The Fourth Day of Christmas

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

4 lifeguard games

3 days of school

2 loads of wash

And a fifteen-dollar ice cream gift card

Today is Thursday, and we have P.E. on Thursdays. (Just Thursdays, you ask? Yup. Bummer, right?) Since it's the second to last day of school for the year 2010, I let them play an old favorite, "Sharks and Lifeguards." In this game, you have x number of sharks and x number of lifeguards. Everyone else sits on the floor with their legs under a parachute, shaking it. The shark trolls under the parachute, snagging unsuspecting swimmers (everyone else), by pulling them under the 'chute by their ankles. If you get pulled under, you become a shark yourself.

The lifeguards are their to save the swimmers from certain doom. If a swimmer feels a tug, they raise their hand and call for help. The lifeguard, if s/he can get there in time, will pull the swimmer back up.

The sharks always win.

Favorite moment from today: I wanted to increase the odds for my poor little swimmers and lifeguards, so we started out the last game with three lifeguards and just one shark. The lifeguards distributed themselves evenly around the parachute circle, waiting for the shark to make her move. She did it at exactly the right time, lying in wait until the lifeguards relaxed and then BAM! The smallest girl in my class was gone in the blink of an eye. It was amazing. You probably had to be there.

Anyway, great game for great kids. Especially since we have P.E. towards the end of the day so I didn't have to try and calm them back down again after.