Hula Hut Races

Hula Hut Races

Equipment Needed: Hula hoops, Cones or Poly spots

How to play: Students will be attempting to build hula huts with hula hoops as a team. Before they start with the races be sure to talk with the students about what good teamwork and sportsmanship looks like (working together, being respectful, not yelling at teammates). Demonstrate how to properly build a hula hut (1 base, 2 walls, front door, back door, and 1 roof). A picture of what it should look like will be in the resources. Explain to the students that if their hula hut collapses while they are building it, everyone on the team must stop what they are doing and run back to their cone and then return to the hula hoops and try again. Once the teams are done with that race, they will go back behind their cone and have a seat. Encourage the teams that are finished to cheer on the teams that are still working.

Race #1: The first race will be building a proper hula hut.

• After Race #1 is complete, talk with the students about what they did within their team that helped them complete the hula hut build.

Race #2: For the second race, students will again build a hula hut and once it is complete they will send 2 of their teammates to crawl through the hut. Again, if at any point the hut falls they have to run back to their cone and then try again.

• After the race, talk with the students about what strategies they used. Usually they will say that they took their time crawling through the hut and that they picked to two smallest people in their group.

Race #3: Teams will pick the tallest person in their group and build the hut over them. Once finished that person should remain sitting in the hut.

• Once completed, talk to the students about how the person inside the hut could have still helped out the team by holding some of the hoops instead of just sitting there watching their teammates build the hut.

Race #4: Teams will build a hut and then have three people crawl through the hut with their stomachs facing up towards the sky.

• Once completed, talk with the students about which direction they crawled through the hut. Normally, students will go backwards but it is easier to crawl forward with their feet first.

Race #5: Teams will attempt to build a double decker (2 hula huts stacked on top of each other). This is a favorite within my classes as it is the most challenging and requires a lot of teamwork.

Closure: Discuss with the class some things that you saw that went really well and some things that they could improve upon. Talk about what good teamwork looks like and some examples that you saw during the class.