Passport to Play…Getting Ready for the 2010 Olympics!
Written by: Kim Nygaard (bio)

Join with the 2010 Olympic Spirit and enjoy your own “Passport To Play” Games.

In October, I wrote about Peninsula Heritage Olympic Torch Run to celebrate the Winter Olympics which will be taking place next month as Canada hosts the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. I also said I would be involving our elementary school in the Olympic Opening Ceremonies with games from ten countries around the world.

I’m happy to say our Olympic Torch Run is still going strong, and our school has run/walked over 600 miles. To help celebrate our annual Metric Week, I decided to move our Passport to Play games early so I could have great feedback on the success of the program. You will probably want to involve your school with this program next month (in February) when the Winter Olympics begin. Passport to Play is an excellent and motivating program which follows the standards for the National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE) and is supported by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

Visit passport2play.com for a complete program which is available to download on your computer. This program provides a teacher’s guide with all the materials needed to help organize your event. A colorful, world map can be used around your school. The materials also include a passport to be given to the children, a letter to the parents from Olympian Julie Foudy to explain what Passport to Play is about, and even some great links from the Produce for Better Health Foundation, which provides some fun recipes for snacks from around the world.

How I Implemented the Program in My School:

First off, I got the entire school involved, including the parents and staff. I divided the school into ten teams. The teams were mixed with kindergarten through 5th graders. The teachers/staff took one country and ran the game from that country. The parents of each room were in charge of supplying a “refuel” snack from that country to be shared at the end of the program. I allowed 1 ½ to 2 hours for this program, and it worked out great. The children started at one country and rotated to a different country every ten minutes. By the end of the rotation, all children had participated in all ten country games. If you are unsure of how to play the games, Passport to Play has short videos to demonstrate. When they showed games involving only a couple people, I would adjust by placing more children in the circle so children kept busy moving instead of standing around.

The children were given passports, and after each game the teacher would stamp the passport. (I found that it helps to have at least 2 teachers/staff at each country: one can be used to collect & stamp the passports while the other assists the children in playing the game.) We set up distances in meters (since it was our metric week), which gave the children a great learning tool for learning distance.

The program was enjoyed by all, and the parents were impressed to see the whole school’s enthusiasm with the global games.

In addition, I ordered life-size flags from each country and had them placed around the field and cement areas. I made flyers for each country to accompany the game and the snack from the country. Also, I created a parent letter. Further, I handed out simple directions to the staff. Lastly, I went around and took pictures and video clips of the day and made a DVD.

Further Recommendations:

Now that it is a New Year, we as PE Professionals need to work together with the world to show support for our Olympic athletes, and appreciate games from around the world. There has been talk (which I am sure you have heard or are involved in) as to the education of our children, both athletes and non athletes, on participating with character, winning with dignity, and losing with grace. We need to bring some competition back into the schools to help educate young children. It is inevitable to fail and lose sometimes, but “losing” is not a bad word. To me it is how we handle that word. Losing. By the time a child graduates elementary school, are they actually ready to face the next stage, and perhaps with some disappointments?

At Peninsula Heritage School, we have introduced our new program called “Climbing with Character” (Look for more info in my next article!). We have brought a sense of supporting the athletic children by challenging them to take on leadership responsibilities, and to compete for their teams. We also help motivate children who may struggle with PE and fitness by encouraging them to push out of their comfort zones, even if they feel they may fail.

Ask yourself these questions...Why did you want to become a Physical Education teacher/coach? Do you find yourself teaching/coaching with character? Do you teach character traits to the children/athletes you teach? Do you feel that you spend more time in PE classes teaching the athletes to excel at the sports skills, or do you feel you spend most of your time trying to encourage the children who struggle to participate? What are your personal/class goals for each class you teach?

These are just some of the daily questions I ask myself. If we don’t get children out of their comfort zones for fear of failing or losing, what are we teaching these children, or how are we really preparing these children for middle school, high school, or life?

I try and use examples of my personal competition years when I competed at state, national, and even Olympic levels. When I teach I play games at times which involve the winning team AND the losing team. Some games we even play for points/awards which actually intensify the game itself.

I love the Olympic years. This is always a great opportunity to teach and educate my students by the good and bad examples set forth by the world class athletes. It is truly amazing to hear what these young students have opinions about. To me, these are the true teaching moments - when we can all agree to disagree, and we can each explain our rationales.

With the Olympics about to start in February, take time to talk about it now, to encourage the children to participate in learning more about the Olympic Games. An exhilarating way to start is to involve your school in an Olympic Torch Run, Opening Ceremony, and Passport to Play event. Not only will your entire community participate and be motivated, you will too as the educator. I had a fantastic time, and I guarantee you will too.

If you should have any questions, comments, or ideas please feel free to contact me anytime. I will also be presenting my Survivor…PE Style program at the Southwest District/New Mexico AAHPERD Convention February 11-14th. If you have a chance, please attend.

Thank you for your continued support.

 

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