Think-a-Thon ~ Outdoor Field Day for the End of the Year

If the outdoor activities described below seem daunting, you might consider doing indoor activities first, what I call a Mini Think-a-Thon. You can read more HERE.

Kids love field days and they are a great way to celebrate the end of a school year. Several years ago, I thought it would be fun to create outdoor events for my gifted classes- activities that tested mental acuity as well as physical prowess! I wanted to incorporate solving problems and puzzles with racing, playing, running, etc. With the help of colleagues in my district, this evolved into a major annual event in which students from five schools came together to compete and have fun! Our fifth-grade GT students looked forward each year to this exciting event.

The Think-a-Thon originated as just an indoor event, with students competing against the clock and each another. Our “stations” were set up at tables in the cafeteria and included (1) Plexors, (2) Analogies, (3) Math Problem Solving, and (4) Word Play. Eventually, we added outdoor games, followed by a spring picnic.

If you’re looking for a special way to end the year, there’s still plenty of time to put this together for your own students.

HOW TO SET UP INDOOR EVENTS:

You can do this in your classroom, or if you want students to be able to spread out more, reserve your cafeteria or library space for an hour. The indoor portion can be set up in just a matter of minutes!

Decide on four different station activities. Copy or download puzzles and problems for each station (specific ideas and suggestions HERE).

Create teams of 3-5 students. This could be fun even if you only have two teams competing! We brought together the 5th-grade GT classes from several schools, so we had four to six teams at each of four stations (spread apart as shown in the photo). Each team had a recorder, the one in charge of writing the answers. The other team members suggested answers, but it was the recorder’s job to get them down as quickly as possible. Each team also had a large clasp envelope (9 x 12) in which to place completed pages.

Prepare file folders for the activities. You will need the same number of file folders as you have teams. So, if you have four teams in your class, you’ll need to prepare 4 folders, one for each station. The teams will rotate through the stations. We had a large group, so we prepared about 16 folders, four at each station spread out.

Number each folder (Station 1, Station 2, etc.) and place them where you want the teams to sit for that activity. In the top photo above, you can see that there are colored cards and white pages. The colored cards were laminated and not written on; they were merely copies of what the recorder had. The recorder had the white paper copy and recorded the answers.

TIMING

The students had six minutes at each station. A bell was rung to start each activity, the teachers kept track of time, and then a bell was rung to stop the activity. “Stop! Pencils down!” was usually the direction. Time was given for recorders to place their answer sheets in their envelopes, and then students were directed to rotate.

HOW TO SET UP OUTDOOR EVENTS:

The outdoor events included three 20-minute stations, each involving the use of critical thinking and problem-solving. Students had to work cooperatively to follow the directions at the station and find solutions! Our station ideas evolved over the years, but most were inspired by puzzles and problems the students had seen in class. We had parent volunteers help us at each of the three stations, but you could also enlist the help of high school students who may have flexibility in their schedules at the end of the year. HERE is a guide to these events.

One station called CRACK THE CODE involved figuring out the combination that would open a locked pouch. The “physical” challenge was getting to the clues placed several feet away by stepping only on poly spots (which we were able to borrow from our P.E. coaches). Once they’d reached the clues on a clipboard, the team worked together to solve a problem similar to those found in Get it Together (affiliate link- thank you for using this link if you purchase!). Then, they returned the same way, stepping on poly spots, and raced to open their lock before the opposing team.

Another station was called MEMORY RELAY and was inspired by the game Chocolate Fix (affiliate link). The clues were clipped or taped to the undersides of boards or poly spots and placed 30 feet away at the other side of the field of play. One member of each team ran to any spot, turned it over, memorized the clue, then ran back and adjusted the colored magnetic pieces on a cookie sheet grid. The teams raced to place the 9 pieces on the grid correctly.

The third station was the BUILDING BLOCKS station. Some years, we presented specific building challenges with colored blocks, such as the Build It problems in Get it Together and these problems (read more here). In other years, the students were challenged to meet some kind of criteria (e.g. build the tallest structure) using various building materials. We just had to be sure each team had exactly the same materials, that the structures could withstand any wind, and that each team had a flat surface on which to build.

I love this really clever and fun idea for a USE YOUR NOODLE station, created and shared by GT teacher Peggy Woods in our Facebook group. Students solved toothpick puzzle brainteasers like these using pool noodles cut in half as their giant “toothpicks.”

In the slideshow below, you can see the directions we created for each station. We copied these on colored cardstock (about 5’x 7″ size), punched holes in them, and attached them to lanyards for the parent volunteers at each station. This way, they could read the directions for the activity right from their lanyard.

DETERMINING THE WINNING TEAM

If you have a small number of teams participating, you can almost score as you go. The indoor activity answer sheets were checked, and total points were added to the scores from the three outdoor contests. Because we hosted up to 100 students, we had parent volunteers helping us with checking answers and scoring. From year to year, we modified our scoring system, but we found a little competition made the entire event more exciting to the students.

MAJOR EVENT STRATEGIES

If you decide to pull together a larger group of students, you can prepare and set up the same three stations in different areas on your playground as shown in the photo below. We used Google Earth to create a map for ourselves and parent volunteers. We assigned teams to each area by color (orange, blue, and green).

As with any event, you can certainly start slowly! Once you create your activities, though, you can keep them forever and repeat the event year after year, as we did. We stored everything (except the poly spots we borrowed) in one bin.

I would be more than happy to answer any questions. Just send a MESSAGE with your question. Also, if you are new to the site and would like to receive updates when ideas and resources are added, consider subscribing to the blog and check out the VIDEO TOUR. We will also be sharing experiences in our Facebook PLN– join us!

A big thanks to my friend and colleague, Amy Chandler, who provided the awesome photos!