Passport to America Field Day

by Linda Thompson & Robin Peterson

1 Florida- The orange juice state (4 tennis ball containers marked with red tape 1 inch from the top, 4 colored tape rolls to hold the tennis ball containers, 4 cones, 4 small buckets for water, 4 -20 gallon plastic tubs, and 4 orange sponges. ) Make sure to set this station up near a water outlet and on a side walk. This is a messy station so beware of all the mud that is made from the water. Tape the tape roll onto a big turned over bucket. (Don’t use tables because the students could slip right into them).

The object of this station is to squeeze the orange juice (sponge dipped in water) into the orange juice container (tennis ball container) up to the red line. The first person in line takes their orange (sponge) and dips it into the bucket of juice (water), then they walk to the orange juice containers (tennis ball containers) and squeezes out the juice (water) into the container. They then walk back to the next person in line and gives the person the orange (sponge). First team to fill their orange juice container to the red line wins.

2 New York- The garment district of the USA (4 different colored large shirts, 4 sun visors, 4 hula hoops, and 4 cones).

The object to this station is to put the shirt and sun visor on and then put it on a fellow teammate. The first person goes up to the hula hoop and puts the shirt and sun visor on, runs back to the next person in line, and helps her get the same shirt and sun visor on. She then goes up to the hula hoop and takes the shirt and visor off and places them in the hula hoop. She then goes and tags the next person who runs up to the hula hoop and puts on the clothes. (Hint: have the person with the clothes on hold arms with the next person in line. The other people in line help pull the shirt over one person’s head and arms to the other person’s arms and head). Have the students walk backwards, grapevine, etc.

3 Stake the State- (laminated states, 4 cones, painted states on outside black top). The object of this station is to match your state card to the state painted on the blacktop. The governor passes out the laminated states (which represent the deed to the land) to each person on the four teams. 1st person goes up and stakes their state by standing on the state that matches their state card and saying “I claim the state of....”. If time allows, have the team 1 switch with 2 and 3 switch with team 4. To make it challenging for the 3rd-5th graders, have them line up north of the map of the United States. Also instead of the students saying “ I claim the state of...”, they must spell the state out loud.

4 Idaho- The potato state (4 nerf footballs, and music or a whistle)

The object of this station is to try to be the last 4 people still tossing a potato. The students make a big circle. They start to pass the potato (nerf football) counter clock- wise to the person next to them. When the governor stops the music or blow the whistle, whoever has the potato goes into the middle. The students who are in the middle must pretend they are peeling potatoes. Add the other three potatoes (footballs) as the game proceeds to make it more exciting. Stop when there are 4 students left holding the potatoes. These 4 students start with the potatoes for the next round.

5 Kentucky- The Kentucky Fried Chicken State (bucket of small chickens, 4 tennis balls, and 4 cones)

The object of this station is to “coat “ the chicken in Colonel Sanders secret recipe by having the students pass the chicken over their heads and under their legs. Have the students line up in 4 lines. The first person in line holds the chicken. He passes the chicken over his head to the second person who passes the chicken under her legs to the 3rd person. When the chicken gets to the last person in line, she runs with the chicken to the front of the line and passes the chicken over her head. The team that gets their whole team across the cone line first wins. The little ones may need to be reminded to scoot up. To make it a little more fun, give each team a tennis ball (chicken egg.) Remind the students that they must pass the chicken/tennis ball the opposite way from how it was passed to them. Keep adding more tennis or yarn balls.

Also have them pass the chicken with just using their legs.

6 Virginia- The Virginia Tech mascot is known as the Gobbler. ( spot markers with 4 different colored sets of ellision turkeys taped to them. Each spot marker has a turkey letter on it which spells out Virginia Tech. Example V with a 1 on it, I with a 2 on it, N with a 3 on it etc., and 4 cones). (You can also change this to your college of choice and the state it is in.)

The object to this station is each team finds their colored letters on the turkeys to spell Virginia Tech. Start out with the turkeys facing up. 1st person on red team goes and tries to find a red colored turkey on it. He then tags the 2nd person who takes their turn. The other teammates are putting the letters in the number order to spell Virginia Tech in front of their line. 1st team to spell Virginia Tech wins. After they have completed the 1st round, have them do a relay putting the spot markers with the turkey facing down back out in the field. Repeat the spelling relay if time permits. 3rd-5th graders must get their turkeys in number order.

