Warm-up with Paper Balls
A classroom-friendly warm-up with crumpled newspaper balls: students throw, catch and dodge safely to activate the whole body in a small space. It develops hand-eye coordination and gets the upper body moving without sports equipment.
How to play
- Each student crumples a sheet of newspaper into a tight ball, about the size of a fist (0.5 min).
- Individual tosses: throw high and catch, catch with the non-dominant hand, and clap once or twice before catching (2 min).
- Partner passes: in pairs, pass at different heights (high, chest, low) while walking around the room (2 min).
- Snowball fight: split the class into two halves on either side of a center line; throw balls into the other side for 1 minute, and the side with fewer balls when the whistle blows wins (1.5 min).
- Collect all the balls into the recycling bin (1 min).
Rules
- Throw underhand only, toward the other side of the line.
- Never throw at anyone's face.
- Stay on your side of the line during the snowball fight.
- All balls go into the recycling bin at the end.
Variations
Easier
Students do only individual tosses and partner passes, without the snowball fight.
Standard
Students do all three phases, about 2 minutes each.
Harder
Students juggle two balls at once and catch only with the non-dominant hand.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the student participates seated, throwing at a target on the wall.
- Low vision: wrap the balls in brightly colored paper.
- Students who are shy or anxious in group games: let them collect balls and throw from the back line.
Learning goals
- Activate the upper body and hand-eye coordination.
- Warm up in small spaces without sports equipment.
- Reuse materials responsibly by recycling them.
Equipment for a class of 25
- newspaper sheets: 50
Teacher tip
Keep a stack of old newspapers in the gym. Have students make two balls each for faster snowball fights.
PatioLab has "Warm-up with Paper Balls" and 599 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
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