For the little kids

[Kathy Scott]

Hi,

After the speeches, tour, and truncated schedule, we start the school year with some team building outdoor activities offered by the National Guard. One struck me as perfect for piquing the interest of little kids in fishing.

Gear:

two 2" wiffle balls with the hook part of velcro glued all over them

two 10 foot nylon 1/8" or 1/4" cords

two 4 foot pvc sections

as well as

two hula hoops

10 fish silhouettes cut from the fuzzy side of velcro material, each over 8" long

(Assemble the above into two "fly rods", put the hula hoops about 15 feet apart, and spread the fish between them)

procedure:

the kids break into two teams, each having one boat (hula hoop)
only one kid in the boat at a time
as soon as the signal is given, the fishing starts
as soon as one fish is caught, the rod is passed to the next kid (who gets "in the boat")
when all the fish are gone, the team with the highest number 'wins"

what happens:

the kids realize right away that they have to communicate as a team

the one fishing tends to have a little trouble getting any length to his/her cast until someone comes up with a 'better' way to cast the wiffle ball on the string

the one casting tends to jerk the "fly" (ball) back if it doesn't hit a fish, until someone realized that overcasting and dragging works better

the ones not casting get hit with the wiffle ball in the backcast if they aren't paying attention and moving out of the way (a good lesson when fishing)

LOTS of laughing


Not rocket science, but good indoors or out, with lots of potential variations (more hula hoops, types of fish for points, etc). We had 15 stations, and this was the one they all loved best.

Just fyi,

Kat

[JohnScott]

Kat -

Pretty cool. Sounds like everyone had a fun time.

John

P.S. What was the length and configuration of the furled leaders used ??

[sagefisher]

I can see it now: The Idaho Fish-In, fly rods and wiffle balls flying through the air at velcro fish while having the hula hoop twirl around their hips. (we had to add a degree of difficulty).

Sorry, the image just slammed into my brain and I had to share it.


Sounds like great fun for the kids.


Larry ---sagefisher---

[Kathy Scott]

You guys are too much!!! Made my morning.

K

[flybinder]

Honestly, this sounds like a really great activity and learning lesson for small children!

But, after several years of being a soccer, T-ball and Little League coach, for children, like GnuBee mentioned......... I had this Brain Flash", which brought up the horrors that always accompany "children, sports and PARENTS"!!
(My, FIRST, "brain flash", was really bad.......... it was imagining GnuBee in a grass skirt, while false casting a wiffle ball all the time, keeping his hula-hoop going).
Anyway, I digress..................
HOPEFULLY, this activity WON'T EVER involve any PARENTS!! I could already see some rich kid's folks, insisting THEIR son/daughter, use only "the finest of hewn cane, instead of the lowly PVC tubing".
As Sir John brought up....... next, will come the furled leaders, exacting tippets and of course, precisely machined solid brass tippet rings.
"Little Suzy's 10' 1/4" "cord", will soon be replaced by a custom made WF silk line.
(Her "casting coach", will teach her how to roll cast a line this short).
Wiffle Balls, will be inspected before every game, by the parents. Each and every ball, will have exacting measurements and weights, that must be adhered to. "Machined plastic Wiffle Balls", will only be allowed. No more "pressure molded, non-toleranced, crap" for the Smith's boy to fish with!
Various events will be set up, for various "ball weights", (measured in grams of weight, per diameter squared), so children of each age group will have equal chances of success.
The parents will be demanding "team colors", before long and as is true with every such event, based upon "Little League standards", there WILL BE a parent that owns their own Heating and Air contracting business, that will of course, have the nicest and most expensive uniforms.
The "fish cutouts", will have to be perfect silhouettes of known game fish, from both fresh and salt.
Several "caring parents", will also soon be insisting that there be guides, cork grips and a taper, when these "rods" are made for the children to use. "MY SON, is SPECIAL and he cannot learn anything about fishing, by just using a piece of PIPE!"
It won't be long, before the "various sizes of Wiffle Balls" are used, to make it more realistic for the type of "fish silhouette" being "fished for". Color, as well as "Emerger Ball, "Dry Ball and "Sub-Imago Ball" are introduced into this once fun child's activity.
Parents will argue, (with fathers fist fighting and betting the pink slip of the family auto, on the outcome), because "Johnny caught HIS fish, while casting "Down Grass", instead of the regulation "Fish Up Grass, ONLY", rule.
Gee, I surely do miss that fun time, coaching the children in those various sports!!
I miss their PARENTS too, but I quit coaching before my aim improved, unfortunately)

[Garic]

in these days of C&R, how do you debarb the velcro?????????