Sticky Popcorn

Jumping game where each student is a popcorn kernel hopping around the pan to the beat of a hand drum; when two gently bump, they stick together and keep jumping until they form one giant popcorn ball. Students practice two-foot jumps, soft landings and cooperation.

How to play

1. Use cones to mark the pan, a 45-by-45-foot square. Everyone starts crouched like kernels spread around the space.
2. Heat the pan with the drum: slow beats, small jumps in place; fast beats, two-foot jumps traveling around the pan (2 min).
3. On 'Sticky!', any two popcorns that meet hold hands and keep jumping together. Groups grow from 2 to 4, from 4 to 8, until the whole class is one giant popcorn ball (3 min).
4. When the pan cools down (silent drum), everyone slowly crouches and lets go. Repeat 2 more times.
5. Final rounds (4 min): groups of 4 or more jump in place instead of traveling, and the last round is done hopping on one foot.

Rules

• Land on the balls of the feet with bent knees.
• Stick by touching gently, no bumping hard.
• Big groups jump in place or travel slowly.
• When the drum stops, everyone freezes.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: be the chef who keeps the beat on the drum, or move in a wheelchair sticking by hand.
• Students with autism or touch sensitivity: stick by holding a scarf instead of a hand.
• Fitness level: tired students alternate jumps with quick steps in place.

Learning goals

• Jump with two feet and land softly.
• Match jumps to the rhythm and the group.
• Cooperate to move together without falling.

Equipment for a class of 25

• hand drum: 1
• cones: 4

Teacher tip

This game is very tiring: alternate 1 minute of jumping with silent drum breaks. Insist that the giant popcorn ball never moves fast, to avoid pulling.

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