Field Day Activities | Plan & Play!
Field Day activities keep kids moving and make for a truly memorable and fun event! A staple for many springtime school calendars, Field Day is a thrill for all involved.
Both traditional and inventive outdoor field day games will make yours a sensational blast kids will be talking about for weeks! Successful Field Days share several common ingredients:
5 Ingredients for Field Day Fun
1. Classroom Pride
Encourage each class to pick a theme and simple costumes so kids can be easily identified and clustered for activities. E.g. Ms. Cunningham’s Clowns, Mr. Rice’s Rockers, Ms. Newton’s Nerds. No costumes? Have the class plan to wear same color t-shirts for the day.
2. Great Field Day Games
Simple or elaborate, the best field day games use items you have readily available and provide opportunities for the kids to get soaked!
Water Balloon Toss: Split the class or group of kids into two lines standing across from one another, starting about five feet from one another. One side tosses their water balloons to the other. Those whose water balloons don’t drop or burst take two to three steps back and toss again. Last team left wins!
Egg and spoon race: 2 or even 3 teams, and use different types of objects to carry, try giant marshmallows, ping pong balls, potatoes. Or use chopsticks to carry items.
Check out VolunteerSpot’s list of kids’ favorite wacky field day games such as pizza box race, chicken stix relay and toilet plunger challenge.
Add creative twists to your games! E.g. Use a timer and a loud air horn to randomly end any games in progress and when the horn goes off… all teams switch to a new game area. Starting the new game immediately means no one may every really win, but they’ll have too much fun to care!
3. Awards & Prizes
Reward teams with different color beaded necklaces, rubber-band bracelets, printable certificates, or small ribbons attached to safety pins to indicate how they placed in each event.
Mix it up! Dole out the craziest, zaniest prizes you can think up. For the silliest contestants, cover them in Silly String at the end of the day. For an ‘ice-breaker’ winner hand ‘em a cup of ice & allow the winner to dump it down a teacher or volunteer’s back! Create Jell-O molds in the shape of small trophies and hand out a few straws to various game winners, then let them suck up their prize.
Make sure everyone’s a winner by handing out consolation prizes like small temporary tattoos, stickers, pencils and other small prizes. And above all, have fun!
4. Volunteers!
Sign on older kid helpers and parent volunteers for the ultimate school day of fun!
Field day takes a TON of parents to setup, run hundreds of kids through activities, and clean up. Save time and energy getting everyone organized with VolunteerSpot’s free coordination tool! Set up your simple online sign up sheet with a list of volunteer needs (eg. station supervisors, snacks & water, set up, clean up) and invite volunteers to signup via email (or post a link on your school’s website or facebook page). Parents signup from their computer or smartphone, and automated confirmation and reminder messages everyone keep their commitments.
Delegate! Give each classroom or grade responsibility for planning and staffing a Field
Day station (e.g. tug-o-war, May pole, obstacle course, water station). VolunteerSpot’s new Quick Copy feature makes it easy to duplicate a signup sheet and share it with lead classroom parents to recruit helpers.
5. Safety
Keep safety details in mind when planning Field Day so everyone has a fun day!
Sun Supervision: Have high SPF sun block on hand and shade-filled areas for resting.
Hydration: Set up specific spots and times where kids can get a drink and a break enjoying fun individual activities such as blowing bubbles, stacking cups, hula hooping, or chalk drawing.
Snacks: Plan for filling snacks that won’t leave kids crashing after the sugar wears off – granola bars, sandwich bites, trail mix.
First Aid: Be prepared with a fully stocked first aid kit and the school nurse on hand for emergencies.
Also see:
Field Day Essentials Checklist
FREE Field Day event cards download from Cap'n Pete's PE
