Are you looking for a fun Halloween activity that is surprisingly difficult? Have your students try “Zombie Fitness.” All your students have to do is stand up from a prone position. However, this simple challenge gets more complicated when they cannot use certain appendages anymore. As they stand up, not using an arm or leg, they will look more and more like zombies!
This game helps the student explore different movement patterns, which can be very challenging. What is unique about this game is that it is also a personal puzzle to solve. Not everyone will do the same series of movements to accomplish their task. People have different strengths, proportions, and abilities, but what matters is if they can figure it out for themselves.
If you want a fun Halloween PE game, try Zombie Fitness!
Materials:
· This game can be played in a relatively small setting (especially at home). Still, if done at school, you will want a space appropriate for the number of students in the class.
Minimum Number of Students Needed: This lesson can be done with only one student.
Prior Knowledge: This lesson is most fun around Halloween time.
Presentation
· Have the students lie down with their backs on the ground. The first movement that they need to practice is being able to sit up without any assistance from their hands. Some students can sit up without a problem, while others may have to rock by lifting their legs and bringing them down to generate momentum. Once we have practiced this, we can move on to the next exercise. Depending on the age, you may do one set of several reps, or if the students are older or very fit, do multiple sets.
· For the next exercise, the students start by lying down on their backs and sitting up like before. From here, all they need to do is stand up using any means they would like. Some students will use their hands to help themselves stand up. In contrast, others are very flexible and will stand up from an extreme squatting position. Once the students stand, they walk a certain distance with their typical walking pattern. Return to their original spot and lie down again to repeat the exercise. Repeat for a specific number of sets and reps. Ask the students to try a different way of getting off the ground if you notice they make the same movement pattern every time.
· In the next exercise, we will sit up, stand, and walk, but now they cannot use their left arm. Again, repeat for a specific number of sets and reps.
· In the next exercise, we will sit up, stand, and walk, but now they cannot use their right arm. Again, repeat for a specific number of sets and reps.
· In the next exercise, we will sit up, stand, and walk, but now they cannot use both arms. This will be difficult for students who are pushing off with one arm. Some will squat up. Some will shift or slide to kneeling and stand up from a lunge. I have seen students use their heads to adjust their center of gravity by pushing them against the ground to get their weight over their feet to stand up. Repeat for a specific number of sets and reps.
· In the next exercise, we will sit up and stand up and walk, but now they cannot use their left leg but have regained their arms. Getting up to a standing position will be difficult, as they must use their arms to balance themselves as they get their balance on their right leg. Once they stand only on their right leg, they will have to one-legged hop the distance instead of walking the predetermined distance. Repeat for a specific number of sets and reps.
· In the next exercise, we will sit up, stand, and walk, but now they cannot use their right leg. Getting up to a standing position will be difficult as they must use their arms to balance themselves as they get their balance on their left leg. Once they stand only on their left leg, they will have to one-legged hop the distance instead of walking the predetermined distance. Repeat for a specific number of sets and reps.
· In the next exercise, they cannot use their legs. After they sit up, they cannot stand, so they must use their arms to drag their body the predetermined distance. For example, some people might do a modified army crawl. Others might sit up and push with both arms against the ground. This resembles a wheelchair motion or how someone performs a dip exercise to propel their body backward or pull with both arms simultaneously to move forward.
· In the next exercise, they can only move their left arm and leg. Students usually roll to their left side to complete this, which requires a lot of abdominal strength, coordination, and balance.
· In the next exercise, they can only move their right arm and right. Students usually roll to their right side to complete this, which requires a lot of abdominal strength, coordination, and balance.
· In the next exercise, they can only move their left leg and right arm (bilateral movement). This will be an excellent test of coordination and balance. Many students do a rotation movement to balance.
· In the next exercise, they can only move their right leg and left arm (bilateral movement). This will be an excellent test of coordination and balance. Many students do a rotation movement to balance.
· For strong and coordinated students, you can challenge them to use no arms and only one leg. This will require incredible flexibility and strength, as the student will have to do a one-legged pistol squat to stand up and then keep their balance as they hop the distance. Even then, they will most likely flex their other leg and keep their arms out for balance. Even still, this is an incredible feat of strength and balance.
