Of major importance when thinking of cooperative activities for physical education classes is to make them fun. The Titanic activity is both fun and challenging, making it an ideal cooperation activity for students from kindergarten to senior high school. The concept is simple: students are on a boat that is sinking (the Titanic), and they must board another boat before the Titanic sinks. To do this, use two benches as both boats, place about six feet apart. For the students to travel to safety, they must cross the icy water in lifeboats. Use hula-hoops as lifeboats. The cooperation aspect comes in during the transportation. Lifeboats need drivers, and can only take one passenger at a time. Thus, students must take turns transporting one another from the sinking ship to the safe ship. Impose a time limit so students are forced to work together in a timely fashion.
People Puzzles is a game that relies heavily on communication skills for its success and works for students of all ages. Before the activity begins, it is important to have a discussion with students concerning respectful ways of communicating with one and other (such as, asking, not telling, speaking, not yelling) The activity itself is simple. Create the outline of a pattern on the gym floor using colored tape. Examples of symbols could be anything related to physical education, or related to a particular season or class theme. Instruct the group of students to choose one leader. The leader must use his words to instruct each member of the group to manipulate or move their bodies so that as a whole, the group covers the tape on the floor so that it is invisible. Group members may not move without being told by the leader, but they are encouraged to ask questions. This teaches both proper listening and communication skills as well as cooperation.
This game involves an enormous amount of cooperation between students as well as significant physical demands. First, place a large bin in the center of the gym containing 50 tennis balls that all have letters of the alphabet inscribed on them. Divide the class into five teams, and place them at the five furthest points from the basket of tennis balls in the gym. Give each team a hula-hoop. The object of the game is to have each team create a five letter word using the letters on the tennis balls. At go, one member of each team must race to the bin, choose a ball and return to the group to tag another group member to repeat the process. After the team has accumulated five balls, they may begin to exchange balls for other letters to form their desired word, but the team may never have more than five balls at their station at any given time. As students get older, increase the letter count of the words they must spell.
For this cooperative physical education activity, no materials are needed besides your students. Be sure to have them perform some basic stretches before beginning the activity. Divide the class into groups of seven, and have them form a circle, facing each other. Instruct them to grab the hands of two different people, but alert them that they may not hold the hands of the person on either side of them. Once they have become entangled, give them a time limit to untangle their knot and return to their original circle formation. Sometimes, a figure-eight symbol is also acceptable. The catch is that students are not allowed to speak throughout the entire activity, which teaches them that nonverbal communication is just as essential as speech when it comes to cooperation.