• 2 - 3 juggling scarves per student

Students will learn the basic skills of juggling 2-3 objects.

If you do not have juggling scarves, plastic grocery bags work as a great substitution.

Tell the students not to rush their throws because the scarf will not float. If they toss it lightly, it will float high and longer. Let them experiment with it (like a mini science experiment)!

Grades 2 - 5:

• Start each student off with 1 scarf. Tell the students to pinch the middle scarf between their thumb and index finger so that the scarf looks like a ghost.
• Practice tossing across the body with the right hand (crossing the midline) and catching with the left hand; “toss across you body so that it looks like an X.” Then, toss with the left and catch with the right. When they toss the scarf, they need to keep their palms facing down (and the same goes for catching) because if you try to toss the scarf with your palm up, it will not go anywhere.
• Next let the students practice with 2 scarves. Hold one scarf in each hand so that it looks like a ghost.
• Now the pattern is toss, toss, catch, catch - or - right, left, catch, catch. Remind them to toss high across their body and they are going to catch the scarf with the opposite hand that they tossed it with. This is a good lesson to teach or even reinforce the right and left sides of the body!
• Challenge the students by asking them to find their personal best record. “How many toss and catch patterns can you do without dropping a scarf or stopping?” “Can you beat your personal best?”

Grades 4 - 5:

• Once the students have a hang of the 2 scarf pattern, give them a third scarf to add into the mix. They are going to hold 2 scarves in their right hand and one scarf in their left using the ghost hold. In the right hand, pinch scarf #1 between the thumb and index finger and scarf #3 between the pinkie finger and their palm. Scarf #2 is held between the thumb and index finger in the left hand.
• Start the students off by just practicing the tossing pattern – right, left, right - or - #1, 2, 3 (as they are numbered in the hands). Remind the students to toss across their body (make an X pattern).
• Teach them how to add catching into the pattern. Tell them that the trick is that whenever a hand is empty, it should catch the scarf that is falling on that side of the body. Toss #1 (from right hand), toss #2 (from left hand), left hand catches #1, toss #3 (from right hand), right hand catches #2, left hand catches #3.
• If they get the hang of this 3 scarf pattern, teach them how to make the pattern continuous. Tell the students that in order to keep the pattern going, they need to toss the scarf back into the air after they catch it. So the pattern then becomes: toss #1, toss #2, catch #1, toss #3, catch #2, toss #1, etc. ie: right, left, catch w/left, right, catch w/right, left, catch w/left, right, catch w/right.
• Practice, practice, practice!! Challenge the students by asking them to find their personal best record. “How many times can they repeat the pattern without dropping a scarf or stopping?” “Can you beat your personal best?”

For those younger students who have a good handle on the 2 scarf pattern, challenge them by giving them yarn balls or bean bags.

For those students who catch on to the 3 scarf pattern quickly, challenge them by changing the object. Give them hacky-sacs or bean bags.