Plugging Away in PE

March and April have been very busy months in PE. The Toddler and Casa children continue on their journey of developing their manipulative and locomotor skills along with their balance and movement concepts. This foundation of core skills will give them a strong start when they transition into playing more organized concepts of games and sports.

The Elementary children completed their ‘Athletics/Fitness‘ unit in which the children learned what type of exercises worked different muscles, how to understand their bodies during exercise, and how to further push themselves. They worked on speed concepts, long jump, turbo javelin, ball throw, and shot put. Some students had the opportunity to put these skills into practice when they attended the Inter-Primary Track Meet in March.

Next, we moved on to a unit that every student really looks forward to; ‘Target Games‘. In this unit, the children learn to play games such as Cornhole, Bocce, Ladder Golf, Croquet, Lawn Darts, Ring Toss, and Archery. There are so many wonderful benefits to teaching this fun social unit in class. It helps develop locomotor skills, movement skills, movement strategies, and movement concepts However, the most significant benefit is the emphasis on fair play in these games. The children are afforded the opportunity to work on both independence and teamwork with a partner, which in turn improves leadership and communication skills.

All of these games are great to have at home and play on the grass or at the beach as a family and can be purchased on sites such as Amazon for a very good price. The games can be adapted to suit all ages and skill levels as you play together. There are also many simple target games that can be played with items you have at home already.

Visit this webpage for ideas: https://www.playsport.net/skill/target-games 

If you end up playing any of these with your children please take a photo and send it to ms.karen@mbts.ky

Since our return from Spring Break the temperature has definitely increased. Summer is quickly approaching and we have only two units left in our PE curriculum for the year.  The children are now focused on the ‘Striking and Fielding‘ unit. They will have an opportunity to explore new skills while playing sports such as Baseball, Kickball, Rounders, and Cricket. We will finish the year with the ‘Movement‘ unit, featuring dance, acro-gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, and rhythmic gymnastics. It will definitely be a fun and action-packed time in PE!