· To summarize, the progression looks like this:
o Sit-up
o Sit-up and stand-up
o Sit-up and stand-up, no left arm
o Sit-up and stand-up, no right arm
o Sit-up and stand-up, no arms
o Sit-up and stand-up, no left leg
o Sit-up and stand-up, no right leg
o Sit-up and drag, no legs
o Sit-up and stand-up left arm and left leg only
o Sit-up and stand-up, right arm and right leg only
o Sit-up and stand-up left leg and right arm only
o Sit-up and stand-up, right leg and left arm only
Extra challenge: use only one leg to stand up
Aims:
Direct: For the students to move their bodies in various ways, sometimes without the aid of all their appendages.
Indirect:
Listening to directions
Problem-solving
Patience
Perseverance
Physical skills practiced:
· This is a taxing series of exercises for the musculoskeletal system, and it also requires a good amount of balance
Control Of Error:
Whether the student can find a way to stand or achieve locomotion.
Points of Interest: It is exciting to see students come up with unique ways to solve the riddle of standing up or moving when they are “missing” several appendages. It is a similar premise to the game Twister, except the students are losing the ability to move an appendage instead of just moving it to a spot.
Age: All Ages
Like any good horror movie, when you thought it was over, there is always a surprise at the end! Another lesson plan!
This tag-based game will have your students testing their zombie-evading skills. It was a hit with my oldest students, who sometimes are the hardest to please. So, if you are doing Halloween-based games tomorrow, check out this lesson plan. I’m sure your students will love it.
Zombie Tag
Introduction:
Have your students test their Zombie evasion skills in this Walking Dead-like tag game!
Materials:
· This game is best played in a gym. You want a combination of lots of running room in a confined space.
· A hula-hoop for every student
· One dodgeball
Minimum Number of Students Needed: More the better!
Prior Knowledge: Basic knowledge of surviving a Zombie Apocalypse.
Presentation
· Start with one student standing in the middle of the gym. They are the survivor. Their job is not to get tagged by a Zombie player for as long as possible. They should be armed with one dodgeball.
· Have all the other students outside the volleyball court lines. They all should have a hula-hoop. They are the Zombie players.
· The Zombie players chase the survivors and try to tag them. However, as they chase, they must drag the hula-hoop on the ground with one foot. This will slow them down and give them the appearance of a zombie-like limp.
The students cannot hold, lift, or move the hoop other than dragging it with a foot. Of course, they will ask a million ways to go faster, but they should only be able to drag it. However, some can be pretty fast, even dragging it!
· If the Zombie player loses their hoop, they must immediately retrieve it. A tag made without a hoop does not count.
· The survivor starts in the middle of the playing area, and the zombies go to the perimeter. When the instructor says go, the Zombies are released, and try and tag the survivor. The survivor can run anywhere they need to to avoid getting tagged. However, they almost always get caught in a corner eventually.
· To help the survivors, they have one dodgeball. If the survivor throws the ball at a zombie, they must fall over. Afterward, they sit up like in Zombie Fitness Part One and continue the chase. The dodgeball only stuns a zombie player.
· The survivor can pick up the dodgeball after throwing it and use it again. Unfortunately, the ball often rolls away and can’t be retrieved safely. Sometimes, the survivor is fortunate, and the ball ricochets off a zombie back to the survivor to use again.
· Time how long it takes for the survivor to get tagged, and then switch the survivor player. Play as many rounds as you can.
· If your students want benchmarks for their performance:
o 0-10 seconds: OK
o 10-20 seconds: Good
o 20-30 seconds: Great
o 30-40 seconds: Incredible
o 40-50 seconds: Amazing
o 50 seconds or more: Elite
Aims:
Direct: For the students to enjoy Halloween with their friends!
Indirect:
Listening to directions
Problem-solving
Patience
Physical skills practiced:
· Running for evasion
Control Of Error:
Whether the student is tagged.
Points of Interest: The students can’t help but think of movies or TV shows where someone is trying to survive the Zombie apocalypse. Now they get their chance!
Age: All ages; however, it is better for older students if your younger ones get scared.