Field day is a school day filled with fun activities that allow students to participate in games and races. Many schools hold field day on the last day as a way to celebrate the school year and welcome the beginning of summer. Since it usually occurs in the warmth of late May or June, outdoor water activities are a natural choice to help the kids blow off steam.
Under Your Chin
Under Your Chin is a game played in an open field or in the school parking lot. Set up an obstacle course, simple in its layout, so that the students weave in and out but do not have to jump over anything or climb. The students hold water balloons under their chins and negotiate the course. If a student drops a balloon, she must return to the beginning of the course, get a new balloon and begin again. Two teams compete side by side on identical obstacle courses. The first team to have all of its racers at the finish line wins.
Clamming for Marbles
Clamming for Marbles is not an overly challenging game physically and is fun for kids of all ages. A wading pool is filled with water and sand on the bottom. Marbles are dumped into the pool. The children stand in the pool and locate the marbles by touch, using only their feet. They lift the marbles with their toes and drop them into buckets outside the pool. The game is played for a predetermined length of time, and the student with the most marbles in his bucket when time is up is the winner.
Get out of Town Fast
Get Out of Town Fast is named after showdowns in the Old West. Two teams stand in lines facing each other with a pingpong ball or beach ball placed between them. The players shoot water at the ball with squirt guns, trying to move it back toward the opposite team. The game is basically a water "push of war" instead of a tug of war. When the water pistols are empty, players must race to a bucket of water to fill their guns and return to shoot again. The first team to push the ball across the other team's line wins.
Soak It Up Water Sponge Relay
The Soak It Up Water Sponge Relay is played on a surface where children can easily run. Two teams play side by side in separate lines. The player at the end of each line soaks a sponge completely in a bucket of water. The sponge is then passed over the heads of each student to the end of the line. The student at the end squeezes out the soaking sponge into an empty, smaller bucket. She then runs back to the start of the line, soaks the sponge and passes it again. The first team to fill its smaller bucket to overflowing wins.
