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Sports & Games Hut, hut, hike! Go long and catch some sports action this week with activities and games that are all about building your child's most important athletic muscle - her brain! We've got ideas for sports fans, and non-athletes, and everyone in between with beanbag tosses, baseball ice cream, gold medals, and more.

Table of Contents Week 9: Sports & Games Verb Relay Race Shoebox Croquet Home Bowling Alley Beanbag Toss Game MARTHA SPEAKS: Make Your Own Obstacle Course Play Dart Balls Jumping Bean Phonics Color By Letter: Playing Baseball Sports Round-Up Sight Words Cut and Color Sports Bookmarks Make Your Own Gold Medal ARTHUR'S Play Ball Books About Sports! More to Explore!

Hut, hut, hike! Go long and catch some sports action this week with activities and games that are all about building your child's most important athletic muscle - her brain! We've got ideas for sports fans, and non-athletes, and everyone in between with beanbag tosses, dart boards, gold medals, and more. Verb Relay Race Shoebox Croquet Home Bowling Alley Beanbag Toss Game Play Dart Balls Jumping Bean Phonics Arthur's Play Ball Color By Letter: Playing Baseball Sports Round-Up Sight Words Cut and Color Sports Bookmarks Make Your Own Gold Medal Books About Sports! Index cards Pen Whistle or other snappy sound maker for the starting line Chalk A few energetic kids 15 stick-on dots 5 shoe boxes Paper towel tube Sponge ball 2-3 large, empty soda bottles 1 beach ball or large playground ball Large cardboard box, or three large pieces of cardboard A big heavy rock, or a bag of smaller stones Packing tape Poster paint in several colors Paintbrush Sharp scissors or box cutter 5 zip-lock bags 10 pieces of scrap fabric 4"x6" in size Dried beans Needle and thread Cardboard Scissors Colored felt Glue gun 4 to 6 Ping-Pong balls Small strips of Velcro 5 pieces of large thick paper (oak tag or cardboard work well) Index cards or construction paper Markers or crayons Masking tape Glue stick Stapler Ribbon Gold glitter Gold acrylic paint Black marker Pencil The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of the Public Broadcasting Service and is used with permission. All Rights Reserved.

Verbs Relay Race! In first grade kids start to learn the difference between verbs ( action words ) and nouns (objects, people, places). Help them take in this information with their whole bodies by playing a few boisterous rounds of this party or playground game. What You Need: Index cards Pen Whistle or other snappy sound maker for the starting line Chalk A few energetic, enthusiastic first graders What You Do: 1. This is a version of the classic relay race, just like in the Olympics, where teams of kids will work together. Each child will take a leg of the race and the fastest team wins the round. There's just one catch: each leg will require a different action, and nobody can say it aloud. Racers must use their first grade reading skills in order to know what to do. 2. Make two stacks of index cards, and have the kids help you brainstorm action words that they can do on the move, such as skip, run, jump, hop, flap, tango. Write each word on two cards and place one of each at stack for each team. 3. Divide your first graders into two teams, each with at least 2-3 racers. Then mark out a course that s a reasonable length for your little athletes. They ll need to be able to go up and back without dropping down exhausted! 4. Now it s time for action-word reading action. Stand between each team and have the first player draw a card from that team s stack. On the count of three, start the race, and be ready for hilarity. 5. While the first racer is in motion, the second one can grab a card and get ready for action. As soon as the first racer tags up, the second can go and on down the line until the cards are used up. Why it Works: First graders need endless practice with reading skills in all forms, but often these come on pencil and paper, or inside classrooms. Many kids benefit when they can get their full bodies in on the task. In teacher talk, it s called kinesthetic learning; in kid-world, it s usually called just plain fun. Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

Shoe Box Croquet Set Is your child curious about croquet? Forget buying an expensive set at a toy or game store! You can simply make one at home using old shoe boxes and and an empty paper towel tube. Your little one will have a blast hitting a sponge ball into the tunnels on the sides of the boxes, while greatly improving his hand-eye coordination in the process. Make this an ongoing game that you and you child play together by finding your own makeshift mallet in the form of a golf club or walking stick and taking turns hitting the ball. What You Need: 15 stick-on dots 5 shoe boxes Paper towel tube Sponge ball What You Do: 1. Make a set of croquet tunnels by cutting wide arches in the long sides of the shoe boxes. 2. Place one dot on top of the first box, two dots on top of the second box, and so on. 3. Arrange the boxes in any order on the floor. 4. Encourage your child to use the paper towel tube to hit the ball through the boxes, beginning with the box with one dot and moving through the other boxes in order. Consider inviting over some of your child's school friends to play croquet! Buy a couple of extra sponge balls and ask parents to send their child with a paper towel tube. If children wish to personalize their croquet "mallet," they can decorate them with markers and stickers. Adapted with permission from "Count On Math: Activities for Small Hands and Lively Minds." Copyright 1997 by Pam Schiller and Lynne Peterson. Used with permission of Gryphon House, Inc., Maryland. All Rights Reserved. Downloaded from Education.com

