What are some useful games for kids?

[Rateh]

When we have a large class (too big for running laps), then sometimes we warm up with "run and get the bag"....make 2 or three lines of students on one side of the dojo, and put the same number of small hand pads on the other. The first student in line runs and grabs the pad on their side and runs back and gives it to the next student in their line. The second student runs and puts it back, then tags the third student, who goes and gets it again. The game continues till everyone starts to get tired.

Another warm up i do in the beginning class is "the commands game". All students start on a line facing toward the rest of the dojo (they are going to be running). After reviewing commands (i ask them what each one means, and then what language it is in, because we use japanese and korean), we start the game. If i say go, they run, if i say stop, they stop, if i say go back, they run back, if i say attention, they get in attention stance, etc, all in japanese or korean. Usually i start off with the whole class just doing go and stop. Then I do two or three students at a time, who are at the same level, with the more advanced beginners doing harder commands, and the newer ones doing only stop and go still.

In the intermediate class i started doing sensei says with japanese and korean. The first few times they can keep their eyes open. After that they have to close them so that they can't watch the other students.

Obstical course is also a popular warm up, i change it depending on what ranks and ages are in the class. One thing that i do (even for the 3 and 4 yaer old white belts), is they have to set up and put away their obstical course. For the younger ones i tell them each what to do. For the older ones, i tell them to set it up, and help the ones who dont know. When its time to put it away, i give them a time limit, say 45 seconds to have everything away and all students standing in a ready stance at the wall. In the beginners class they have 1 pushup for every 3-5 seconds over. In the intermediate and advanced class they have 1 push up for every second they went over. If they are really lousy and dont work together, that can add up to over 30 or once or twice 50.

On to end of the class games...

Jump over the rope is a game we play, especially in the beginning class. It teaches to jump properly for flying kicks and diving rolls. Hold the rope at the appropriate level for the kid to jump, they run and jump off of one foot and land on two. Progressivly get it harder for each student.

Jump over the river is similar, but instead of hight its distance.

Tricks on the mat is when we put the big mat out (1 to 1.5 feet thick) and they get to jump over the rope, or sometimes without the rope, onto the mat. They can do any trick they want, but they cant do one they have never done before, and they have to land on the mat and not hurt themselves. This was a favorite with our 9-11 year old boys.

Dodgeball is done with all the students agains't the wall, and the instructor throws it. I try and aim just above the knee and lower, because when i started then i hit a few boys in the groin -.-. If you get hit, then u go sit at the mirror and wait for everyone else to get out.

"stop and go" is another game i made. You use a handpad, with the hitting surface being go, and the handle side being stop. All the kids start on the line facing you. First one is always running keeping your hands up in fighting position. When you show the pad side, they run, when you show the other side, they have to freeze where they are. If they dont freeze they get 3-5 pushups (i used to do 10, but that takes forever in the beginning class). Next time down they might do front kicks, then maybe crawl. I like to change it up between karate techniques and silly things. Crawl is the best one for catching students, they get so into the crawl they forget to watch for the stop signal.

In the intermediate class we do kata races. Do your kata as fast as you can (dont have to have good technique, but there has to be SOME technique). Whoever messes up is out, whoever finishes first without messing up wins.

Intermediate class also plays "sensei doesnt know anything", where i pretend im a brand new whitebelt and i know no karate at all. Its their job to get me through Ichi (our first kata), telling me which way to go, fixing my stances, showing me how to punch correctly, etc.

Thats all i can think of at the moment, if I think of more i might type them. Hope it wasnt too confusing to read.

[Holland]

I am a high school P.E teacher, along with running my own isshinryu dojo. I do tons of high energy warm ups and I could probably type my fingers to nubs doing so....

One of the ones I like alot is a variation of dodgeball...I do this in my 8-13 year old class. I have a gymnasium...and line the kids up on one wall and me and another black belt or two throw the soft dodgeballs (the gator skin type) at the students. If they get hit, they have to go off to the side and do a kata...then they come back in. They have to do a different kata each time (unless they only know one, then they just do that one...) This gets them warmed up, and promotes kata practice as well.

I also do an activity that requires listening...it starts with the fact that I will say that everytime I say "stop" I want the students to run in place...but every time I say "go" i want them to stop moving. I add more and more commands to this like "when I say jump up and down I want you to actually start doing jumping jacks,,,and when I say do jumping jacks I want you to jump up and down" The complexity is up to you, but it can get pretty intense. At the end of the activity I have an elimination round, in which every time a student messes up, that student is out.

