This week’s theme:

The Mysteries of Exercise

Fact of the day:

Sports Days that are traditionally held at schools are called ‘Field Days’ in America.

Resources list:

Foil ball, spoon, cushion, wool; Bean bag, paperback, or freezer bag of rice; Youtube; Newspaper, paper, pens, glue or tape, buckets/pans/bins; toilet roll tubes or tin cans, newspaper ball, ball of socks.

Activity 1:

Egg and spoon Race. Balance a ball of tin foil on a spoon and create a course in your house or garden. How many times can you go back and forth along your course with your spoon without dropping your ball? Can you make it trickier for yourself by placing obstacles to step over, such as placing cushions on the floor, or having something to duck under, such as a piece of wool stretched across your path?

Activity 2:

Bean bag balance. Can you balance a bean bag on your head for a length of time? If you don’t have a bean bag you could try balancing a paperback book, or making a ‘beanbag’ by putting rice, sand, couscous or lentils in a small freezer bag. Can you balance it on your head while you’re balancing on one leg; can you balance it on your head while you walk around the room or crouching and standing up. Can you balance it walking at speed, jogging, or hopping? The final test – can you balance it on your head while dancing to this song, show your best moves and time yourself – how long can you keep the beanbag on your head for!?

Activity 3:

Welly throwing, also known as welly hoying and welly wanging, is a sport in which competitors are required to throw a Wellington boot as far as possible.

Make yourself 10 scrunched up newspaper balls. On them, stick different coloured drawings of a welly Create target zones by placing pans, bins, baskets, bowls, tubs, trugs, bags for life, etc on the floor, each target is worth different points – decide what these are. See how high a score you can get by ‘wanging’ your 10 wellies into the target zones. If it’s too easy, move the target zones further away from you or use smaller targets. Can you throw two wellies at the same time? If you’re really good, try throwing the wellies over your shoulder while you face in the opposite direction!!

Activity 4:

Create a Coconut shy. On top of 5-8 toilet roll tubes or tin cans, balance a newspaper ball (you could paint these brown to look like coconuts if you like). With a slightly heavier ball (this could be a ball of socks), how many coconuts can you topple over and win after 10 throws? If it’s too easy, move yourself further away from the coconuts, and move the coconuts further apart from each other. Try what happens if you balance your coconuts on taller kitchen roll tubes too.

Activity 5:

Make yourself a gold medal, rosette, or trophy for your excellence in exercising this week! Take a photo of you with your award and share it with us on our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or send it to melanie@purplepatcharts.org and we’ll put it online for you!