Cup stacking is something you have to see to believe! With lightning quickness, students stack 12 specially designed plastic cups (Speed Stacks) in predetermined sequences. Then, with even greater speed, the cups are unstacked.

Cup stacking with Speed Stacks is an exciting individual and team sport that promotes hand-eye coordination, ambidexterity, quickness and concentration. Cup stacking helps students use both sides of their bodies and brains to develop important athletic and lifelong skills.

On the more technical side, cup stacking helps students develop bilateral proficiency - equal performance on both sides of the body. By increasing bilateral proficiency, a student develops a greater percentage of the right side of the brain, which houses awareness, focus, creativity and rhythm. Cup stacking helps train the brain for sports and other activities where the use of both hands is important, such as playing a musical instrument or using the computer. Sequencing and patterning are also elements of cup stacking, which can help with reading and math skills.

Physical education teachers across the country are incorporating the sport of cup stacking into their programs. "Cup stacking with Speed Stacks relates directly to current brain research and the benefits of students crossing the midline," said Rhonda Holt, 2000 NASPE Elementary Physical Teacher of the Year. "I see it as a tool to help students find success academically."

Holt relates cup stacking to NASPE national standards #1 (motor skills) and #5 (social skills). "Cup stacking helps promote all fundamental motor skills," she says. "As for social skills, in cup stacking, we talk about taking turns, encouraging each other and never giving up," Holt says she doesn't just teach cup stacking because it's a cool activity. "Cup stacking isn't just for fun. It has a purpose, which gives validity to my cup stacking program."

Students find the most success when introduced to cup stacking with formal instruction, supplemented with opportunities to participate in relays, race against the clock and have fun stacking with each other. A progression of cup stacking skills includes the stacking sequences of a 3-3-3 then a 3-6-3 and culminates with the premier cycle stack. Once students have learned the various stacking patterns, sequences and techniques, they set their own personal records.

In addition to specific instructions on how to teach the sport of cup stacking, a variety of individual and group activities are included as part of a Speed Stacks School Pack. The School Pack includes sets of Speed Stacks to provide every student with hands-on success, step-by-step instructions, a video pack, and a complete five-day unit--everything you need to get a successful cup stacking program rolling.

"Cup stacking with Speed Stacks is the easiest, and most popular teaching unit and after-school program, I've ever done," said Greg Goodman, who teaches elementary school PE in Blue Springs, Missouri. "It's a fantastic way to promote hand-eye coordination."

Speed Stacks, Inc. was founded in 1998 by Bob Fox, an experienced PE teacher. He first introduced cup stacking to his students in 1995 and offered an after-school enrichment class. He figured maybe 25 or so students would register - more than 200 students signed up for the class! The six-week after-school program culminated with a school tournament that drew 250 students.

Under Bob's leadership, his school tournament grew into the Rocky Mountain Cup Stacking Championships. Last year, more than 800 stackers representing 64 schools competed. Other state, regional and national tournaments are next on the horizon.

Speed Stacks, Inc. is proud to be the Leader in the Sport of Cup Stacking and to serve as a resource to PE teachers across the country as they develop cup stacking programs.

For more information about the sport of cup stacking, contact Speed Stacks, Inc. at

1-877-468-2877 (toll-free) or find out all you need to know online at www.speedstacks.com. You can e-mail Bob Fox directly at info@speedstacks.com.