Juggling Lesson Plan 1

EQUIPMENT:

3 juggling scarves per student
A jump ropes for every student
5–6 cones
Music for Jump and Rip Fitness

OUTCOMES:

The student will:

Run, change directions, pivot, evade other students, and assume poses during the Run and Change Direction Introductory Activity following the directions given by the instructor.
Participate in Jump and Rip Fitness activities to improve their overall fitness.
Demonstrate Cascading, Reverse Cascading, and Column Juggling skills while using one, two, and three scarves and using form demonstrated by the instructor.
Demonstrate cooperation in Triangle plus 2 Tag game following the instructions established by the instructor.

NATIONAL STANDARDS: 1 – 5

Run and Change Direction

INSTRUCTIONS:

Students jog around the area, when a signal is given, they change direction. To increase the challenge, combine compass directions with the turn. For example, call out, “45 degree turn north.”

TEACHING HINTS:

Scattered formation

Specify type of angle, i.e., right, obtuse, 45-degree.

Jump and Rip Fitness

INSTRUCTIONS:

Rope jumping—forward / 25 seconds
Double Crab Kick / 30 seconds
Rope jumping—backward / 25 seconds
Knee Touch Curl-Up / 30 seconds
Jump and turn body / 25 seconds
Push-Ups / 30 seconds
Rocker Step / 25 seconds
Bend and Twist / 30 seconds
Swing -Step forward / 25 seconds
Side Flex / 30 seconds
Free jumping / 25 seconds
Relax and stretch for a short time.

TEACHING HINTS:

Use music segments (25 seconds) alternated with silence segments (30 seconds). When the music is playing, students jump rope; when silence occurs, students do a flexibility and strength development exercise. If the class is experienced, let them choose their own exercises to do. It may be helpful to put up examples of exercises that focus on all parts of the body, i.e., upper body, lower body, and core.

Allow students to adjust the workload to their level. This implies resting if the rope jumping is too strenuous.

Juggling with Scarves

INSTRUCTIONS:

Scarves are held near the center by the fingertips. To throw the scarf, it should be lifted and pulled into the air above eye level. Scarves are caught by clawing, a downward motion of the hand, and grabbing the scarf from above as it is falling.

Cascading—Cascading is the easiest pattern for juggling three objects. The following sequence can be used to learn this basic technique.

One scarf. Hold the scarf in the center. Quickly move the arm across the chest and toss the scarf with the palm out. Reach out with the other hand and catch the scarf in a straight-down motion (clawing). Toss the scarf with this hand using the motion and claw it with the opposite hand. Continue the tossing and clawing sequence over and over.
Two scarves and one hand. Hold the scarves with the fingertips in one hand. Toss the first scarf upward. As the first scarf reaches its zenith, toss the second scarf, and catch the first one. Continue.
Two scarves and two hands. Hold a scarf with the fingertips of each hand. Toss the first one across the body as described above. Toss the second scarf across the body in the opposite direction.
Three-scarf cascading. A scarf is held in each hand by the fingertips as described above. The third scarf is held with the ring and little fingers against the palm of the hand. The first scarf to be thrown will be from the hand that is holding two scarves.

Reverse Cascading—Reverse cascading involves tossing the scarves from the waist level to the outside of the body and allowing the scarves to drop down the midline of the body.

One scarf.
Two scarves.
Three scarves.

TEACHING HINTS:

If you have some advanced jugglers, challenge them with some of the following activities:

While cascading, toss a scarf under one leg.
While cascading, toss a scarf under one leg.
While cascading, instead of catching one of the scarves, blow it upward with a strong breath of air.
Begin cascading by tossing the first scarf into the air with a foot. Lay the scarf across the foot and kick it into the air.
Try juggling three scarves with one hand. Do not worry about establishing a pattern; just catch the lowest scarf each time.
Juggle three scarves while standing side by side with inside arms around each other.

While doing column juggling, toss up one scarf, hold the other two, and make a full turn. Resume juggling.

Triangle-and-two tag.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Students are in groups of five. Three students hold hands and form a triangle. One other student is the chaser, and the other student is a fugitive trying to keep from being tagged. The triangle tries to help the fugitive stay untagged by moving around and blocking the chaser. Rules include no jumping over the triangle or pushing the triangle out of the way. The triangle must stay together. The chaser must go around the triangle to tag.

TEACHING HINTS:

Get students in groups of 5.

If desired, put out a spot per group to signify where the fugitive will start the game.

Students switch roles after a tag or a specified amount of time.

INSTRUCTIONS:

What activity was the most challenging during fitness today?
Which juggling skills were the easiest to master?
Which juggling skills do you need to work on more and why?
What is the most important skill to practice in Triangle plus 1 Tag?

Cheer: 3, 2, 1, Juggling is fun!