Catching Polar Bears

Materials Needed

Playground ball similar to this one (8-12 inches)

Lyrics

Hello, sir, hello sir
Meet me at the grocer
No, sir!
Why, sir?
Because I have a cold, sir.
Where'd you get the cold, sir?
At the North Pole, sir.
What you doing there, sir?
Catching polar bears, sir!
How many did you catch?
One sir, two sir, three sir, four sir, five sir. . .

Recommended Grades

K-5

The Game

This chant is a traditional jump rope rhyme, but works well in class with this game:

• All stand in a circle. 
• One child stands in the center with a largish ball, about about 10-14 inches (the younger the kids, the larger the ball should be.)
• The class begins the chant, and the center player responds.  They continue in call and response fashion.
• The center player bounces and catches the ball with the beat until the counting begins.  Then, on "one sir, two sir," he bounces it to someone in the circle, who bounces it back to him. (See animation.)
• The center player continues bouncing the ball all the way around the circle. 
• The entire class “wins” if they go all the way around without losing control of the ball. Even if someone misses, the center player should keep going all the way around the circle one time.
• If you like, you can add the following rule:  once you get all the way around the circle and no one has dropped the ball, you can keep bouncing it around the circle and count as high as you can!  Keep track of the class' score on the board.

Teaching Suggestions

• Wait until the end of the year to do this activity with kindergarten, unless you have an unusually coordinated group.  Make sure you use a large ball. Also, instead of doing the chant responsively, have everyone say all the words.
• When you first demonstrate the game, say, "see this spot on the floor halfway between me and the person I'm bouncing to? That's where I aim the ball."  Then, when someone bounces too close to the receiver, causing them to step back or miss the ball, you can point out how to fix the problem by referring back to your demonstration.
• You will also run into children who want to bounce the ball too hard for fun (and mischief.)  When first demonstrating, say "what will happen if I bounce it too hard?" (It will go over someone's head.)  "That means the game stops and we didn't win the game by going all the way around the circle.  So I'm going to watch to see who really gets it about how hard or soft to bounce.  You have to get just the right balance.  It's not easy!"  Of course, it is somewhat easy, but this challenge will curb the misbehavior before it starts because kids want to prove that they can do it correctly.
• If the game is too easy for the kids, particularly fourth graders, you can add an option to bounce the ball under the leg!

Skills and Concepts

• Steady beat
• (ti) anacrusis in 6/8 time