Thanksgiving-Themed Traverse Wall® Games
Get your climbers excited for the upcoming holiday with these three fun climbing games!
Take the Turkey
Climbers are challenged to carefully take the “turkey” to the kitchen (in a sillly way). This activity encourages smooth and controlled climbing.
Grade Level: 2 and up
Materials:
- Beanbags, one per climber
Advance Set Up:
- Place all bean bags on the floor on one side of the climbing wall.
- Optional: Bean bags can be decorated with a turkey sticker or drawing of a turkey
Activity:
Let climbers know that their job is to take a turkey (bean bag) from one side of the climbing wall to the other by balancing it on their head! Before they climb, they pick up their turkey and place it on their head. They are “taking the turkey” to the kitchen. If it falls off while they are climbing, they must restart the climb. The goal is to make it across the entire length of the Traverse Wall® without having the “turkey” fall off.
Standards: 1, 2 & 3
Grade-Span Learning Indicators:
- Motor Skills: 1.2.1, 1.2.3, 1.2.4, 1.2.5, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.8
- Movement & Fitness Concepts: 2.2.1, 2.2.4, 2.5.5, 2.8.7
- Social Skills: 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.2.5, 3.2.7, 3.5.4, 3.5.5, 3.8.2, 3.8.6, 3.8.7, 3.12.2, 3.12.6, 3.12.7
MyPlate Scavenger Hunt
Traditionally, good food has a lot to do with celebrating Thanksgiving. Here’s a way to reinforce food groups and nutrition concepts while rock climbing!
Grade Level: 2-4
Materials:
- Examples of foods to place on the climbing wall (choose one option):
- Names of foods written on index cards (tucked behind hand holds)
- Food magnets (to place directly on Dry-erase Wall or Magna® Wall or on Discovery® Plates)
- Dry-erase markers or chalk (to write names of food on Discovery® Wall or Discovery® Plates)
- Note: Be sure to include foods from the MyPlate groups, as well as foods not in those groups (candy, cookies, soda, etc.)
- MyPlate Climb Tally Sheet, one per partnership
- Pencils, one per partnership
Advance Set Up:
Place food examples across the climbing wall, high and low. Make copies of the MyPlate Climb Tally Sheet, one per partnership.
Activity:
Divide participants into partners. One partner will climb first, while the other completes the tally sheet. Begin with as many climbers as possible starting at the same time, one per panel, and moving in the same direction. As participants climb, new climbers may begin once the first panel is empty. As climbers climb, they should touch various food examples and let their partner know the food groups. The partners follow along at the edge of the mats and place tally marks on the MyPlate Climb Tally Sheet. Partners can also offer assistance in locating foods and/or placing them in the correct category. Once the climber has climbed the wall twice, partners should switch roles. They should try to find several examples of food from each food group. When both climbers finish, they should fill in the favorite foods column with their favorites from each group. The foods they list do not need to be ones they found when they were climbing.
Teaching Tip: Be sure climbers know how to tally before conducting this activity.
Post-Activity Discussion:
As a whole group, discuss the examples that were found from each of the food groups. Also discuss examples not part of MyPlate. Discuss favorite foods from each group and which food group should be eaten the most.
Standards: 1, 2 & 3
Grade-Span Learning Indicators:
- Motor Skills: 1.2.1, 1.2.3, 1.2.4, 1.2.5, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.8
- Movement & Fitness Concepts: 2.2.1, 2.2.4, 2.5.5, 2.8.7
- Social Skills: 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.2.5, 3.2.7, 3.5.4, 3.5.5, 3.8.2, 3.8.6, 3.8.7, 3.12.2, 3.12.6, 3.12.7
Stuff the Turkey
Participants create “turkeys” and then climb to “stuffing ingredients” that they toss into the “turkey.”
Grade Level: 3 and up
Materials:
- “Stuffing ingredients” (Bean bags, plastic foods, small objects), 5-10 per panel
- Hoops, ropes, juggling scarves, poly spots, cones, etc. to create multiple “turkeys”
Advance Set Up:
Gather a variety of equipment (hoops, ropes, juggling scarves, poly spots, cones, etc.) so that several groups of children can create turkeys as described below in the activity.
Place “stuffing ingredients” on hand holds across the climbing wall, high and low, many per panel.
Activity:
First, divide the group into smaller groups of 4-6 children. Have them work cooperatively to create a turkey using any of the available equipment and the following guidelines/information:
- Turkeys should look like turkeys.
- Turkeys will be used as targets, so they should have an open area where the “stuffing ingredients” will land.
- Keep in mind how challenging or accessible you want your turkey target to be. The size of the target as well as its distance from the climbing wall are factors that determine challenge level.
- Work cooperatively to create the turkey and its placement.
Once the “turkeys” have been created, climbers can begin climbing. They’ll do so one at a time and should stop periodically (while remaining on the climbing wall) to remove a stuffing ingredient from the climbing wall and try to stuff the turkey by having the object land inside the turkey. Climbers should climb for a predetermined amount of time or wall traverses.
Note: “Stuffing ingredients” will need to be periodically replaced on the climbing wall, either by the supervisor or by the climbers, depending on their ages.
Variations:
- Create turkeys the day before the climbing activity if there is not enough time for the turkeys and the climb in one time period.
- Have a contest and award a ribbon for Turkey That Looks Most Like a Turkey, Most Stuffed Turkey, Least Stuffed Turkey, Most Creative Turkey, Least Amount of Equipment Turkey, Silliest Turkey, etc.
- As a group, create one very large turkey instead of multiple turkeys.
Standards: 1, 2 & 3
Grade-Span Learning Indicators:
- Motor Skills: 1.2.1, 1.2.3, 1.2.4, 1.2.5, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.8, 1.5.21
- Movement & Fitness Concepts: 2.2.1, 2.2.4, 2.5.4, 2.5.5, 2.8.7
- Social Skills: 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.2.5, 3.2.7, 3.5.3, 3.5.4, 3.5.6, 3.8.2, 3.8.6, 3.8.7, 3.12.2, 3.12.6, 3.12.7
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