7 California- The gold mining state (12 yellow hockey bagels, 24 spot markers, 4 buckets, and 4 cones)

The object of this station is to find gold nuggets for your team. The 4 teams line up in relay formation behind the cones. The first person goes to a spot marker and turns it over to see if a gold nugget is there, he/she brings it back to their line and tags the next person in line. They can only turn over one spot marker per turn. The challenge is over when all the gold nuggets are found and returned to the line. Have the students put the nuggets back under the spot markers. Repeat again if time allows.

8 Illinois- The home of Abraham Lincoln . People toss pennies into water in order to make a wish. (frisbees with pictures of Lincoln’s head taped on them to look like pennies, 4 cones, and 4 hula hoops)

The object of this station is to throw the penny (frisbee) into a fountain (hula hoop). 1st person tries to throw the penny (frisbee) into the hula hoops. The last person in line is the 1st person’s retriever. After the 1st person has his turn, he then becomes the retriever for the next person. Team gets 1 point for every time the penny lands in the hula hoop. To make it more challenging, move the hula hoops back, toss backwards, use only non-dominant hand, toss between their legs, and see if they can throw into their teammates hula hoop.

9 Vermont- Ben and Jerry’s ice cream was founded in this state. (4 pringles canisters, 4 small bucket of bean bags, 4 spot markers, and 4 buckets. The object of this station is to get as many scoops of ice cream (bean bags) onto a cone (pringles can) and into the team’s bucket. 1st person puts as many beanbags on top of the pringles can. He then runs the “cone” to their team’s bucket and puts the “ice cream” scoops into the bucket. If he drops any of the bean bags, he has to start over. He can not hold on to the beanbags while traveling to his line.

10 Snack Station - The snack will be an ice pop. We may move the station closer to the school near some shade.

11 Kansas- The tornado state (parachute, 4 small chickens, 4 yarn balls, Billy Bass, and Petunia Pig).

The object to this station is to keep objects on or off the parachute. Try to have all the girls on 1 half of the parachute and the boys on the other half. 1st challenge- keep all the objects on the parachute. 2nd challenge- boys shake off Billy Bass, girls shake off Petunia Pig. 3rd challenge- Boys shake off the blue yarn balls, while the girls shake off the gold yarn balls. Because the students get tired of shaking the parachute, try doing the following with them. The students listen for your cues on how to lift the parachute -” Waist, knees, and lift”. 1. Mushroom - waist , knees, lift, 3 steps in, sit underneath on the edge of parachute. 2. Dead Heads- waist, knees, lift, down to ground, lay down with just head under the parachute. 3. Smack Down- waist, knees, lift, ground, kneel on top of the parachute, hands up, fall onto the parachute and start smacking the air out of it. Keep feet touching the edge the edge of the parachute (no crawling forward to the middle of the parachute). 4. Jell/cement- waist, knees, lift, sit under the parachute on the edge. Shake back and forth for jell. Freeze and stay still for cement. See which half does the activity better. 5. Telephone- students lay on top of the parachute boys on 1 half, girls on the other half. Tell the first boy a message, tell the girl next to him the same message. Each student whispers the message to the person next to them till it makes it all the way to the last boy and girl. Have them repeat what they heard. The team’s message that was closest to the original wins.

12 Michigan- The car capitol of the world.The first car assembly line was invented near Detroit Michigan by Henry Ford. ( 4 scooters, 12 blocks, 4 cones, 12 spot markers, 4 jump ropes, and 4 hula hoops).

The object of this station is to pull parts of a car (blocks on a scooter) through the assembly line and then deliver the assembled cars to the car dealerships. The 1st person is the assembly line worker who pulls the scooter (car) up to the 1st spot marker and picks up a block (which represents a piece of the car) and places it on the scooter. He then goes to the 2nd and 3rd spot marker and picks up those blocks. If a block drops off his scooter, he must go back to the start. When he makes it up to the hula hoop (assembly plant), he “ assembles the cars” by stacking the blocks on top of one another. When he’s done assembling the car (blocks), he takes the scooter back and gives it to the 2nd person in line. The scooter now becomes a delivery truck and the 2nd person is its driver. The delivery driver takes his truck (scooter) to the assembly plant (hula hoop) and puts the cars (blocks) on the scooter ( delivery truck) and then “delivers” the cars to the car dealerships by placing one block at a time back onto the spot markers. He then gives the scooter to the next person in line who becomes the assembly line worker. To make it more challenging for the older students, add more blocks.

