Paddles and Badminton

At the start of 2nd semester, we began one of my other favorite activities to teach kids, badminton. The Young 5's through 2nd graders began by using foam paddles and balloons so as to become familiar with the grip and different swing motions used to make contact with the object they were to hit. Balloons work great at the lower elementary levels too because they move a lot slower and are easier for kids to track. Plus, as one Kindergartner put it, "It looks like a party in here!"

The 3rd graders begin on badminton right away, and this being my first year at Rose Park it was fun to see how much they knew! Young 5-K kids do not move on to using birdies because they are generally smaller and harder to hit, rather we use smaller foam sized balls that are easier to spot and make contact with.

Probably the best part about badminton is the tournament that we have at the end. Every day, the kids have a new doubles partner and begin a new tournament. The 1st graders do a rotation tournament. I designate one court as the Championship Court after the first game (because if I did it before the 1st game, they would all be running to be the first teams to play there!), and each game they play, they are trying to win so they can "move up" to the championship court. The 2nd and 3rd graders at Rose Park learned what a ladder tournament is. They each played on a court (the gym only has 4 courts, so some just practiced on the sides, while waiting for a court to open up). While playing their first game, I put up the pairs' names randomly on the ladder. After their game was through, they determine who the winner is, and depending on where they were on the ladder, they could move up or down. The top rung is the Champion, which is where everyone is trying to go. They would then get to challenge another team to play, so they can work their way up the ladder. The kids caught on very quickly, and really enjoyed having the freedom to choose who they wanted to play. Everyone was engaged at all times, even the kids who were waiting for a court to play on.