Thursday, 28th March 2024

Thursday, 28th March 2024

Outdoor Ideas for Indoor Lessons

14 Aug 2008

MOE Outdoor Education Conference

Workshop participants having fun trying out various propless games.

Teachers Mr Noor Shahid Bin Noorahman from Bedok South Secondary School and Mr Ng Pek Kee from Manjusri Secondary School don’t teach PE, but that didn’t stop them from signing up for MOE’s Outdoor Education Conference in June. In fact, Mr Ng first attended the conference in 2006 and found it so useful that he enrolled again. “The parallel between outdoor and academic education meant I could apply what I learnt in my English and Mathematics classes,” he explains.

Outdoor enthusiast Mr Noor Shahid agrees. “Even though I teach Mathematics and Computer Applications, I can adapt some of the concepts and activities for my lessons. I’m also hoping to use some of these activities in my CCA, the National Cadet Corps, as well as with other uniformed groups.”

What brought Mr Ng and Mr Noor Shahid to the Outdoor Education Conference this year was the workshop, “Propless Games – icebreakers, energisers, deinhibitisers and team-building games for all occasions”.

The workshop was one of the post-conference events at the Conference, which centred on the theme, “Community Building through Outdoor Education: Reliving the Kampung Spirit”. Taking inspiration from the kampung way of life – think climbing trees, catching spiders or digging for worms – the Conference drew educators, trainers, community leaders and anyone interested in outdoor education.

MOE Outdoor Education Conference

Workshop instructor Mr Allan Lee shares his ideas for propless games.

Getting the kids going

At the Propless Games workshop, participants picked up a variety of games: not only the ones mentioned in the workshop title, but also trust games, communication games, fillers and so on. Versatile and fun, these exercises can be used in different situations to bring up students’ energy levels or get them ready for a learning activity, be it during a camp, workshop or even in class.

For the two non-PE teachers, they were intrigued by the idea of games that don’t require any props. “I had wanted to conduct some games in class, but having to prepare props could be inconvenient. This workshop helped me to increase my repertoire of skills in conducting games, especially games that do not need props and can be done in a jiffy,” says Mr Ng.

As Mr Noor Shahid discovered, he can creatively make use of whatever is available at hand to come up with interesting games. “Instead of props, we can use our body parts for clapping, tapping, stepping, snapping fingers, nodding or shaking of heads – these can become the building blocks of a great game!”

MOE Outdoor Education Conference

Mr Noor Shahid participating in one of the games.

He is eager to try out what he has learnt in his classes. “My Normal (Technical) students will like these hands-on and engaging activities. I need to equip myself with my own ‘bag of tricks’ so that I can respond according to the situation in the classroom. For example, if I see that the energy level of the class is dropping, I can pull something out and energise them.”

Beyond the classroom

Mr Noor Shahid also hopes to impart the skills to students in the uniformed groups he oversees. “Student leaders can conduct these games during their CCAs,” he envisions. These games can provide the opportunity for students to work together in teams or rally their peers more effectively.

Mr Ng also learned more about the outdoor education industry at the Conference, and hopes to help students explore wider career options. “For students who are interested in the outdoors, I can show them that there is an industry out there that they can join as educators and trainers in future.” And who knows – maybe some of these interested students will develop propless games of their own in due course.