Hobbies And Interests
Individual Games
Teach your high school students to have control and aim with a soccer ball by playing bowling pin soccer. Set up 10 cones or plastic bowling pins in the shape of a pyramid. Mark a standing line about 20 feet away from the pins. Have the players line up at the line. The players must kick the ball from the starting line to try to knock the pins down. Reset the pins after each kick. The player who knocks down the most pins out of five kicks wins the game. Another variation to this game is to play it backwards. Instead of the students kicking the balls directly at the pins, they must roll the balls at a wall and make the balls bounce into the pins to knock them down.
Thinking Games
Cut 4-foot by 8-foot sheets of plywood into 10 oddly shaped pieces. Divide the players into groups for four or five players. Give each team a puzzle. When you say, "Go," the teams have to work together to place their puzzle together. The first team to put their puzzle together wins the game. For a twist, create one giant puzzle and cut it into several pieces. Have the entire class work on the puzzle to put it together. These games will also help build social skills and communication amongst peers.
Team Games
Put your high school students' imaginations and creativity to the test with a creation game. Divide them into groups of five or six and tell them they have to create their own game. Tell the students they have 20 minutes to create a game and make up all the rules. This also allows you to get new ideas for games to play in class. After each team shows and models their game, announce winners for best, most creative and most athletic game. Have the entire class play each group's game on different days and have the class vote on the best overall game.
Coordination Games
Have all the students select a partner. Partners must stand facing each other about three feet apart. A teacher will walk around the room and say "Mirror" to one of the partners --- she must make an awkward position and her partner must assume the same position within three seconds. If the partner cannot make the position, she is out of the game. Players want to make the position hard to try to knock players out, like standing on one leg and patting her belly or standing on her head. Place players without a partner with other players who lose their partner. The last player standing wins the game. Another variation to this game is have the players stand back-to-back. They can only use the movement from the other player's body to try to guess the position they are in. Have the coach decide if the position is close enough to move on to the next round. Again, the last player standing wins the game.