Time:
45 to 60 minutes
Equipment:
Spots, cones, teaching cable, tee, small net, foam balls, large balls, racquets and targets
1. Welcome/roll call (3 min.)
2. Warm-up
Run the lines (5 min.)
Everyone follows the leader along the lines of the court, changing forms of locomotion each time they reach a new line. Ask the children if they remember the names of the lines as they:
- Walk fast
- March
- Jog
- Hop on two feet
- Stop and jump back and forth across a line
Do animal imitations:
- Swing your arms like the trunk of an elephant
- Gallop lightly like a pony, then heavily like a horse
- Walk on all fours like a bear
- Flap your arms like a bird
Slow stretches (2 min.)
Have the children stop at a spot along a line. Keep the class in sync by counting aloud while doing the following stretches:
- Hands reach for the sky and then down to the toes
- Arm circles forward and backward
- Trunk twists with airplane arms and feet still
3. Motor skills
Ball drop relay (5 min.)
Place the children in two or more single-file lines at the baseline. Lay one racquet on the ground at the net for each line. Each child should have a ball or pick up a ball from a bucket at the baseline. The first child in each line races to the racquet at the net, lays his ball on the racquet and races back to tag the next child's hand. The relay continues until each child has taken his ball to the racquet. Run the race again, letting each child pick up one ball. <N>
Walk the dog (5 min.)
Divide the children into teams and set up two or three cones for each team. Like a relay race, have the children use their racquets to push a large ball through the cones and back to the line to tag the next player.
Red light/green light 5 min.
All children begin at the baseline with a beanbag on their racquets. The coach stands at the net with his back toward the children. When the coach calls "green light," children move as quickly as possible toward the net. When the coach calls "red light," he turns around. Anyone the coach catches still moving or who drops his beanbag must return to the baseline. The game continues until a child reaches the net.
4. Racquet skills
Mini-carnival (15 min.)
Set up a teaching cable, a tee and a small net. Station parent-coaches at each one. Rotate the children among the stations to do relays on the cable, count consecutive hits or target hits from the tee and hit volleys at the net. Set up another cable to hang five dangling balls for children to practice their forehands, counting aloud.
Pop-up volleys (5 min.)
Children are in a squatting position 3 feet from the net. The coach is on the other side of the net and randomly tosses balls to them. When the ball is tossed, the child pops up and hits a volley. Set up targets or award points for successful volleys.
5. Final game/wrap-up
Simon Says (5 min.)
Review the lesson and have the children use their imaginations and practice motor skills. Simon may ask them to:
- Go to a specific line on the court and then back to their spots
- Pick up their racquets by a particular part, such as the throat, grip or strings
- Show a forehand or a volley
- Pass the racquet around their legs or waist
- Use the racquet as a guitar, spoon, canoe paddle or saw
- Jump three times in place
