Just Add music!

Recently I decided to set up some stretching and core strengthening stations for my 1^st – 5^th grade PE classes. I combined some Yoga and Core Strength poly spots for this. One concern I had was that there would be a lot of whining and complaining due to holding a pose or feeling some muscles work that they weren’t accustomed to using. 

I decided to add a hurdle station in which they could race against a partner (this one addition would probably have been enough from the sounds of excitement when they saw the hurdles set up). I also decided to go with a couple of station standbys--jump rope, hula-hoop, and running through a cone course. I thought that seeing something familiar would help those who are a bit reluctant to try new things be more comfortable. I also added *music-a kids radio station on my IPad was perfect for this set up.

Day one - I introduced each station and demonstrated the rotation so that all would go smoothly. For the 1^st grade students I left out some of the more difficult stations. At the end of class they had had so much fun they wanted to do it again next time (which I had planned) so we decided to start where they left off for the next class meeting.

Things went very well! I saw excitement and determination on many faces and I was mildly surprised that some of the students as young as 1st grade knew the words to the songs and began to sing (with great enthusiasm) along as they exercised. It was fun for me to watch the creativity in which students combined some dance moves with the stations and seeing some of the more reserved students break into a dance move and sing along was refreshing.

*I often add music when we do stations and obstacle courses