Old Favorites, New Fun

Activities become old favorites for one reason: Throughout the years, kids enjoy participating in them. But even old favorites can become stale after a while.

Not so with Old Favorites, New Fun: Physical Education Activities for Children. This book, written by a physical educator with 30 years of experience, provides creative twists and refreshing modifications of classic activities, resulting in a wealth of choices to fit into and supplement your existing physical education curriculum.

This book provides more than 350 thoroughly field-tested activities addressing core physical education content themes. These revitalized traditional activities help you meet major content demands of quality physical education in fresh, fun ways your students will love. What's more, you'll receive creative guidelines for dividing groups, starting play, and modifying “classic” sports to give you even more ways to keep students active—and encourage their enthusiasm for lifelong fitness.

Old Favorites, New Fun includes the following features:
- Activities to develop locomotor, manipulative, rhythmic, body and spatial awareness, and health-related fitness skills—thus ensuring your students get the extensive practice they need to succeed

- Popular themes, such as parachute, team-building, and cross-curricular units, to extend and reinforce learning of core content

- Clear equipment lists, objectives, setup instructions, and descriptions to help you transition between activities and classes by showing you what you need and how to place equipment and students quickly

- Prominent safety notes to help you head off potential injuries

The suggested modifications let you tailor activities to the needs of all your students so that everyone will benefit from the experience. Collectively, these activities will help your students meet all the national standards in physical education as you strive to meet physical education objectives in systematic and inviting ways.

Old Favorites, New Fun is an easy-to-use resource to help you develop and reinforce your quality physical education program. Have new fun teaching these old favorites!

David Oatman, EdD, is a professor in the department of health, physical education, and recreation at Missouri State University. He has taught elementary, junior high, and high school physical education for 10 years and has taught physical education pedagogy at the university level for 20 years. These experiences have encouraged him to bring together thoughts, ideas, and practical solutions for creating a positive classroom environment full of physical activity. He believes that through such an environment—which is at the heart of this book—children are encouraged to be physically active throughout their lives.

Oatman is a member of the Missouri Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, from which he earned a Faculty Achievement Award in 1995. He has twice been nominated for Who's Who Among Professors in America's Colleges and Universities. In his leisure time, he enjoys playing golf, kayaking, biking, and jogging.