Animal Tag

Tag is such a fun game to play! I have found a few twists that I absolutely love playing! I have played them with kids as young as 6 years old. The kids love the creativity these twists allow.

My Experiences

I have played this game of tag multiple times. I love seeing everyone participate and laughing together. The participants are always super creative with their animal choices and how they portray their animals.

If you use this game, please comment and share your experience or twists you added! I'd love to hear different ideas!

Animal Tag

Choose one player to be 'it'. On the starting signal, the tagger attempts to tag as many players as possible. If tagged a player must assume an animal position (you can also do sports or other categories). A tagged player is un-'frozen' when a player who isn't frozen guesses his/her animal. If the player guesses the wrong animal, he/she stays frozen until the animal is guessed correctly.

Recommendations

You can let the players use their hands to tag each other if they get along well. I have found that a soft ball works best so the participants do not get too physical if they do not get along well. 

Life Lessons

Point out the importance of good communication. My favorite time I played, one of the girls decided to be a guinea pig. No one could guess her animal. After the game, we talked about the importance of using words and actions that others will understand. Also, when his/her animal was not being guessed, the participants would switch to different positions for the same animal. Using this, we talked about the importance of rephrasing to help communication. 

Materials

• 1-2 soft balls

Other Variations of Tag
Freeze-Tag Toss 
Triangle Tag
Spot Tag
Coping Skills Freeze Tag

Please comment below on how you would use this activity with your population, thoughts on how it has worked for you, advice for others on how to implement it, what you would process and so on! We'd love to hear about it! 
 
Here are a few links to ideas on how to lead activities better:

• Why Leadership and Activities are Important 

• Correctly Using Leadership

• Leading the Activity (Problem Solving, Group Control, etc.)

• Handling Different Age Groups

• Managing Large Groups and Choosing Teams (relays, team spirit, including everyone, etc.)

Credit:

Picture 1: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=9732960
Picture 2: http://cdn.sheknows.com/articles/2011/04/kids-playing-hens-chicks.jpg

Wheelchair Basketball

My Experiences

I have played wheelchair basketball many times and have absolutely loved it! Shooting the basketball is very different when sitting down, but it is so fun! My friend, Kelly, and I put together a wheelchair basketball tournament. Everyone seemed to love it! 

Rules
The rules are very similar to basketball such as the height of the hoop (10 feet). A few rules are modified such as players must dribble, pass, or shoot after pushing/touching the wheels of the wheelchair twice. Double-dribble does not exist in wheelchair basketball. Players cannot run their chairs into other players' chairs - that is a foul. Defenders are not allowed to stay in the paint longer than five seconds.


Participants

The participants can vary. Wheelchair basketball was designed for people who have a spinal injury, amputated leg, etc., but over time, more people have started playing. People without a disability can participate now as well. When all of the players on the teams have a disability, it is called an adaptive sport. When some of the players have a disability and some do not, it is called reverse integration.

Where to find Wheelchair Basketball
Many city recreation centers now have wheelchairs for different wheelchair sports for example the new Provo Recreation Center. The wheelchairs are different for basketball so please do not try using regular wheelchairs. The wheelchairs for basketball have angled wheels so that fingers and arms are less likely to get hurt. Just call around and see if you can find any.

Collegiate, Professional, and Olympic Levels

Many Colleges have a intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball team such as University of Texas at Austin. Also Title IX was just reinterpreted so that college intramural programs must include adaptive sports. Check out the link below for the letter from the government to the universities. Many NBA teams have a wheelchair basketball team affiliate such as the Jazz. The Paralympic Games host wheelchair basketball teams from across the world. The video at the top of this blog shows a few highlights from Beijing.
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201301-504.pdf

Themes

Events tend to go over best when they have a theme. For wheelchair basketball, a few different themes can be used. For our tournament, we chose to use March Madness as our theme. We had the tournament the Saturday before Selection Sunday for the NCAA tournament and called it Selection Saturday. The title of our event was Wheelin' March Madness. We gave out trophies to the top two teams. Other themes could be disability awareness day - usually around April 3rd. Another idea would be around the time of the Paralympics (starting the week after the Olympics). 




Uses as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist
This activity could be used as a treatment to help improve functionality for someone who had a lower body amputation or received a spinal cord injury. This could also be used for leisure education to teach someone how to play so they can play in the future with friends whether they have a disability or not. 

Please comment below on how you would use these activities with your population, thoughts on how it has worked for you, advice for others on how to implement it, what you would process and so on! We'd love to hear about it! 

Here are a few links to ideas on how to lead activities better:

• Why Leadership and Activities are Important 
• Correctly Using Leadership
• Leading the Activity (Problem Solving, Group Control, etc.)
• Handling Different Age Groups
• Managing Large Groups and Choosing Teams (relays, team spirit, including everyone, etc.)

