Skill Based Challenges - Lesson 6

The sixth lesson in the Reception Striver Lesson Plans series is designed to encourage young students to achieve their personal best through a variety of skill-based challenges, specifically focusing on hitting targets with different equipment. The learning objectives for this lesson include hitting a ball with both a racket and a bat, judging the power and strength required for hitting, and aiming towards targets with accuracy. Key vocabulary terms such as 'hitting', 'batting', 'racket', 'balance', 'challenges', and 'personal best' are introduced to help students articulate their experiences and understand the concepts being taught. Essential equipment for the lesson includes cones, mini tennis rackets, tennis balls, cricket bats, tees, and tall cones.

The lesson begins with a warm-up session called 'Shadow Tennis', where pupils move around an area filled with cones, imitating tennis swings and avoiding touching the cones. The main activities include 'Balance Ball', where pupils balance a ball on the strings of their racket while moving; 'Hit & Catch' in pairs, where one child hits a ball thrown by their partner and aims for them to catch it; and 'Hit The Targets', where the group takes turns trying to knock down tall cones with a ball hit off a tee using a bat. The lesson concludes with a cool-down phase that involves reflection through summary questions, asking the pupils to consider what they have learned, their favourite activities, and to self-assess their strongest and weakest skills developed over the past six weeks.