoop stretch

FMS focus: Static balance

Equipment: One hoop per student

How to play: Players explore balancing with different body positions while stretching from inside a hoop.

Players stand in a hoop or a marked circle.
Players make a body position with both feet inside the hoop and both arms outside of the hoop.
They hold the position for a set time, then stand up and repeat using a different position where feet are inside and hands outside the hoop.

Hoop stretch - Playing for life activity card

Snakes alive - Playing for life activity card

FMS consolidation activity - Snakes alive

Skill focus: Rolling the ball for accuracy

Equipment:

Cones to separate groups
One softball or medium-sized ball per team (snake head)
One ball per player (e.g. tennis ball (body of snake)
Tape or cones to mark the minimum throw line

How to play: The first ball rolled becomes the head of the snake. Players deliver one ball at a time, aiming to place each ball behind the previous one. The aim is to form the longest snake. opponents’ balls to deny access to the target. Play in groups of 4.

Each team plays the first ball on a signal.
If the first ball strays to another team’s area, the ball is played again.
The second ball is played on a signal, and so on for the remainder of the balls.
To ensure the last ball is a meaningful throw, a line is placed in front of each team and the ball must go beyond the line for the ball to count – otherwise every team will finish with a python!
Alternatively, set a maximum length for the snake (e.g. 4 metres).

Modified small-sided games

Bullseye

Equipment: