Adapting the Playbook: Structuring Adapted PE for Joyful Pl…

• Balloon Variation: A variation on this activity uses a smaller stress ball football and helium balloons. Tie the helium balloons to the small football (ideally, these would be football- shaped Mylar balloons). This will create more lift as the small football flies. This is a great activity for a blower (especially from a smaller bounce house) to use as the propellant. The blower is typically quieter than a leaf blower. I like to add a tube to the blower. This could be a 4-inch PVC pipe or a cardboard tube from carpet or sheet linoleum (the cardboard tubes are great if you can get them from a business that is going to recycle them anyway; they are lighter and easier to cut and easier to decorate than PVC, but PVC also works). Place the football tied to balloons inside the tube. Then students activate the blower, and the football and balloons fly out. The balloons will often catch some air and do some very cool flying, and they head towards the goal and/or receiver. The balloons also slow the descent of the football, adding more time that someone can try and catch the ball or simply allowing more time to visually track the ball through the air. • Switch-Adapted All-Pro Passer Robotic Quarterback: The All-Pro Passer Robotic Quarterback is a battery-powered toy that throws a football using compressed air. It is possible to switch-adapt this toy. It must be opened, and a switch port wired in. While this is a more advanced switch adaptation (because it is not a simple on/off switch), it is totally worth it! Once switch-adapted, this robotic quarterback will rival any quarterback in its force! The ball is placed on the launcher and then locked into place with a button press. Next, the air must be manually pumped to create pressure. This can be difficult, and as the pressure increases, pumping becomes more difficult. During this activity, some students were able to pump independently, some with assistance, and others chose a number of pumps that a staff member did. After the robotic quarterback is set up (ball on, locked in, pumped up), the switch user can activate the quarterback, sending the ball flying! If using inside, I would recommend never pumping more than one-third of the way because otherwise things might break! º Important Note: Opening and modifying electronic toys can be complex and may void any warranties. If you are not comfortable with electronics, seek assistance from someone experienced in switch adaptation or electronics repair. • Goal Posts, Receivers, and Moving Targets: Now that we have lots of ways to throw, we need to discuss what we are throwing at/towards! I found a very large Mylar balloon goal post. This worked perfectly for a lot of the throwing activities previously described, bonus is it's yellow like a real goal post. I used a balloon inflator (and PowerLink and switch) to have students inflate the large Mylar goal post, and then we were able to use it for multiple sessions. Another option is to throw

action, the beach ball is compressed, sending the smaller football flying! This can be a big“bang-for-your-buck" activity, as the flying ball will sometimes go so high it hits the ceiling! For an added challenge, students can also work on aiming the ball at a target or receiver. This activity does not require anyone to build anything. MID-TECH ACTIVITIES • Catapulting Footballs: Now we are getting into some building. This is a catapult activity that can be done with a variety of different types of catapults. The catapults could be store-bought, custom-made, 3D printed, etc. • Slap Koozie Catapult: The slap koozie catapult is cheap and easy to make using a slap koozie. A slap koozie is a drink koozie designed to quickly form around a bottle or can. Inside the neoprene rectangle are two slap bracelets. When the slap koozie is pulled in the opposite direction it is intended to go, it creates a spring-back catapult action. For this catapult, I like to attach Velcro to one end and some kind of holder to the other end for the ball. I use a slant board, Velcro the catapult onto the board, pull back, load up a ball, and let it fly. You can add adaptations such as a strap to hold down the loaded catapult and use a small strap, industrial twist tie, or other apparatus to pull back on the strap, thus firing the catapult. For football catapulting, I like to set up this game on one end of a table and set up a field goal at the other end. The field goal could be made of PVC pipes or pool noodles. I also found a Mylar balloon field goal that worked very well for this and other field goal activities. The same basic setup works with any catapult. HIGH-TECH ACTIVITIES • Leaf Blower/Blower Fan Throwing: Another way to throw a football is using a PowerLink, a fan or leaf blower, and an inflatable football. A PowerLink enables anything that plugs in with a dedicated on/off feature to be switch-accessible. Setting up a leaf blower or strong fan with a stand and an inflatable football can make throwing (or kicking) the football accessible to switch users. The inflatable football is preferred to a regular or Nerf football because it is lighter and more easily thrown by the fan/leaf blower. Some additional ways to enhance this activity include altering the switch access for different skills. For instance, if working on kicking, then use a wobble or string switch and tie on a football. The student can then kick that football, and a small movement can activate the leaf blower and launch the inflatable football a long distance. If working on throwing, then the switch might have a football on it, and the student could use their hand or another appropriate switch location to activate the blower. Altering the switch access so that the student is interacting with a football and not just a flat plastic switch is another enhancement to this activity.

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