South Bay, St. Stephens, and Deep Water Bay were all locations for the Grade 4 and Grade 5 Beach Olympics. Grade 5 students went on Oct 27th and Grade 4 students went on November 4th. Both grade levels headed out to these locations for a day on the sand and in the water. Students had a lot of fun learning how to paddle and experiencing survival skills thanks to APA (Asia Pacific Adventures). We met our facilitators upon arrival and split up into different teams.
All the activities and games challenged us in fun ways. The weather was perfect. Olivia D. from 5C said that “it was not very cold” and she enjoyed participating in all the games, “but by the end I was definitely craving a hot shower.”
Grade 4 played the Robot Game, which involved water spraying which got a lot of people wet. There were also water balloon fights. The water balloon was a favourite. Students had to trust each other and use a lot of teamwork to very gently move the balloons across the beach. The water balloons were very fragile and could pop with a wrong move. Lastly, we had the chance to learn how to use the paddles for the GSUPs. Kelsey from 4C said that it was fun to play different games at the beach. Remy from 4C said that she loved that she could eat her snack and lunch at the beach with her friends. Bernice from 4C enjoyed learning how to paddle.
The land-based games that Grade 5 played were Tug-of-War, Beachball Chase, and Plug the Holes. The water game was a Triathlon, a race that incorporated SUP, crawling, and swimming. We enjoyed doing our best for our teams, even though it was really tiring! Participants Phoebe and Olivia Y. from 5C agreed that “it was pretty stressful.”
That was not it, we also had a final competition where all the challenges were combined. Students were shouting and cheering at each other to go faster. We learned that even though you are not in the same group as your friends, you can still have a lot of fun.
At the end of the event, our APA facilitators gathered us one last time to reflect on how we achieved our goals for the day. With all the activities, we felt proud of ourselves for being risk-takers.
If you had a day on the beach with your class, what would you enjoy doing at the beach?
