Sixth Grade Field Day

Today was sixth grade field day.  I received an email requesting help and got a good idea of what was planned.  There would be ten different stations/activities/games the kids would rotate through, with eight kids per group.  Each activity was to be 15 minutes long, and manned by two adults.  There was also going to be fruit snacks and Capri Suns as a snack part-way through the rotations.  I signed up to be in charge of the water balloon toss, and as Kent isn't working at the moment, I suggested he come and help me.  He agreed.  Other activities included corn hole, Frisbee throw (into a Frisbee golf hole), parachute games, bubblegum games, three-legged races, and a blind ball fetch relay.  All fun activities to do with one's friends.

The day dawned very cloudy and a bit chilly, and we hoped it wouldn't rain.  I made a couple hundred water balloons and hoped they would hold out through ten rotations.  We brought towels and had a balloon toss between two teams, but it didn't go super well and we were going through water balloons crazy fast.  I sent Kent home to make several more bundles of the "spiffy inflate 30 in less than a minute" type.  He made a game suggestion that would prevent the water balloons from going so fast, and then raced home to make more.  

We had the kids line up facing each other, four to each side.  Then they were to toss the water balloon to their partner, and if they caught the balloon, they would take a step back, widening the distance between them.  The team who made it the furthest apart without breaking their balloon was the winner of the round.  That took only four balloons each round, so they held out much longer.  

Sadly, we only got through five teams before it really began to rain.  It had been sort of sprinkling, but then it really started to come down.  I was teaming up with a classmate of Brandt's, Amelia, and as we were standing out in the downpour, I looked to her and said, "Amelia, what are we doing out here?!"  "Having fun!" was her reply.  And an excellent reply it was.  We were having fun.  But we were also getting soaked.  The teachers called everyone to come under the pavilion and have their snacks, and then the adults had a pow wow.  It was determined that we would call it a day and move to inside activities.  It was something of a disappointment, but a practical decision, too.  There was no way we could continue; everyone would have been miserably wet and damp the rest of the day.  Kent and I were bummed because Brandt did not make it to our station in the four rotations we did, so I didn't get a picture of him doing anything except enjoying a Capri Sun.  Ah well.  Such is life.  

Brandt tells me he did parachute games, played speed on the basketball court, bubble gum games, the Frisbee thrown, and blind ball fetch.  The games were fun.