By Tim Mueller (Muellertim8@gmail.com)
Fast Food Foolery Game Objective: The purpose of this activity is to introduce proper nutrition concepts, and to get students moving while improving spatial awareness.
Grade Levels: This game could be played with all grade levels K – 12.
National Physical Standards Met: Standards 1,2,3,4,5
This game is also a great brain break/booster for health class, or for classroom teachers.
Equipment: Fast Food Foolery Game Pack (burger, fries, and drink). Use two or more packs for large groups of students. This game can be played in the gym or in the classroom.
Pregame Discussion: Foolery means a foolish act or belief. Fast food companies want to fool you into thinking you are getting a healthy meal at a fast food restaurant. The truth is, a balanced diet that meets the “MyPlate” dietary guidelines is necessary for maintaining a healthy body. A burger, fries, and drink (show game pack) would not provide the nutrients you would need to allow your brain and body to work efficiently and healthy. Eating these fast foods would not be a good thing for your body, so in this game, you do not want to have any fast foods. If you receive one of them, you will want to get rid of it as soon as possible!
Organization: Students will be together for the Pregame Discussion. After the discussion and rules explanation, students will be in scattered formation for the game while staying inside the assigned boundaries.
Object of the game: The object of the game is to keep moving constantly (walking) while trying to avoid being tagged by any of the fast food items. If tagged, the student must pick up the fast food that touched his/her back, put it back together (items will come apart when dropped), and then try to tag another student as quickly as possible (walking is required at all times).
Procedure: Assign boundaries for the game (e.g. basketball court, coned area, classroom area around desks). All students begin walking within the playing area with both hands behind their backs, with elbows out pretending to be holding something hidden. Practice continually moving while staying away from each other before adding the fast food.
Hand out all of the fast food pieces (3 per game pack – burger, fries, and drink). Students with the fast food pieces must try to gently touch another student on the back and then drop the item to the ground. If a student is tagged, he/she must stop and pick up the item. The item must be put back together and then hidden behind the new student’s back. The new tagger must try to find another student to tag quickly. As a tagger passes another student, he/she can reach out with the fast food object to tag the student. This game is more about surprising someone (or fooling them) with a gentle tag, rather than chasing another student.
Rules:
- No running is allowed by anyone (only walking).
- No stopping, except to pick up a fast food item after being tagged.
- Stay inside the assigned boundaries and spread out away from other students.
- No throwing a fast food item (tag other students gently on the back and then drop the item).
- All students should walk with hands behind their back and elbows out, so no one knows who has a fast food item.
Variations:
- Students who get tagged by a fast food item could be required to perform a fitness task before trying to tag another player. (Possible fitness tasks: 15 jumping jacks, 8 push-ups, 5 star jumps, 10 crab walk push-ups)
- Play music for about one minute, when the music stops the students who have a fast food item could be required to perform a fitness task.
- If tagged, student must go to classroom marker board and write a healthy food alternative before going to tag someone else. Students could also be asked to write the food in the correct food group on “MyPlate.”
- Use different locomotor skills instead of walking (e.g. skipping, galloping, hopping).
View equipment needed here: https://www.palossports.com/store/proddetail.cfm/ItemID/11490/CategoryID/46081/SubCatID/3092/file.htm
