Every year I save and laminate all my field day things with the thought that I will re-use them again next year. It's a good thought, in theory, but when I reflect back on the last year's field day, I am always left with the feeling that I could change it to better reflect my values in PE.
At the beginning of my career, I ran a very traditional type field day. It was a do what you know sort of thing. Then I went to an in-service where a teacher described her "Jellybean Tabloid" day and there were a ton of things that I liked about it. Firstly, it allowed for student choice as there were a ton of stations that students could chose from. It was open ended as kids could move as quickly or slowly as they wanted from station to station rather than waiting on their group. There were also stations to appeal to many different kind of kids rather than always competing to see who is the fastest and strongest. I did this type of field day for a couple of years, and students and teachers always liked it, but it giving kids candy as a reward didn't match what I was trying to get our school away from, rewarding kids with junk food. So this year I decided to do a carnival day.
I still used all the parts of the Jellybean Tabloid Day that I really liked. There were 36 stations set out and kids could move through them at their own pace. There were a variety of activities that appealed to a wide range of kids. I kept most stations Carnival or Circus themed (tight rope walk, juggling, tin can toss, etc.). Students received a ticket for every station they completed. They could then use their tickets to buy different prizes (donated toys from teachers and students) or special stations (balloon animals, face paint, photo booth). The kids loved it and no one even mentioned the missing jellybeans.
Even though the day was a success and I'm sure I'll use some of the ideas from Carnival Day, I'm already trying to figure out how we can make an Olympic field day next year!
At the beginning of my career, I ran a very traditional type field day. It was a do what you know sort of thing. Then I went to an in-service where a teacher described her "Jellybean Tabloid" day and there were a ton of things that I liked about it. Firstly, it allowed for student choice as there were a ton of stations that students could chose from. It was open ended as kids could move as quickly or slowly as they wanted from station to station rather than waiting on their group. There were also stations to appeal to many different kind of kids rather than always competing to see who is the fastest and strongest. I did this type of field day for a couple of years, and students and teachers always liked it, but it giving kids candy as a reward didn't match what I was trying to get our school away from, rewarding kids with junk food. So this year I decided to do a carnival day.
I still used all the parts of the Jellybean Tabloid Day that I really liked. There were 36 stations set out and kids could move through them at their own pace. There were a variety of activities that appealed to a wide range of kids. I kept most stations Carnival or Circus themed (tight rope walk, juggling, tin can toss, etc.). Students received a ticket for every station they completed. They could then use their tickets to buy different prizes (donated toys from teachers and students) or special stations (balloon animals, face paint, photo booth). The kids loved it and no one even mentioned the missing jellybeans.
Even though the day was a success and I'm sure I'll use some of the ideas from Carnival Day, I'm already trying to figure out how we can make an Olympic field day next year!