What’s up Friends!
Just because kids are all stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t have an awesome Field Day!
Many of us are trying to run a Virtual Field Day Event at our schools, so I thought you might want to check out how I’m doing it at our school.
(Sidenote: This post goes over how I normally run a Field Day)
A Few Thoughts
I am basically using some of the games from Open Physed’s Virtual Field Day resources and events list and modifying them a little to make things more simple for my students and parents.
I also added a few extra challenges that I thought would be fun for my students to try out.
The Slow Roll (to reduce the overwhelm)
For starters, we decided to roll out 2 videos a week, because as a parent of 3 kiddos at home right now I can attest to the fact that parents are extremely overwhelmed with assignments and duties, while also trying to work from home and manage kids.
I thought that releasing 2 videos at a time might increase the chance of participation from students and parents since each game and activity only takes about 60 seconds to complete once it’s set up.
Have FUN!
I also made it clear that the purpose was to HAVE FUN and CONNECT with each other. I let parents and students know that it was voluntary and will not be graded or assessed in any way and that they can pick their favorite games or events or do them all, it’s up to them.
I don’t have anything against anyone who decides to have kids fill out and submit scorecards and does virtual medals or competitions, but I felt that this wasn’t best for our school and again I didn’t want to overwhelm parents and students with another to do list item.
Field Day Directions
I made the video below to explain things and like I said we will be sending out 2 videos a week in the newsletter as our Weekly Virtual Field Day Challenge.
I asked students and parents to post any photos or videos to our schools facebook page or they can post on twitter and tag us while also using the #nationalfieldday to connect with other kids around the country who are also participating in virtual field day
Virtual Field Day Games and Events
Each week we will challenge kids to complete 1-2 events and post them to social media by linking up the below videos in the school newsletter.
You can check out the videos below:
*Props to Nick Williamson for coming up with the idea challenging me with the paper ball trick shot
That’s It!
Hope that was helpful, like I said I decided to keep it really simple in this overwhelming time, but there are a ton of different ways to do it, so think through your specific situation and do what’s best for you and your students.
Check out The Open Physed Virtual Field Day Page for lots more resources and game ideas.
FAQ
How do you make your videos?
- All these videos were shot on my cell phone (iPhone X) and edited in a program called Final Cut Pro X, but I would recommend starting with a program called iMovie if you are just starting out with Video Editing
Where can i buy a paper ball like that?
Thank you so much for these ideas and videos! My 5th graders are going to love them tomorrow 🙂
You’re welcome Kelsey!
Glad you’re enjoying the resources!!!
Oh so awesome!! I teach 2nd grade and am in charge of virtual. I found your post and we had such an awesome Field Day at home! Thank you so much for these awesome and easy activities. They created some hilarious moments and gave us some laughs during this confusing time. Again, thank you for doing this awesome Field Day.
Elsie!
Glad you’re able to use the resources on your Field Day! I’m sure the students enjoyed making memories!
Thanks for sharing!
Life saver for end of the year teacher!
thank you
Glad you’re enjoying the resources Kathryn!
There were a lot of fun ideas. The bottle flip was awesome, the bowl ball is something fun to do with so many unmatched socks. The water bottle trap is a fun game and gives me a reason to fold clothes sooner than 7 to 10 business days. We do the paper ball tricks every day in this house, not to many make in in though. And the towel flip is being tried at the moment, this should be interesting. Thanks for the videos.
Hey Amy,
Thanks for sharing your experience! Glad you’re enjoying the activities!
Nice experiment really fun to watch also checkout Virtual Visual Field
Thanks for sharing we will have to check it out!
Very interesting and innovative
Glad you like the resources!
i think is a good think to do i like the field day
Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into this. Here in Kyiv, Ukraine, we will be using this for our kiddos as we wrap up our online learning. Truly, this is awesome. Thanks!
Awesome to hear you used it Marissa – Hope it went well!
Just finished! It was a huge hit. We have many children learning English and they were able to participate because of the helpful videos. That shoe roll activity is no joke 🙂 Thanks so much again. You saved us!
So cool! Glad they loved the resource! Shoe roll is awesome!
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really fun.
That was so fun.I did all of the and I did them in my first try.
Wow – Skills!
