Hurray for Hula Hoops

Hula hoops were a thing in the 1950s. Click here for
more great pictures from that craze. 

I have mentioned hula hoops in previous blog posts. I love them but had not purchased any because frankly I thought they were overpriced for a bit of extruded plastic. But spring is in the air, which means hula hoops are at the local dollar stores, so get them while you can! I purchased four small hoops recently and put them right to work with my Red Ball students. Here are a few suggestions. I bet you can think of plenty more.

Vanilla - just use them as nature intended. Can your students hula? If not, have them try it around their arm/wrist first.
Target practice - hoops singly or in groups make great targets for games like Black Hole or Target Practice. Let the students place the targets. This is an interesting exercise in where they think the easiest spot to hit is. Guarantee you they will first place the hoops up close to the net. After trying in vain to hit those, they will move them farther back!
Relay/warm-ups -

• Variation on Ball Thief: Place one hoop in the middle of the court. Place X number of hoops around the edges of the court, either one per player or one per team. Players must run to center hoop, retrieve one ball at a time and place it in their own hoop. When center hoop is empty, whoever has the most balls in their own hoop wins. 
• For even more of a workout, place two hoops per team or player across the court from each other on the doubles sidelines. Hoops on one side of court have X number of balls in them. Make sure all hoops on this side of court have same number of balls per hoop. Hoops on opposite side of court are empty at start of game. Teams/players run from empty hoop to full hoop, retrieve one ball, run back and place it in empty hoop. First team/player to move all balls wins.