A Cool Down Is Just As Important As a Warm up As It Prepares the Body to Stop Exercising

A Cool Down Is Just As Important As a Warm up As It Prepares the Body to Stop Exercising

COOL DOWN
GAMES


SPORTS DEVELOPMENT UNIT

WHY COOL DOWN?

A cool down is just as important as a warm up as it prepares the body to stop exercising and helps prevent stiffness.

The cool down games in this section are appropriate for younger children as, whilst they are fun, they act as a calming exercise so the children are not left on an exercise high when they return to school classes - which is thankful for teachers!

Aim of this section:

“To decrease the heart rate gradually and to return the body safely to a pre-exercise state”.

1.Wink Murder

Equipment - None

How to Play

  • All the children sit down in a big circle.
  • One child is picked to be the ‘detective’ and is sent away so they cannot hear the rest of the group.
  • The leader picks one child to be the ‘Murderer’. The detective then comes back to stand in the middle of the circle.
  • The ‘Murderer’ must wink or blink at someone in the circle who then screams and pretends to die by lying down.
  • The ‘detective’ has three guesses to determine who the ‘Murderer’ is.

General Points

  • Ensure the children do not all look directly at the ‘Murderer’ for the wink, as this will be obvious to the ‘detective’.

2.Band Leader

Equipment - None

How to Play

  • All the children sit down in a big circle.
  • One child is picked as the ‘guesser’ who is sent away so they cannot hear the rest of the group.
  • The leader picks one child to be the ‘band leader’ who starts performing movements e.g. clapping, tapping hand on face, playing the trumpet etc.
  • The ‘guesser’ returns and stands in the middle of the group and has three guesses to determine the band leader.

General Points

  • Ensure the children do not all look directly at the ‘band leader’ as this will be obvious to the ‘guesser’.

3.Bumps

Equipment - None

How to Play

  • All the children start seated on a line.
  • The leader then picks out a point in their head where the treasure is.
  • The leader will then shout out instructions and the children will carry out the movements for that instruction, e.g.

- If you had cereal this morning take two bumps forward.

- If you had chips for tea take one bump backwards.

  • The children then shuffle on the floor to act as ‘bumps’. The game is played until someone has reached the treasure.

General Points

  • Make sure some children do not take huge bumps forwards and others only take small ones.

ellsport/physical/a_cool.doc (gd/jg)

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