Health & Growth - Activity for Health and Fitness
Exercise for Fitness
Bouncing Ball. When performing this exercise, remember to keep your body rigid and to support your weight on your hands and toes. For variety you can clap your hands each time you have pushed your body into the air.
Team Activity
Foot Volleyball. This game is a variation of regular volleyball. You can play the game with a soccer ball or a regular football. Older boys play the game on a field that is 100 feet by 200 feet. Younger boys and girls can play the game on a field that is 95 feet long and 40 feet wide.
Look at the illustration to see how the field is divided into two playing courts and a neutral area. Notice that there is no net and that the neutral area is 15 feet long.
The object of the game is to kick (punt) the ball into the opponent’s playing court so that no one can catch it and kick it back. A team scores a point when its opponent allows the ball to touch the ground or when its opponent punts the ball out of bounds, into the neutral zone, or into its own court.
The serve is made by punting the ball into the opponent’s playing court from the middle of the server’s playing court. The serving team continues to serve as long as it continues to make points. A team can only score when it has the serve.
When a ball is served into the proper court, a player must catch it and kick it back to the server’s playing court. The serving team tries to catch it and return it in a like manner.
Seven to fourteen players make up a team. They rotate in a clockwise direction each time a serve is made so that each player assumes a new position. Only the serving team rotates before each serve. In this way, each team member is given a chance to serve.
Part of the skill involved in playing foot volleyball is the ability of the team members to play their own positions and not interfere with each other’s actions.
You will find that this game is fast-moving. It requires skill, but it can be played by anyone.
Activity for Health and Fitness
Exercise for Fitness
Tortoise and Hare.
You can practice the tortoise and hare by yourself by running in place and alternating between running fast and running slow. You can vary the activity by running on your toes part of the time.
Team Activity
Long Ball. This game is sometimes called long base. It combines many of the characteristics of the American game, baseball, and the English game, cricket. It is played by two teams of from three to ten players apiece.
You can begin this game by marking out a playing field with a home plate, a pitcher’s box, and a long base. Follow the dimensions given in the diagram. Be sure to mark the foul lines. The long base may be a gymnasium mat or a marked out space. The ball is a 12-inch Softball and the bats are softball bats.
The pitcher pitches underhand in the normal way. The batter runs when he hits the ball, whether or not it is foul. If it is foul, he waits at the long base until a teammate hits a fair ball. No batter can strike out.
More than one runner can remain on the long base at one time. No runner can return to long base once he has started running unless a fly ball is caught. In order to score a run, a player must return to home base and tag it. Any player may wait at long base as long as he likes. Any or all of the players at long base may run to home base when a fair ball is hit.
A side remains at bat until three outs are made. The game lasts for seven innings. Outs can be made by a player by holding the ball and tagging long base before the batter reaches it, by tagging a runner while holding the ball even if he is just "off base," or by catching a fly ball or foul tip. An out is also made when all players are held at long base because no one on the team has hit a fair ball.
The fielders may cover the entire playing area. They can run with the base runners in hopes of receiving a fielded ball and tagging the base runner.
All disputes should be settled by the umpires. One umpire from each team serves while his team is batting. It is a good idea to elect the umpires for the game before the start of the game.
