In Castlemania, teams attempt to destroy their opponents' castles by catapulting gator balls from their base. Students work in pairs to power their siege machines all while leveraging the different health-related components of fitness.
The teacher divides a rectangular playing area into two zones. At the end of each zone is a Castle Area, marked off by a moat line that cannot be crossed during play except to retrieve a ball. Within each zone, mats are placed on the floor to act as Slingshot Mounts, one for every two students on that team.
Destroy the other team's Castle before they destroy yours.
Players should be mindful of where they are throwing. Students should also be taught to throw with proper sit-up form.
Builds allow you to increase the game's complexity, one layer at a time.
Break each team into pairs. Within each pair, one player starts as the Slingshot and the other as the Loader.
Slingshots find an open Slingshot Mount and get into a sit-up start position, with their Loader standing beside the mat.
The teacher then sends gator balls into the game. The goal is to knock over as many of the other team's castle structures as possible.
Loaders run and collect one ball at a time, return to their partner, and place the ball in their hands. Once loaded, Slingshots launch balls towards the other team's castle using a powerful sit-up movement.
This runs for two minutes. Once the timer ends, players switch roles with their partner.
Two minutes is deliberately short. Sit-ups under a clock are demanding, and the role switch is what keeps this a fitness game rather than an endurance test for whoever drew the Slingshot role.
Dissolve the pairings from the previous build and divide each team in half.
One half is divided into pairs taking the roles of Slingshots and Loaders. The other half is divided into pairs taking two new roles: Blockers and Batteries.
The Blocker's job is to prevent the other team's Slingshots from damaging their castle. Blockers stay along the moat line and block any balls that come their way.
However, Blockers are battery powered. While a Blocker defends, their Battery partner must hold a wall squat outside the playing area. Blockers and Batteries stay in constant communication and may switch roles on the fly at any point in the round.
Rounds last two minutes, after which partners exchange roles. After two rounds, each half of the team switches with the other half, so Slingshots and Loaders become Blockers and Batteries, and vice versa.
Dissolve the pairings again and divide each team into thirds. One third serves as Slingshots and Loaders, one third as Blockers and Batteries, and the final third as Lasers and Power Units.
While students agree on their roles, place hoops in the playing area, one per Laser. Each hoop is a laser mount.
Lasers need to be powered up to perform their role, which means their Power Unit partner must perform jumping jacks outside the playing area.
While their Power Unit works, the Laser may move within their team's zone and collect two balls. Once they have both, the Laser makes their way to an available mount and launches a ball using an overhand throw.
Once the Laser has launched both balls, they tag their Power Unit and the two partners exchange roles.
Rounds last two minutes, after which partners exchange roles. After two rounds, each third switches with another third so that every player gets to play each role.
By this build there are six roles running at once, each loading a different component of fitness. That is the whole lesson, so leave real time for the closing discussion rather than squeezing in another round.
Print the game sheet, leave it on your desk, and your sub has everything they need: the diagrams, the builds in order, what to say, and what to watch for. This one is $4. #PhysEdU Plus members get all 39, free forever, for $49 a year.
Games that build on the same tactics.