Photo Credit: 
Wheelin' Jazz Logo: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPwUrefvSMZZ_VIOgU1w0pDtI-_fXGDX9vv8hOWtgAIkKdXJdz_BjRDAv489M1ClGPp0Di5eVW_oprc7nfCWDiPjT2rBrry7GXdWFBSc_6hl9X_N6VU_4AZkMX_NdFbOR4iS159mW8scy/s240/08.10.16_Wheelin_Jazz_Logo_Large+copy+0.5X.05.gif

Road Warriors Logo:
http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-prn1/c0.1.180.180/s160x160/12302_110348802316838_7175217_a.jpg

The Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWsHGuTYt8U 

All of the other pictures: Taken at Wheelin' March Madness March 15, 2013 by Kathryn Williams

Managing Large Groups and Choosing Teams

This past semester, I took a class called Social Recreation Leadership. In this class, we learned the importance of creatively choosing teams, how to involve everyone, and keep the fun going. My professor has taught this class for 25 years, and these are his guidelines for leading activities. This is the fifth post out of five about guidelines for leading activities.

These guidelines are not intended to work in all situations. Guideline application requires leadership. You must decide what activities to use in different conditions. Leaders must be alert to potential problems and adjust quickly. Maximum fun and participation in a safe environment is the goal.

Choosing Sides, Teams, or Partners

            Choosing sides can be an embarrassing and anxious experience for many people. Avoid friend-choosing-friend and leaving someone out. Be creative and fun in dividing people into groups. Here are a few ideas on how to choose sides, teams, or partners:

• Clasp hands – the hand on top is in a group and the hand on bottom is in a group
• Name tags - different colors to signify different teams
• Birthdays
• Clothing/jewelry items
• Hold up fingers
• Left thumb/right pinky
• Fold arms/left arm on top is one group, etc.
• Number of letters in first name – odds/evens
• Eye color
• Height
• Wink – left or right
• Animal sounds
• Choices of fruits, vacations, etc.
• Folders/scrunchers
• Count off by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, etc.

            Once groups are formed, you can put the groups together in various combinations throughout the program. Groups make formations easier.

If a Relay is Moving too Slow

• Make teams smaller
• Use shuttle relays
• Half the team is on one side and half on the other side. The relay moves twice as fast and doubles the participation. 

Promoting Team Spirit

• Have a 'team yell' competition
• Use group leaders to foster team spirit
• Use lots of team skits, cheers, and group contests

Creative Ways to Finish Group Races

• Form a pyramid
• Sit down and raise hands
• Sing a song

Teams are not Even in Number

• Have some people run more than once
• Use group leaders/staff members to even the teams

People are Standing around and Watching

            While we cannot force everyone to participate, you should make every effort to involve him/her, sometimes without him/her realizing it. If you are doing the activities for a larger group, try a test run with a few people to hopefully find any possible problems and fix them. Here are some ideas on how to keep people from standing around and watching:

• Make groups smaller
• Example: In a group of 100, more will participate if the group is divided into 10 smaller groups with one leader over each rather than 10 leaders over a group of 100.
• Have participants help you. Make them judges and officials
• Modify the rules
• Quickly change games

Please share your insights on leading groups and choosing teams in comments below.

Group Considerations

         This past semester, I took a class called Social Recreation Leadership. In this class, we learned how to lead different activities for different age groups. My professor has taught this class for 25 years, and these are his guidelines for leading activities. This is the fourth out of five posts about guidelines to leading activities.

        These guidelines are not intended to work in all situations. Guideline application requires leadership. You must decide what activities to use in different conditions. Leaders must be alert to potential problems and adjust quickly. Maximum fun and participation in a safe environment is the goal.

Age Considerations

• Age groups:
• Children
• Teenagers
• Young adults
• Adults
• Seniors
• Mixed – all/any of the ages
• Ideas:

• Children: the younger the group, the more important the control. This is especially important with children and teenagers. Control keeps the activity safe and usually makes it more fun. The degree of control becomes a judgment call of the activity leader based on the group age and ability
• Teenagers and Young Adults: These groups generally go for the outrageous, “off the wall,” high-energy activities. Making it safe is the challenge. From young adults and older, generally reduce control.
• Adults and Seniors: As people get older, they enjoy lower-energy activities and entertainment.
• Mixed age group: Generally you are trying to provide a bonding opportunity for mixed age groups. This category can be the most challenging depending on the age range. The wider the range, the greater the challenge. Example: toddlers to grandparents
• Ways to Plan for Mixed Age Groups
• Plan for the younger ages and invite the older ages to join in and help. Example: daddy/daughter dance.
• Find activities that all ages can enjoy. This is difficult, but there are some.
• Use group contests, songs, and skits which involve families or mixed age groups.
• Involve the younger ages in an activity that entertains the rest of the group. Example: have younger participants do a dance onstage while the older participants cheer them on.
• Gear activities to the abilities and interest of the seniors and invite all others to join in the fun.

Factors to Consider before Beginning

• Type of groups
• Ages
• Abilities
• How many
  
• Gender
• Mixed ages and genders
• Mixing genders can be difficult because this can change the whole dynamic of the group
• Other
• Theme
• Purpose
• Location
• Responsibilities
• Who is going to do what? Divide responsibilities based on talent and personality.
• Provide written instructions to those helping/staff
• Variety
• Time length
• Equipment 

Please comment to share your insights on things we should consider when planning activities for different populations and groups.