13 Alaska- The iceberg state (12 “ blocks of ice”- 2x4 lamented white poster boards, scooters for all students, and 8 cones, bowling pins, and 2 inch foam poles). The object to this station is to walk across the icy waters using the 3 blocks of ice and then navigate around an obstacle course set up on the other half of the station.

To start off, the 1st person in line arranges the blocks of ice so he can walk across the water (gym floor) up and around an “iceberg” cone and back to their line. Next, have the students navigate the icy waters using scooters (bottoms only) as life rafts around the icebergs ( bowling pins) and ice tunnels ( foam poles inserted into cones). The team must always be connected. Make sure to tell them to sit only on their bottoms and watch out for their fingers.

14 Delaware- General George Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Day and surprised the Hessian troops. The Americans won that battle. (4 gymnastic mats or 4 large blankets)

The object to this station is to cross the freezing Delaware River on mats (boats).

The whole class starts behind the basketball sideline. They must use both mats and move them across the river (floor). Everyone must be on at least one of the mats. If anybody falls off and touches the water (floor), the whole class has to start from the beginning. If the governor notices the class is having difficulty, he can give hints. If the class does not have the arm strength to lift the mats over their heads, tell them to slide it along the side of the mat they are on. Other challenges can be boy on one mat vs girls on the other, or teams 2 & 4 vs 1 & 3.

**** Another option is to make each station 12 minutes long. You can add the following 3 state stations.

15 Pennsylvania- Known for all their football teams especially the Pittsburgh Steelers. (3 nerf footballs, 3 colored pinnies, scarves or football flags, and cones for boundaries).

Object to this station is to not have your scarf or football flag pulled off. 3 students are the taggers who wear the colored pennies. 3 students are the rescuers and they hold a football. The rest of the students are wearing the scarves in their pockets or waist.(I found for time sake using the scarves instead of the football flags was better). The taggers try to pull the students scarves. If a student’s scarf gets pulled, he has to raise both hands up in the air. To get saved, the rescuer must hand him a football and he has to “hut hut hike” it to the rescuer. Change rescuer and taggers after about 2 minutes.(you can also pick your favorite football team and the state it represents.)

16. Montana- This state has the best recreational fishing due to all of it’s wonderful rivers and lakes. ( 2 plastic kiddie pools, 4 plastic kiddie fishing poles, magnets, and cut out colored fish with exercises written on them. Glue the magnet to a fish and attach the other part of the magnet to the fishing pole).

The object to this station is to catch your team’s colored fish and do the exercise that’s written on the fish. Team red & green team fish at one pond, while blue & yellow fish at the other pond. Ist person gets his pole and goes up to his pond and tries to “hook” his colored fish onto his pole.When he gets his fish, he reads and completes the exercise. He then goes and gives the next person in line his pole and she proceeds with the relay. Repeat if there is time allotted.

16. Colorado- Known for all it’s canyons and wild fires. Firemen put out a lot of fires by doing a “ bucket brigade”. ( 4 cups with holes in them, 8 big buckets, and 4 cones). This station needs to be near a water hose.

The object to this station is to be the first team to fill their bucket with water. The 1st person in line takes her cup and dips it into the big bucket of water in front of her team’s line. She then turns and pores her water into the cup of the person behind her. He then pores his water into the cup behind him. The last person in line pores his water into the bucket behind him and then goes to the front of the line and dips his cup into the big bucket and continues the relay. 1st team to fill their bucket wins the challenge.

17. West Virginia- This state is known for the famous Hatfield and McCoy family feud. One of the disputes was over land boundaries. (3 cones, tug of war rope)

Object to this station is to get the middle of the rope past your team’s cone.

Divide the team in half. This station needs a lot of supervision. Have 1 adult on each team to help manage the ropes. Mix the teams after each attempt.