NAME OF ACTIVITY: Scrabble Scramble

GRADE LEVEL: 2-12

EQUIPMENT NEEDED: 30-50 tennis balls, or other items you can letter (index cards, scrabble tiles) 1 hula hoop or carpet square per team.  Dome markers or other similar item to hide the letters

HIGHLIGHTS: Running, team strategy, spelling integration, and teamwork 

INSTRUCTIONS: Their are a couple variations. I have each team base, set up an equal distance from the center of the playing area.  each team uses a carpet square or hula-hoop as their base.  In the center of the playing area place the letters (tennis balls), under the dome markers.  The object of the game is to be the first team to spell a word with the number of letters designated by the instructor.  For example, be the first team to create a 5 letter word.
     On the signal, each team will send one player to the center hoop to retrieve a tennis ball (letter).  That player will then return the ball to the base and tag the next runner on their team who will go to the center and retrieve another ball.  This will continue until the team has a number of balls equal to the number of letters designated to create the word.  So if a 5 letter word is designated, a team may have no more than 5 balls at their base.  Once a team has the correct number of balls, they may begin to exchange their letters for letters in the middle.  This will continue until a team has won the game by creating a word with the correct number of letters.  Once a team has created a word, they need to yell stop immediately, and will be declared the winner.   Following are some guidelines:
     1.  Players may never have more letters at their base, than the number of letters designated for the word.
     2.  Players may never retrieve more than 1 ball at a time.
     3.  Players must take the letter that they uncovered - like it or not :)

Similar Games: see Math Munchers, or Hoop Scrabble
  

HELPFUL HINTS:  One variation that I like to use, is having the students using their spelling words or vocabulary words.  This is not only quite active, but integrates other academic areas into physical education.
     When players get a ball (letter), they need to leave the dome upside down, so the other teams know it is empty.

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