Home Bowling Alley Typically, bowling requires tremendous eye-hand coordination and a lot of waiting. But young children aren't particularly adept at either (eye-hand coordination isn't fully developed until 9 or 10 years old, and we know how they feel about waiting). This game involves larger objects than the standard bowling ball and pins and is played in pairs, so waiting time is reduced. What You Need: 2-3 large, empty soda bottles 1 beach ball or large playground ball What You Do: 1. Arrange the soda bottles in close proximity. 2. Stand a reasonable distance away from the pins. Let your child take a turn "bowling" (that is, rolling the ball and trying to knock the bottles down). 3. Retrieve the ball while your child resets the pins. 4. Now it's your turn to bowl! 5. Continue in this manner, taking turns for as long as your child stays interested! This simple activity improves eye-hand coordination and visual tracking, while offering experience with cause and effect and teamwork! Rae Pica is a children's physical activity specialist and the author of A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity, and Free Time Create a Successful Child (Da Capo Press, 2006) and Great Games for Young Children (Gryphon House, 2006). Downloaded from Education.com

Make a Beanbag Toss Game! Who needs a boardwalk when you can make your own carnival games at home? This simple project yields a fun carnival game for preschoolers. Plus, aiming beanbags at holes and tossing them in, gives preschoolers practice with gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination. What You Need: Large cardboard box, or three large pieces of cardboard A big heavy rock, or a bag of smaller stones Packing tape Poster paint in several colors Paintbrush Sharp scissors or box cutter 5 zip-lock bags 10 pieces of scrap material 4" x 6" in size Dried beans Needle and thread What You Do: 1) Cut up the cardboard box so you have two large sides, attached by a seam, and one more large piece. The two attached sides should form two legs of a triangle, like a sandwich board. Tape the other piece to the bottom edges, so it forms a third, shorter leg for your 3-D triangle-- this is the piece that will sit on the floor. 2) Put the large heavy rock (or the bag of stones) on top of that last triangle leg, so it stabilizes the triangle. This will keep it from tipping over when your child begins tossing beanbags. 3) This next step is for adults only!: Cut three holes, one stacked on top of the other, with a few inches of space between them, into one of the long sides of your triangle. These will be the holes for the beanbag toss game. Make them large enough to make it possible for your child to toss one in! 4) Give your child a paintbrush and ask her to paint a different colored circle around each of the holes in the cardboard. If she'd like, she can also paint a number beside each hole, to represent the amount of points she thinks each throw should be worth. 5) While the paint dries, gather the scrap material, zip-lock bags, needle and thread, and dried beans. Fill each zip-lock about halfway with dried beans. Seal tightly. 6) Sew two squares of material on three sides, leaving the last side open. Turn it inside out, so the seams are hidden, and slide a bean-filled zip-lock inside. Sew it closed. Repeat with the other scrap material and zip-locks, until you have five beanbags. Once the beanbags are sewn and the paint is dry, it's time to play! Stand your child a little bit back from the beanbag toss and let her try her luck. Practice makes perfect, so make it a regular habit to work on that toss. And invite some other kids to get in on the boardwalk action, too! Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

MARTHA SPEAKS: Make Your Own Obstacle Course Practice words and get some exercise with this obstacle course activity from PBS KIDS' Martha Speaks. Click here to get started. Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

