Cooperative Activities
K - 1 Buggy Rides 3 - 6 The Bus
K - 1 Scooter-mania 3 - 6 The Glob
K - 2 I Want a Home 3 - 6 Minefield
K - 2 Hold that Floor 3 - 6 Kong Pong
K - 2 Copy Machine 3 - 6 Nerf-Ball Passover
K - 2 Traffic Tag 4 - 6 Sneak Attack
K - 2 Parachute Fun 4 - 6 Moving Islands
K - 2 Ring of Fun 4 - 6 Slalom Blindfold
1 - 2 Animals 4 - 6 Nine-person Skip
2 - 3 The Snake 4 - 6 Balloon Fooseball
2 - 5 Man From Mars 5 - 6 The Tadpole
2 - 6 Keepers of the Castle 5 - 6 Titanic Challenge
2 - 8 Cooperative Hoops 5 - 6 Human Knot
3 - 4 Cone Scramble 6 Cooperative Team Handball
3 - 5 Frogs and Ants 6 Cross-Over Blanket Volleyball
3 - 5 Loop Da Hoop

PPEP-PALS Lesson Sharing
Teacher & School: Zack Dee, Petaluma Junior High
Activity Grade Level
Titanic Challenge 5 - 6
Equipment Needs
  • hula hoops per team
  • cones for the start and finish lines.
Facility/Playground Needs Blacktop would probably work best, but the field can be used as well. The area marked off should be about the length of half a basketball court. You can make it shorter or longer depending on time and how difficult you’d like to make it.
Lesson Objective (Psychomotor and/or Cognitive): For students to work on positive cooperative and communication skills and strategy development.
Teaching Hints:
  • To solve this challenge they will need to put one hoop in front of the other until they reach the finish line, but do not tell them this unless they absolutely cannot figure it out.
  • Discuss how cooperation is important to help groups achieve one’s goal.
  • Introduce and/or review different types of positive communication skills (talk in respectful voices, allow all to contribute, etc.).
Description:

Explain to the students that they will all be aboard a sinking ship (behind the start line). They may only use lifeboats (the hula-hoops) to get to safety (the other line). The object is to get all the people safely off the boat as quickly as possible using only the lifeboats.

Students may only step in the hoops and may pick up hoops, but only those that are empty. Hula-hoops cannot be dragged or tossed. Teams may take any number of passengers on the lifeboats, but if any passenger steps out of the hoops all the people in the lifeboat must return to the ship. Teams may step out of the lifeboat only when they have reached the finish line but they may not throw the hoops back to the boat.

Divide students into groups of 6 or less. Give each group 1-2 minutes to brainstorm ideas on how to solve their dilemma; each member of the group must offer a suggestion before they decide on a course of action. Then tell groups they have 5 minutes or so to begin with. At the end of the time, gather groups together and discuss what they have done, what has worked, etc. Allow students to begin again, using ideas they may have gathered. At the end of the activity, discuss again the types of behaviors which were helpful to groups successfully completing the challenge.
Alternatives/Modifications
  • Make the activity area bigger or smaller.
  • Try adding or removing hoops. Also, you can make certain color hoops “icebergs” that cannot be moved.
Reference