Orienteering Warm-Up: Set the Map and Point

Each student carries a simple map of the schoolyard with colored cones drawn on it; they jog freely and, on the signal, stop, set the map to the terrain and point to the cone the teacher names. It gets students physically and mentally ready for an orienteering unit.

How to play

1. Give each student a card with a map of the yard showing twelve colored cones and a north arrow; explain how to line up the map with the terrain (2 min).
2. Easy free jog around the yard; on the signal, stop, set the map and point with your arm to the cone the teacher names (for example, the blue one in the north corner) (3 min).
3. In pairs: one picks a cone on the map without saying which, and the other must jog to it using only direction and distance cues (3 min).
4. Mini challenge: touch three cones shown on the map in order in under a minute, without holding the map upside down (2 min).

Rules

• Always keep the map set: if you turn your body, the map stays lined up with the terrain.
• Jog looking ahead; stop or walk to read the map.
• Cones stay where they are; if one gets moved, tell the teacher.

Variations

Adaptations

• Visual impairment: use a tactile map made with glued yarn and work with a fixed partner giving verbal cues.
• Limited mobility: does the stops and pointing from their spot, and the pair search stays in the accessible part of the yard.
• Dyslexia or reading difficulties: cones are named only by color and position, with no written codes.

Learning goals

• Raise body temperature with continuous and intermittent jogging.
• Set a simple map to the terrain.
• Give directions and distances accurately.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cards: 30
• cones: 12

Teacher tip

Print the map on half-letter paper and laminate it; it will last the whole unit. If your school has an official site map, use it so students recognize it in later lessons.

More activities like this

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