School Sports Day Activities

A school sports day, also known as a field day, provides an entertaining event that allows students to participate and enjoy success. An encouraging atmosphere at the school sports day ensures that all kids feel comfortable participating in the activities. Adapting these ideas allows them to be used for a variety of children. Vary the skill level for each activity to meet the age and abilities of the participants.

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Relays offer a versatile sports event for the school sports day. There are many variations the basic relay race idea. Dress-up relays require a person from each team to put on a costume, run around a cone and return to the starting point. She removes the costume and passes it on to the next team member, who repeats the process. A balloon relay requires each player to run to the end of the playing field, grab a balloon and pop it. He returns to the starting line to tag the next team member, who takes a turn at popping a balloon. To challenge the balance of the students, have each of them place a plastic egg on a spoon, and walk the length of the field, around a cone and back to the start.

For an outdoor relay, fill a bucket with water and place it at the far end of the field. Place an empty bucket at the starting line. Provide a small cup for each team. One at a time, have the students race to the full bucket, grab a scoop of water and dump it into the empty bucket at the starting line. The first team to fill the bucket wins.

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Use a real bowling set or make your own for a competition to see who can knock down the most pins with one roll. Two-liter bottles work well as homemade bowling pins. Place about an inch of water or sand in each bottle as a weight. Arrange the pins in the usual bowling formation. Provide each child with a ball, allowing one turn to try to knock down as many pins as possible.

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Fill a kiddie pool with water. Add 50 to 100 pingpong balls, depending on the number of kids participating in each round. Provide each player with a small fishnet that is used for aquariums. Set a timer for one minute. As the time begins, the students catch the pingpong balls with the fishing net without using hands to help. Provide a bucket for each child to hold her pingpong balls as she catches them. Award a prize to the student who catches the most pingpong-ball fish in the time limit. Other options in place of the balls include plastic fish, ice cubes or small toys.