Red Blood Cell Delivery Relay
Students play red blood cells traveling the body's circulation: they pick up oxygen in the lungs, pass through the heart and deliver it to the muscles. It builds aerobic endurance while showing why the heart beats faster during exercise.
How to play
- Set up the "body": in the center, the heart (two hoops for the right and left sides); 15 m (50 ft) away, the lungs (hoops with red "oxygen" bean bags); 15 m the other way, the muscles (one hoop per team with blue bean bags).
- Make 5 teams of 5 in pinnies and explain the route (3 min).
- Each blood cell leaves the muscles with a blue bean bag, enters the right side of the heart (two hops inside the hoop: "lub-dub"), runs to the lungs and swaps the blue bag for a red one.
- The runner returns through the left side (two hops), drops the red bag in the team's hoop and picks up a blue one.
- Play 3 rounds of 3 minutes; during each 1-minute rest, teams count red bags and everyone checks their pulse.
- In round 3 the teacher shouts "The body is exercising!": the muscles need twice as much, so each cell carries two bags per trip. Afterwards, discuss why pulse went up more in that round.
Rules
- Always pass through the heart on the correct side, or the trip does not count.
- Carry only one bean bag per trip, except in the exercise round.
- Stay to the right in each lane to avoid running into oncoming players.
- Place bean bags in the hoop; never throw them.
Variations
Easier
Shorten distances to 10 m and skip the hops in the heart.
Standard
15 m distances, three 3-minute rounds and a final exercise round.
Harder
Add a cone zigzag in the arteries and a "virus" whose tag makes a cell repeat a section.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the student plays the heart and sends off each cell with a clapping "heartbeat," or covers shorter distances in a wheelchair.
- Autism: provide a route map with arrows and colors.
- Different fitness levels: any student may speed-walk a loop with no penalty.
Learning goals
- Sustain continuous moderate-to-vigorous effort.
- Understand the path of blood and the job of the heart.
- Connect a higher pulse to the body's greater need for oxygen.
Equipment for a class of 25
- hoops: 9
- bean bags: 50
- cones: 12
- pinnies: 25
Teacher tip
Draw the circuit in chalk before starting: many students mix up the sides of the heart in round one.
PatioLab has "Red Blood Cell Delivery Relay" and 2499 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More main activities for Elementary
1-on-1 Mini Volleyball Up and Down the River
One-on-one mini volleyball duels on 3 x 3 m courts under a rope 2 m high, using a receive, self-set and send rule.
1v1 Four-Gate Soccer Duels
In a square with a gate on each side, two players go head to head and score by dribbling through any of the four gates.
2-on-2 Mini Volleyball with a Neutral Setter
Two-on-two mini volleyball with a neutral setter under the rope who always plays for the team with the ball.
2v1 Attack Waves to Mini Goals
Two attackers take on one defender and try to score on a small goal in under 10 seconds.
3v1 Basketball Keep-Away Squares
In coned squares, three players pass the ball without dribbling while one defender in the middle tries to intercept.
3v3 Mini-Volleyball with Set Passes
Small-sided 3v3 mini-volleyball on small courts, with a bonus for building the play with a set.