PEC: Lesson Plans for Physical Education

Name of Activity:

SuperHero Fitness

Purpose of Activity:

The purpose of this activity is to help students associate exercises with the different health-related fitness components: cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and muscular strength/endurance.

Prerequisites:

Students have previously been taught what it means to have good cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength/endurance and to be flexible, along with why each component is important.

Suggested Grade Level:

K-2

Materials Needed:

3-6 vests; optional: T-shirts imprinted with the letters F, M and C and/or capes for the SuperHeroes to wear

Description of Idea

Begin by telling the students how the SuperHeroes of the Universe have heard how the children on Earth watch too much TV, eat too much junk food and don't get enough exercise. They have decided to save the children by demonstrating how to get more exercise. The SuperHeroes are Kid Cardio, Mr. Flex and Miss Muscle.

Choose 3 students to be the SuperHeroes. When the game starts, the SuperHeroes will try to tag the children from Earth in an effort to help them break away from the television. If a student is tagged by Kid Cardio (s)he must do an exercise for cardiovascular fitness before returning to the game. If a student is tagged by Mr. Flex that student must perform a stretch, and, when a student is tagged by Miss Muscle (s)he must do a strength exercise.

For younger students, a pre-designated exercise works well, such as jog 2 laps, V-sit Stretch or 5 curl-ups.

The older students will be given index cards noting different exercises to perform. When the student gets tagged by Kid Cardio, (s)he goes to the teacher to get a pink card, performs the exercise and then returns the card to the teacher. The students will receive a blue card when tagged by Mr. Flex and they will receive an orange card when tagged by Miss Muscle.

After a few minutes, switch SuperHeroes and start another round.

Assessment Ideas:

At the end of class, shout out a fitness component and see if the students can tell you an exercise that helps to improve the component.

After you have played a few times, have the students choose their own appropriate exercise when they get tagged.

Adaptations for Students with Disabilities

Using different locomotor skills can help to slow the students down so that those with disabilities might have a chance to tag someone or get away from someone. You can do this easily with this activity by pretending that you are on a different planet and the inhabitants on that planet move differently.

Submitted by Jill Garneau in Normal, IL. Thanks for contributing to PE Central! Posted on PEC: 6/1/2005.

Viewed 216230 times since 3/8/2005.

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SuperHero Fitness

Previous Comments:

Brandon

I had students do this yesterday, but instead of capes, they wore different color pennies, and instead of tagging with their hands, they tagged with noodles below the waist the same color as their pennies. The three super heroes were: Mr. or Ms. Mountain Climber, Mr. or Ms. Burpee, and Mr. or Ms. High Knee Sprint (in place). We used the outside of the playing area to perform the exercises so nobody would get stepped on. As an added bonus, any Earth children that entered the workout/non-playing area, they had to do push-ups.

Katie

This activity really helped my students understand what each of the health related fitness components were!

Beth

My students love this lesson and I use it every year to introduce and reinforce the components of Fitness. We wear super hero capes that were made by an assistant that comes to physical education. This is a lesson I even leave with a sub because my kids are so into it. We like to use the theme music to Superman or Batman.

Kellie

Great modification John. I need more uses for my fitness floor spots.

Mary Roberts

I LOVE this lesson plan! I am a teaching student, and wondering how in the world I can find an interesting lesson plan for my assignment. Then, I see "Superhero Fitness" in your menu. This is right up my alley! Thank you so much :)

Doug

i like it fo sho~

John

I like the idea, one modification I will make is that I will use the Fitness Floor Spots and make the student flip them over and perform the task.

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