Team Fitness Hangman

This is the classic hangman game drawn in chalk on the blacktop, but each team has to earn the right to guess a letter by finishing a fitness challenge. It combines strength and endurance work with vocabulary and smart letter-guessing strategy.

How to play

1. Chalk the blanks for a class vocabulary word in the middle, such as "skeleton." Make 5 teams of 5, each at its cone about 50 feet from the board with a deck of challenge cards (2 min).
2. The team draws a card and everyone completes it: 10 squats, 15 jumping jacks, a 20-second plank or a shuttle run to the wall and back.
3. Then the team's runner goes to the board and calls a letter. If it's in the word, the teacher writes it, and the team scores a point for each time it appears.
4. If not, it goes on the misses list and the team's figure gets one more line; if the figure is finished, the team does a double challenge.
5. To guess the whole word, the team first does 30 jumps together; a correct guess is worth 5 points and a new word starts (3 words, 15 min).
6. At the end, teams explain what the words mean (2 min).

Rules

• No repeating a letter already on the board or the misses list.
• The runner rotates every turn so everyone gets to the board.
• Approach the board from the side, without stepping on letters or bumping other runners.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the student does an upper-body version of each challenge and can be the letter strategist.
• Hearing impairment: the teacher writes each letter large, and the runner shows it on a card.
• Fitness level: each card offers two levels of the same exercise.

Learning goals

• Perform strength and endurance exercises with good form.
• Review class vocabulary and spelling.
• Make team decisions to pick the most likely letters.

Equipment for a class of 25

• chalk: 6
• challenge cards: 30
• cones: 5

Teacher tip

If you'd rather avoid the hangman image, draw a snowman that melts piece by piece. Pick words from other subjects with the classroom teacher to reinforce what students are learning that week.

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