Playground Games

For discussions within the Cycle Training profession.
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nomm
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Joined: 13 Oct 2015, 8:39pm

Playground Games

Post by nomm »

Always a good warm up/down for any level of rider...

So a back catalog might be good - My go to classics

Slow race - straight line group race, slowest and last person wins.
Box Game - gradually reducing riding area size, last person without a foot down wins
First person to emergency stop on the line race - group race, closest and quickest to the line wins
Human slalom - good variation on a bike chain and groups should be encouraged to work as a team and communicate to be able to do it themselves with no direction. Hard to explain but essentially if the group were in a lined up like a bike chain, bike distance apart, the person at the back has to slalom their way to the front between the other members, then stopping when they reach a bikes distance in front of the person at the front, then the next person at the back does the same and so on. Once the groups get it, kids seem content to do it for ages.

anymore for anymore?
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Si
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Re: Playground Games

Post by Si »

Variation on the slow race and your last one: teams of two doing a slow race across the training area - one in each team just rides in a straight line, the other has to ride in circles around the first. the team that do the most circles win. Foot down = out.

Pass the cone: ride in line, one behind other. Person at front has cone, they have to drop back, pass cone to person behind and then join back of line. Important rule: once anyone has the cone in their hand they are not allowed to change it to the other hand!!!! Promotes looking behind, riding one handed, riding in a group, communication.

U-turn challenge.....set up a box with the cones.....with a pair of entry and exit cones. Each trainee has to ride in through entry, do a U turn, and ride out through exit without putting a foot down. Make box smaller each round. Good for nervous adults before starting L2 for obvious reasons.

"catch the child roulette ".....this one involves the most boisterous child in the group who doesn't listen to anything that they are told and is normally riding a small BMX. Carefully explain and demo emergency stops, get a number of the children to do a perfect one, then comes BMX kid, full tilt, out the saddle, grabs front brake as hard as they can.......instructor then has to decide if they are going to bother catching the child or not..... :wink:
Vorpal
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Re: Playground Games

Post by Vorpal »

One of my favorites was 'don't run over the Teletubbies' ;)

I used Teletubby cuddly toys and had the students ride round in a large circle. I would then throw a Teletubby (other cuddly toys can be used :shock: ) on the ground a bit in front of someone. This resulted in (almost) emergency stops all around. If someone actually ran over it, they obviously had to control the bike. And yes, they all thought it was funny if someone ran over one deliberately.

For a competititve version, anyone who touches or runs over a Teletubby comes out of the circle, and the last one left 'wins'.

It's good practice for emergency stops and bike control. It does require a little care in tossing the Teletubby :lol:

Another game with Teletubby cuddly toys is to make a ring of cones, and ask the students to toss the Teletubby in whilst riding past. Buckets (which can sometimes be borrowed from a school) can also be used.

Teletubby relays are also fun. To make them more skill oriented, have just two teams, and make them hand over the Teletubby from one person to the next. I have often left it to the teams to work out for themselves who goes in what order, and how to accomplish the hand-over. I give them about 15 mintues to figure out and set-up (they are allowed to use cones and things), then they have to get the Teletubby from one point to another, via all team members. 10 metres per team member is usually enough, though longer distances can be used if the space is available.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
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pjclinch
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Re: Playground Games

Post by pjclinch »

Follow the Leader, and as well as path taken whether you have one hand off, on your head, looking at the rider behind etc. The box game can be spiced with instructions for one hand, change direction etc.

Another popular one is picking stuff from a platform (say, a milk crate or equipment box) and putting it back which gives a useful two-part challenge. The kids on BMXs with stupidly low saddles usually like this.

Limbo riding is fun, though I've seen quite a few people come off doing that so grass better than tarmac.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
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