Another one I do is that I make two lines and I have the kids do various locomotor movements back and forth from one line to the other when I say "go!" We do sliding, skipping, galloping, running, running backwards, front-kicking, etc.... At the end we go back to running and we do an elimination round in which each time we go, the last student to cross the line is out...eventually it ends up being just two, and they have been going for a while.... Its a good activity that gets all of the students warmed up and promoted good footwork.

[ninjanurse]

These are all great drills. I already do several of them in my classes but now have a few new ones to add!

[tke010]

These are great.

Thanks everyone for posting.

I'm going to try the Sifu says and dodge ball recommendations tonight.

one thing I do:

i have my young ones 6-10 play a form of tug-o-war.

one old belt used as a center line on the floor. two belts laying across this center line belt.

i pick 2 kids (try and keep same size, ocassionall pick completely outmatched sizes for fun - kinda like david and goliath-everyone cheers for the little guy... ), say go, they run out grab onto a belt with each hand and try to pull the other kid over the center line belt. it stops if one kids loses either belt or gets pulled over the center line.

the kids love it! they ask me for this beofre each class begins.

i have the winners go against each other until there are about 2-3 winners left. i give all remaining winners small patches.

they really try hard, its a really good work out for them, especially their legs.

another thing:

put 4 comes out, making a large square, have the kids jog around a few laps. I say figure 8, they have to now run diagonally making figure 8 around the cones without touching each other. if they touch, they sit down. i say faster, they have to run faster. if i say cat stance, they have to step using cat stances only, same with horse stance.

most will eventually tire out and touch each other or miss a figure 8 and their out.

this helps them increase awareness of their surroundings and how to move while in different stances.

[Aodhan]

Variation with foam noodles:

Circle the kids, run it around their heads or feet. they either have to duck it or hop over it.

you can also whack them (gently) with the noodles while they do their form. Great for aiding concentration. (Oddly enough, adults love this drill too.)

Hula hoops are wonderful. You can roll them and have them run through 1, 2 or 3 hoops.

Also, you can have the class form a circle, and put the hoop over their arms. They have to travel the hoop around the circle by stepping through it. You can make it harder by having a hoop on opposite sides of the circle, and if it catches up to the other hoop, the people that are "caught" by it must do laps, pushups, whatever.

Crab races get them giggling like mad. Ninja says, "hot spots", all fun games.

Aodhan

[NothingsShadow]

They're some good ones Rateh, I especially like the "sensei doesn’t know anything" one (I might have a go at that tonight).

I have another that is similar to one of Rateh's. All kids except one line up along a wall facing the front, the one kid left over stands at the front (facing away from the rest) and calls out go .... stop (in whatever language you want) in quick succession. When they call go the kids in the line will run forward, when stop is called all the kids in the line must stop immediately and adopt a stance, the kid at the front will then quickly turn around and if they catch anyone still moving after they say stop that person must return to the start line. Also the kid at the front will check that everyone else is in a good stance (you can't do the same one twice) and if their not (a senior may need to help with this) they are also sent back to the start. Then the kid at the front turns around again (so they can't see everyone else again) and calls go .... stop again and repeats the same action as before. The aim of the game is to tag the person standing at the front without being caught moving by that person and maintaining a good stance each time stop is called. I find this game a lot of fun because it is quite subjective what makes a good stance, hence you can be very harsh on the senior grades allowing the little ones to have a chance, meaning everyone can join in and have equal chance of winning.

[calleo14]

These are all great games guys thanks

[topdawg]

At our school the younger kids do "hop fighting". Two kids get on the mat. They each grab a hold of a towel with one hand. They then stand on one foot. The other foot they bend up behind them and grab with the free hand. They then hop up and down and try to pull the towel away from their oppenent. If they fall down, put their foot down, or lose the towel they lose.

[Sohan]

At our school the younger kids do "hop fighting". Two kids get on the mat. They each grab a hold of a towel with one hand. They then stand on one foot. The other foot they bend up behind them and grab with the free hand. They then hop up and down and try to pull the towel away from their oppenent. If they fall down, put their foot down, or lose the towel they lose.

That's a great idea! It'll be good for balance development and I'm sure fun for the kids. I'm going to use that on Tuesday!

Respectfully,

Sohan

[topdawg]

how did it go?