Thanks for showing me what is vurtial field day dont rush i promise i won’t rush but just to let you thanx for making me happy i already miss school if i was in school right now i would be happy enough thanx to my teachers.
Sure thing – glad you enjoyed it!
it wus cool
I though that this was very fun and I would love to do it again!
This is so terrific!! I want to have a virtual field day with my students this week and I plan to use a whole bunch of your awesome ideas!!!!
Glad to hear they were useful! Thanks Anne Marie
This is so great! I love these ideas and I love your energy and attitude! We are doing a Virtual Field Day today and I’ve been sharing ideas all week but just came upon yours. I’ll definitely be sharing these videos!
Hey Cathy,
Glad you’re enjoying the resources! Good luck on your virtual Field Day!
You are just AWESOME! My principal texted today and asked if I could come up with a virtual field day, and all I could think of was how lame it would be. 🙁 Then, I went to your site bc your my “go-to” resource for my PE planning, and lo and behold….you have it all there!! Thank you so much for making planning PE so easy and fun. (BTW….your kiddos in the trick shot video are just adorable!) Thank you! thank you! thank You! You’re the best!
Hey Kerry,
Thanks so much for those kind words! We appreciate it! Hope your virtual Field Day was awesome!!!
🙂 Appreciate that Kerry – glad it was useful and hope it goes well!
I LOVE FEILD DAYS!!!
I love this idea. I’m having trouble viewing your videos though. The screen is very dark or completely green. What am I doing wrong?
Hey Mary,
Sorry you’re having trouble. We tested them out and they seem to working just fine on our end. Maybe try them in a different browser or if you are trying to watch them through the site, click on the bottom right corner and watch on YouTube. That might help!
Hi Ben!
Great vids! Question: Over how many weeks did/are you going to roll these out? How many total videos will that be? Is this on top of your other virtual P.E. lessons? Thank you for your time!
Ben
the ganmes sound fun
Thank you!
what a great idea
Thanks zoey!
I love all videos they are fun because there nice it up
Thanks Michelle!
Looking at your resources thank you. I am a PE teacher in Vermont. Looking to do a virtual field day for k-8 students.
Stay healthy and stay active!
Mr.Jason
Exactly what I was looking for (fourth grade teacher looking for online field day ideas). Thank you!
Awesome! Glad to hear it was helpful, hope Field Day goes well!
Thanks so much for the ideas!
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for posting these! My students are going to love this!
Hey Elisabeth,
Glad you’re enjoying the resources!
I Loved this!!! I am going to make one too! I am an Adapted Physical Education teacher. I think my kids will enjoy this.
Eileen Shea
Awesome Eileen! Glad it was helpful and have fun creating one for your students!
Hey what grade would u say these are appropriate for ? Thanks
Hey George,
Thanks for reaching out. The resources for the Virtual Field Day were designed for elementary aged students. But I’m sure you could adapt them for secondary students as well.
How many challenges did you give your students for field day? I’ve never hosted a filed day, so I have no experience to draw from.
Hey Roxanne,
I plan to roll out about 1 to 2 challenges per week. If you’re talking about a normal in school field day check out the post linked below:
https://www.thepespecialist.com/fieldday/
Great job! how do you make your videos look so simple, and with editing>do you have a easy way to go about this!?
Hey Jo Anne,
You can see a detailed breakdown of the entire process of making the videos at the post below:
https://www.thepespecialist.com/pevideo/
Hope that’s helpful!
Ben…do you use Google Classroom for your students? If so, do you use some kind of virtual badges, certificates, to acknowledge the efforts and success of your students? How do you incorporate that into Google Classroom?
Hey Coach Larson,
We don’t use Google Classroom with are students. Sorry. But we do provide students with opportunities to reward themselves every time they come to PE class. You can check it out at the post linked:
https://www.thepespecialist.com/making-assessment-easy-and-automatic/
Maybe you could convert some aspects to your Google Classroom
Good stuff, Ben. I’ve been making a master list of games too, though I have yet to decide on what to do with my team. I like your “gradual roll out” idea. We have “flex Fridays” in our remote learning schedule, so that might be a natural tie-in to what we offer. Keep up the great work and stay healthy! Cute kids btw! : )