Trying New Sports - Activity Instructions

Tune In

As you read ‘Charlie’s Tales: Peggy and the Fantastic Football’ tune in to how Peggy was feeling at different stages of the book.

When Charlie first saw the game being played in the meadow, what was Peggy doing? (Running alongside the game.)
Why do you think she was doing that? How was she feeling? (She was feeling a little nervous, didn’t think she was good enough to join, didn’t think she was allowed to join in.)
How do you think she felt when the boy elves said she couldn’t join in?
How do you think Peggy felt when Charlie and William asked her to be on their team?
Why did Charlie tell Peggy the fantastic football was magic?
How was Peggy feeling when she scored a goal?

Find Out

Set up a variety of games with goals around your space. Games like coits, beanbag toss, or tabletop soccer could be inside, while games like basketball, football and soccer goals are better suited outside.

Take the group on a quick tour around the space, explaining each of the sports/goals set up.

Ask the children to think about how they are feeling.

Have you done all of these activities before?
Do you think you will be able to do them all?
How do you feel about trying these new activities?

Take Action

Leave each of the activities set up for the day and observe how the children interact with each of them.

Do the children only attempt the activities that are familiar to them?
Do the children persist with the activities that are difficult at first?
Do the children seek assistance from their peers/educators?
As children experience success, do they start to challenge themselves?

Prompt children to reflect on their challenges and triumphs.

How did you feel when you tried something new for the first time? (Children may need help naming the emotions they felt: proud, frustrated, embarrassed, nervous.)
If something was hard at the start, what did you do? (Gave up, tried something new, kept trying/persisted)
When you became really good at something, how did it make you feel? (Proud, happy, etc.)
If something became too easy, how did it make you feel?
How can we continue to get better at things?
What could you have done to make it more difficult for yourself again?”

To continue to practice and improve, we can set challenges for ourselves. We could

change the rules (must shoot from behind the line, only use one hand, etc.)
change the equipment (use a smaller goal, use a bigger ball, etc.)
introduce scoring (and different scoring for different shots)

When children play games, they will often introduce their own rule changes, to make the game harder, to make the game fairer, or to make the game inclusive. Think of a certain blue dog and her friends playing Shadowland. If your students were organically making these changes, ask them why they introduced the new rules and what they changed about the game.

Trying New Sports

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Summary

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Target Age

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Curriculum Mapping

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