Athletics with a difference: at the university sports festival, to which Oldenburg students invited around 600 primary school pupils to the Wechloy campus, the main focus is on having fun with exercise. A concept that goes down well.
The sun is in danger! Dark forces from distant galaxies want to destroy our source of light and heat. This is the story with which the sports students from the athletics seminar run by sports didactics teacher Claus Heemsoth greeted primary school pupils from Oldenburg and the surrounding area over the past few days. Each class competed as a superhero team from a planet to banish the danger. The children between the ages of six and ten were able to compete against evil at nine stations - running, jumping and throwing. Everyone scored points for the team with their efforts. In the end, the planet that had contributed the most to defeating evil was the winner.
"Despite the warm temperatures, the children were very enthusiastic," says Heemsoth, who has been organising the university sports festival together with students for 30 years. His aim is twofold: Firstly, the playful approach, which relies heavily on team performance, should also allow less sporty children to enjoy athletics. Secondly, it is a good opportunity for the students to gain practical experience. "Here they experience authentic situations that they will later have to master in their academic appointments as sports teachers," explains the lecturer.
This starts with the planning: The students had to develop stations that would challenge the younger pupils but not bore the older ones. In addition, the scoring had to be differentiated in order to create an exciting competition in which the lower grades also had a chance. "Some schools also have inclusive children," adds Heemsoth. The students therefore had to think about how they could ensure that these children could not only take part, but also enjoy the sports festival.
Caro, Alina, Alexander and Jalman came up with a good solution. The four students designed the "Hunt through the Galaxy" competition station, in which the children have to run an obstacle course across the beach volleyball court to bring a baton to safety from the bad guys. "The inclusion children don't run through the sand, but across the grass at the edge of the field and don't have as many obstacles," explains Alexander. This means they can complete the station just as quickly as their classmates and also collect lots of points for the team. Then Alexander is already on his way again, because at that moment the starting siren sounds and the superheroes from the planet Pluto - class 1a from Elsfleth-Lienen primary school - start their race.
