I am so happy to say that after a long wait, Volume IV is almost here! Obviously Covid threw a monkey wrench in everyone’s life, including my own. I quickly pivoted from creating and testing new lessons to adapting old lessons to the virtual world. I would share all those lessons for free, which you can still find here. When we were able to return back to school, I had to keep the games social distanced, which had its own unique set of opportunities and challenges. While I still need to be aware of social distancing, with the advent of vaccine availability, increased outdoor play, and masking, these strategies have mitigated a lot of that worry.
Luckily, I started this school year with lots of new ideas, and got to work quickly creating and testing. I had close to twenty lessons from before the pandemic, and in a relatively short amount of time, I had about ten more created, tested, and written down. It should be edited and ready by the beginning of the new year, and I am very excited to share my work with you. Without further ado, here is the table of contents for Montessori Physical Education, Volume IV.
Table of Contents
First Great Lesson
Black Hole
A competitive team-based game where students race to get to the event horizon
Cosmic Dance of the Elements
A simple tag based game which demonstrates the actions of heat and cold
Create a Star
A set of cooperative mini games which dictate the attributes of a star
Phases of the Moon
A fun scooter race around the different phases of the moon
Telescope
Not your standard relay race that demonstrates how the stars we see today are from a long time ago
Earth Studies
Rock Cycle Hockey
A fun non-competitive hockey game that will have your students transforming into different types of rocks
Water and Rocks
A fun Pac-Man style scooter game which demonstrates the power of water in rock erosion
Cardinal Directions Twister
It’s the game Twister, but with a (cardinal directions) twist
Latitude and Longitude Soccer
Fast paced mini soccer games which teach the cardinal directions, which are applied to longitude and latitude
Global Warming and CO2
A fun basketball mini-game that demonstrates the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere
Second Great Lesson
Worms
A fun scooter game that teaches predator / prey relationships, layers of the soil, parts of a root, and more
Seed Dispersal
A fun tag based game that where students collect “seeds” and learn about all the different ways that seeds are released by plants
Biology
Adaptation to Injury
Exercise that requires lots of problem solving skills
Cancer
If your students like the game Among Us, they will love this game that teaches the body’s immune response to cancer cells
Cardiovascular Kickball
The ultimate kickball game that also teaches the pathway of blood through the heart
Synapse
A fun cooperative game that teaches about the function of neurotransmitters in a synapse
Third Great Lesson
The Atlatl
This lesson looks at one of the most important inventions in human history: the atlatl. This lesson can also be perfect as an experiment for Science Fair studies
Indigenous Sport
Africa
Akseltag and Genna
These field hockey style games are a lot fun and very interesting as well
Dibeke
One of students new favorite sports! It is a mashup of kickball and sharks and minnows (simple tag based game)
Ancient Greece
Boxing
Teaches the fundamentals of boxing with insights from Ancient Greek Olympians
Long Jump
This lesson demonstrates how long jumps were taken in the Ancient Olympics: with hand weights that can make you jump much farther!
Ancient Rome
Gladiator Training
This lesson series looks at the sword fighting techniques that every aspiring gladiator would need to know to survive their first games. With an emphasis on fencing and escrima kali techniques (Filipino knife martial art), these lessons work well not only in person, but virtually as well
Ancestors to American Baseball
Rounders
The direct ancestor to the lineage of bat and ball games which would eventually become American baseball
Cricket and Wicket
A deep dive into the rules of cricket, and a look at how it was a favorite game of the early American revolutionists
Townball (Early United States)
A series of lessons that look at several variations of American baseball before it became the standardized version it is today
Chemistry / Physics
Chemical Bonds
This competitive and cooperative game shows how atoms share or give electrons to each other
Newton’s Laws of Motion
All the fun of dodgeball without students targeting students, but yoga balls instead! Investigate Newton’s Laws of Motion as the students play this fun competitive game
·Government
Governments Hockey
This is the ultimate game to build confidence in your students hockey skills, and it does a wonderful job of showing the advantages and disadvantages of different government styles as well
Character Education
Sportsmanship (middle school)
This fun competitive and cooperative game has a rule set that rewards good sportsmanship, if they can do it