How To Build a Snowman In Virtual Physical Education Class

How can your students build a snowman if they have PE online? That’s where you have to use your creative teaching powers and come up with a plan on how to execute this assignment.

Normally I’m live with 9 classes a day, teaching or moving with my students. But this week is a two day week for our school, so I figured I’d try something different.

So as my students in grades 2-8 enter my Google Meet this is the slide they see. (I know I know, I could have made it more fun to look at).

I started every class together, so no one was confused on the directions. I read the slide to them to make sure everyone was on the same page, and they could ask questions if they needed. This was to ensure the kids felt confident logging out when they would normally be online with me.

As they were about to leave, I added that I will give extra credit to anyone that takes a picture of their indoor/outdoor snowman and sends it to me via email.

Also see: How to Build a Snow Castle in Your Virtual Physical Education Class.

Make Your Own Build a Snowman Assignment:

You know your students and what they are capable of. So this assignment should be unique to every teacher.

Here in Michigan we got so much snow, it would be a shame to not be playing in it. But I do understand that some parents do not want their children outside in the cold or especially without supervision. That’s why I gave an option for an indoor snowman.

Another thing I added that you do not see on my slide, was that I stayed on the Google Meet the entire class period each class. That way if students wanted to pop in and out of our meet they were able to. This was for extra clarification or to show me their progress.

I had anywhere from 4-8 kids stay on the meet the entire class period while they constructed their indoor snowman, but the best part of this was that they were all able to talk and laugh with each other without their entire class interrupting. Seeing them talk to each other about their lives during class on Google Meet was really sweet, because it’s something they might not be able to do with so much content they need to learn in their other classes.

Parent Permission

The reason for me staying on the meet the entire time was to ensure that all my kids knew exactly what was expected of them, and to answer any questions parents or guardians might have.

Only one parent was confused, because her son left the meet and asked to go play outside. She was wondering if this was allowed, and worried he might lose participation points. I’m so glad she came back to clarify! I want my parents to know PE should be about being active while having fun so why can’t we build a snowman?

This parent was informed that with the students sitting behind a computer all day, even for PE…I wanted them to be able to let loose and be creative during PE instead of the regular workout or virtual game we normally play.

I also informed everyone that this will not be an every day activity, just something out of the box for the kids to explore.

Alternatives for Students Who Cannot Build a Snowman Indoor or Outdoor

Out of all of my kids so far I had one student who informed me that she could not go outside, or build something indoors.

And of course, I’m not going to leave her hanging since she’s my responsibility for 30 minutes.

What I was able to do was play a fun workout for her or anyone else that wanted to join in, while still presenting the instructions for the rest of the class who were popping in and out.