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
Martha Deards says
Where can i buy a paper ball like that?
Kelsey says
Thank you so much for these ideas and videos! My 5th graders are going to love them tomorrow 🙂
Marcus Nellems says
You’re welcome Kelsey!
Glad you’re enjoying the resources!!!
Elsie Faner says
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.
Marcus Nellems says
Elsie!
Glad you’re able to use the resources on your Field Day! I’m sure the students enjoyed making memories!
Thanks for sharing!
kathryn mosher says
Life saver for end of the year teacher!
thank you
Marcus Nellems says
Glad you’re enjoying the resources Kathryn!
Amy Hildenbrand says
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.
Marcus Nellems says
Hey Amy,
Thanks for sharing your experience! Glad you’re enjoying the activities!
Stefen robert says
Nice experiment really fun to watch also checkout Virtual Visual Field
Marcus Nellems says
Thanks for sharing we will have to check it out!
Nalini says
Very interesting and innovative
Marcus Nellems says
Glad you like the resources!
zayra reyes says
i think is a good think to do i like the field day
Marissa says
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!
Ben Landers says
Awesome to hear you used it Marissa – Hope it went well!
Marissa Graff says
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!
Marcus Nellems says
So cool! Glad they loved the resource! Shoe roll is awesome!
Wendy cruz says
i Will mis you mis Rawls and miss lee LOVE you by Wendy????????????????????????????♥♥❤????????❤????????????????????????????????????????????????❤♥????????????????????????❤????????????????????????????❤????????????????????????♥❤♥????????❤????♥????????????????♥????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????♥❤♥????????????????????????????????❤????????❤????❤????????????????????????????♥????????♥????♥????????♥❤????♥????????????????????????????❤♥????♥????????????????♥????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????♥????♥????♥????????????????????????????????❤????????????????????????????????????????♥????♥????????????????????????????????❤❤
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anna says
really fun.
Edgar pina says
That was so fun.I did all of the and I did them in my first try.
Ben Landers says
Wow – Skills!
caroline reyes says
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.
Ben Landers says
Sure thing – glad you enjoyed it!
alberto says
it wus cool
Sienna Colindres says
I though that this was very fun and I would love to do it again!
Anne Marie Lewis says
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!!!!
Ben Landers says
Glad to hear they were useful! Thanks Anne Marie
Cathy says
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!
Marcus Nellems says
Hey Cathy,
Glad you’re enjoying the resources! Good luck on your virtual Field Day!
Kerry Monastra says
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!
Marcus Nellems says
Hey Kerry,
Thanks so much for those kind words! We appreciate it! Hope your virtual Field Day was awesome!!!
Ben Landers says
🙂 Appreciate that Kerry – glad it was useful and hope it goes well!
Annaleigh says
I LOVE FEILD DAYS!!!
Mary says
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?
Marcus Nellems says
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!
Ben Harris says
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
cheznie says
the ganmes sound fun
Marcus Nellems says
Thank you!
zoey long says
what a great idea
Marcus Nellems says
Thanks zoey!
Michelle says
I love all videos they are fun because there nice it up
Marcus Nellems says
Thanks Michelle!
Jason says
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
Kelli says
Exactly what I was looking for (fourth grade teacher looking for online field day ideas). Thank you!
Ben Landers says
Awesome! Glad to hear it was helpful, hope Field Day goes well!
Chris says
Thanks so much for the ideas!
Marcus Nellems says
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the feedback!
elisabeth says
Thank you for posting these! My students are going to love this!
Marcus Nellems says
Hey Elisabeth,
Glad you’re enjoying the resources!
Eileen Shea says
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
Ben Landers says
Awesome Eileen! Glad it was helpful and have fun creating one for your students!
George says
Hey what grade would u say these are appropriate for ? Thanks
Marcus Nellems says
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.
Roxanne says
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.
Marcus Nellems says
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/
Jo Anne Romanaggi says
Great job! how do you make your videos look so simple, and with editing>do you have a easy way to go about this!?
Marcus Nellems says
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!
Coach Larson says
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?
Marcus Nellems says
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
Scott Corris says
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! : )