There are occasions when making circuits around a quarter- or eighth-mile track is required, but it never has to be dull. Introduce Strange Laps, where kids run every lap in a unique (and wacky!) fashion, to make running laps more enjoyable and fascinating for them. Students can run the first lap to music, the second lap backward, and the third lap as slowly as they can. They can complete a lap while hopping over mini-hurdles (like bean bags or any other small object that won't trip them), another while holding hands with a partner, and a third while weaving in and out of cones. Another excellent strategy for keeping students interested is to let them come up with their own Wacky Laps.Criss-Cross Relay backrooms gameRelay races are another another excellent method to combine teamwork, interval training, and running. Divide your class into four groups, and have each group line up in the corners of your gym or play area for this whole-class relay. Choose the first runner—the first student in one of the lines—who will run diagonally across the play area to the group in the other corner, high-five the first runner there, and then proceed to the end of that line. The first runner in the third corner's group has been high-fived by the second runner, who has moved to the back of that line. The third runner will then cross the space diagonally to high-five the first runner in the fourth group, and so on. The running pattern forms a continuous hourglass shape. To change things up, have two pupils run simultaneously and consistently diagonally across the play area to form an X-shaped running pattern.
