Equipment Name:

Nuclear Waste

Materials Needed:

1 piece of 3/4" Plywood or Pressboard
Clothes Line
Eye Hooks
Saw for cutting wood

Estimated Cost:

$15.00

Rationale:

This is an excellent adventure learning/team building activity for grades 2 - College. Students are able to work on their affective skills while being put through several types of challenging tasks. I have used this with both parents and students and have always has a positive response. This activity is very easy to modify to make appropriate for ANY age group. You can be creative with your wooden cut outs and even paint them if you have time.

Directions For Making:

Cut out specific shapes from the plywood (heart, circle, hexagon, triangle, square....) A jig saw may be needed depending on the specific shape you would like. After the shape is cut out and sanded (edges) drill a small pilot hole around the outside
edges. Anywhere from 4 - 10 holes will work, as long as they are spacedout evenly. Each object should be about 12'' - 18'' in size.

In each pilot hole screw in an eye hook. Attached different length ropes (clothes line is perfect) to each eye hook and a handle (I used a small wooded dowel) on the other end of the rope. When all done you should have your piece of wood with
4 - 10 ropes attached with handles on the end.

Students are to try and balance objects on the wooden shapes while elevated and they need to move around the gym. They need to work together and pull the ropes to tighten them and lift the wooden object off the ground. You can start with easy objects such as cones or plastic bottles and move to difficult ones that can roll like a ball or beanbag.

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Submitted by John Selvaggio who teaches at the Blue Point Elementary School in Blue Point, NY. Thanks for contributing to PE Central! Posted on PEC:1/16/2011.

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