Grade: Junior, Intermediate
Facility: Classroom, Multi-purpose room
Physical Activity Level: Moderate to Vigorous
Time: 20 minutes or two 10 minute segments
Materials: None
Activity Description: Corner Warm Up is a great way to incorporate 20 minutes of Daily Physical Activity during instructional time. The activity is ideal for generalist teachers looking for an easy way to implement safe and fun activities in the classroom.
Overview: Ask students to clear a safe pathway from each corner to the next. Remind students to move safely and to avoid colliding with others in the corners. Allow for a warm-up (beginning with less vigorous movement) and cool down (ending with less vigorous movement).
- Divide students into groups of five.
- One student from each group goes to each corner, with two students in corner #1.
- Inform them that they will assess their safe participation at the end of the class.
- On a signal, a student from each team leaves corner #1 and speed walks to tag their team-mate in the next corner. After being tagged, that student speed walks to the next corner. Students continue moving from corner to corner until the fifth student tags the first student. First student begins another lap increasing speed slightly, and students move from a speed walk to a slow jog, to a faster jog, to skipping to galloping.
- Remind students to move safely and to avoid colliding with others in the corners.
- While waiting for their turn, students can run on the spot, do wall push-ups, a wall-sit, roll shoulders, hips and ankles, or do gentle stretches.
- Allow for the last lap around the room to be a less vigorous way of traveling so that students can cool down.
- During the group assessment of their safe participation ask one of the teams to lead a stretching routine to cool down.
Source: Adapted from Grade 5, H&PE Curriculum Resource Support Document