Play Dart Balls Darts appeal to young kids, but they're not safe for them to use. With this activity, they can get all the hand-eye coordination practice darts bring, but with a much safer alternative to the pointy darts down at the local bar. All you need is a little cardboard, felt, some glue, and some old ping pong balls and you're ready to create a dart game from scratch! This fun game is sure to entertain, and kids get some gross motor skill practice on the fly. Plus, practicing throwing is a great way to help kids develop the hand-eye coordination they'll need as they get older. What You Need: Cardboard Scissors Colored felt Glue gun 4 to 6 Ping-Pong balls Small strips of Velcro What You Do: 1. Before you can start playing, you need to make the dartboard. If your child is interested, encourage her to help tracing the circles on the cardboard and the felt. You can use a large plate for the big circle, a small plate for the middle circle, and the bottom of a cup for the smallest circle. 2. Once all the circles are traced on the cardboard and felt, cut each circle out, gluing the felt on the cardboard circle of matching size. 3. Then, glue all the circles together, one on top of the other, to be used as a target. 4. Finally, glue a small strip of Velcro to each Ping-Pong ball. 5. Now that the equipment is ready, it's time to start playing the game! Find a good place to hang up your dartboard, then take turns with your child throwing Ping-Pong balls, one at a time, at the target. If you hit the target, the Velcro should stick to the felt. The object of the game is to hit the center circle. When you do that, you got a bull's eye! Want to give the game more structure and practice basic addition, too? Keep track of the points. Players who hit the center get 50 points. The second circle is worth 20 points, and the outside circle 10. Use a permanent marker to write the desired points on the target itself. Then let your child keep track of who has the most points as the game progresses. Adapted with permission from "The GIANT Encyclopedia of Kindergarten Activities." Copyright 2004 by Kathy Charner (Editor), Maureen Murphy (Editor), and Jennifer Ford (Editor). Used by Permission of Gryphon House, Inc., Maryland. All Rights Reserved. Downloaded from Education.com

Jumping Bean Phonics Most little kids hate to sit still, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Take advantage of your kindergartener's energy with this cute game that lets him practice building words, all while acting like a Mexican jumping bean! What You Need: Five pieces of large thick paper (oak tag or cardboard work well) Index cards or construction paper Markers or crayons Masking tape What to Do 1. Start by writing the following consonants on the index cards or construction paper: B,C,F,H,M,P,R,S,D. Review the sounds these letters make with your child and ask him to say them aloud, so you're sure he's familiar with the sounds each of the letters makes. 2. Next, take out your five large pieces of thick paper. On each sheet, write one of the following ending blends: -at, -ig, -og, -an, -it. Tape each sheet to the floor (leaving a bit of room between each). 3. Start by looking at the ending sounds on the floor and saying them together. 4. It's time to jump! Tell your child that he's a Mexican jumping bean, and that his job is to find a partner. Then explain the rules of the game: each time you give your child an index card with a letter on it, he'll try to jump onto as many word matches for it as he can find. (You can use a timer if you'd like, to make things more challenging.) For example, if he had the letter m, he could jump on " at" to make mat, or he could jump on " an" to make man, or he could jump on " it" to make mit. But if he jumped on " og", he would lose his turn, because "mog" is not a word. The goal is to make as many words as possible, before the timer rings, or the player makes a mistake. This game is a great way to bring home the idea that words are made up of several sounds put together. And it works just as well outdoors, with chalk on a driveway, rather than construction paper taped to an indoor floor. It may be tough for your child at first, but it will get easier. And all that moving keeps things silly, which makes for low pressure and high energy fun. So if you want to help your child with reading, gather some paper, break out the markers, and get a jump on it! Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

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SPORTS Bookmarks! Ask a grown-up to help cut these out after coloring. This project works best printed on thicker paper! F O O T BA L L

Gold Medals for Kids Word class athletes aren't the only ones who deserve a gold medal! Help your kindergartener create his own shiny medal that celebrates his amazing and award-worthy accomplishments. What You Need: Cardboard Scissors Glue stick Stapler Ribbon Gold glitter Gold acrylic paint Black marker Pencil What You Do: 1. Draw a circle on the cardboard for the base of the medal. 2. Use scissors to cut out the circle. 3. Paint the cardboard circle gold and allow it to dry completely. 4. Use a pencil to design the front of your medal. What achievements do you want to celebrate? Anything from a recent sports win to an impressive ballet recital would work! 5. Outline the design you created with a black marker. 6. Spread a glue stick over the entire front of your medal 7. Sprinkle gold glitter over your medal. Shake the medal to allow the excess glitter to fall off. Make sure you do this over a trash can. 8. Take the ribbon and measure it around your child's neck. His medal should hang squarely in the middle of his chest. Cut the ribbon to size. 9. Staple each end of the ribbon to the back of the cardboard medal. Time for the awards ceremony! Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

Books About Sports! Does your child love sports? Encourage their love of reading by helping them explore topics they love. Here's a list of some of PBS KIDS' favorite books about sports to get you started. Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

More to Explore! PBS KIDSâ Arthur is the ultimate good sport. Check out more do-it-yourself activities with everyoneâ s best friend. Find out more! Image Credit: Courtesy of WGBH Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.