Hula hoops frequently crop up in Bluearth sessions as they make an excellent base for solo, partner and group activities that are both fun and skill building.
In this blog we share a bunch of these activities with you, so you can experience them for yourself. Enjoy!
Solo Activities
Waist hooping
Equipment Required: Hula hoop
Abilities Involved: Balance, Core Strength, Flexibility, Endurance
What people typically think of when they hear the word ‘hula hoop’, waist hooping is a sole activity that involves moving your belly in a repeated motion to keep the hoop in the air.
Grab a hula hoop, find some space and follow these tips to nail this activity:
- Ensure you have the right size hoop. When rested upright on the floor in front of you, your hoop should hit your belly button or higher.
- Loosen up. Before you begin, shake out your knees then your hips, waist, chest, shoulders, and head before doing one final full-body shake.
- Start in the right position. Standing inside your hoop, bring it up to your waist. Place the hoop against the small of your back so it’s sticking out in front of you, and make sure it’s parallel to the ground.
- Pick your technique. There are three ways to waist hoop. One foot in front of the other, moving your belly forward and backwards. Feet hip width apart, moving your belly laterally left to right. Feet together, moving your belly in a circular motion. Choose a technique and place your feet accordingly.
- Make motion. Using your hands, push the hoop towards your side firmly and flatly. Keep all the movement coming from your core, trying not to move your knees or chest too much.
- If the hoop starts to fall, move harder and faster to keep it in the air.
Waist hooping can take some time to master. So if you don’t get it on the first go, don’t be discouraged – just keep practicing!
Hula hoop roll
Equipment Required: Hula hoop, Markers
Abilities Involved: Coordination, Evaluation, Agility
Thanks to their circular structure, hula hoops are an ideal object for rolling.
Head for some open space with a hula hoop in hand, and get rolling with these various methods:
- Roll the hoop from a stationary position, then try rolling from a walking start, then a running start.
- See how far you can make the hoop go before it comes to a stop.
- Try rolling with either hand in a number of directions – front, back, side, diagonally.
- Roll the hoop between two markers decreasing the distance each time.
- Roll a hoop, chase it and then stop it. Try this over a range of distances.
Partner Activities
Gladiators
Equipment Required: Hula hoop
Abilities Involved: Stability, Strength, Persistence, Resilience
Centred around a hula hoop, gladiators is a partner activity that will get the blood and laughter flowing.
Get your gladiator on by following these steps:
- Place a hula hoop on the floor between you and your partner, so the tip of your shoes are flush with the hoop.
- Link arms by holding onto each other’s wrists.
- With linked hands only, the aim is to pull, push and maneuver your partner so they step into the hoop.
- If you want, you can make it more challenging by standing on one leg.
Catch 100
Equipment Required: Hula hoops, various balls
Abilities Involved: Catching, Throwing, Coordination, Anticipation, Reaction Time
Cue Catch 100!
To get started, place hula hoops in two lines 5 – 10 metres apart. Make sure each hoop is directly opposite a hoop in the other line. Next, place a different type of ball in each pair of hoops; it could be a different type, size, material, colour – variety is key!
Once everything is set up, it’s time to play. One player goes to each hoop and, on the signal, players throw and catch with the person opposite them. Players should count the total number of catches they make, aiming for 100. Every 15 seconds, a whistle is blown, and everyone moves down the line
Target throwing
Equipment Required: Hula hoops, beanbags, cones
Abilities Involved: Throwing, Coordination, Evaluation
Hula hoops double as a target for throwing activities and as a throwing apparatus.
Here’s two ways to use hula hoops to challenge your throwing skills:
As a target
Spread several hula hoops around your yard or park – some close to you and some far away – and challenge yourself to throw a beanbag into each one. Try overarm and underarm throwing, and using your left and right hand.
As a throwing apparatus
Following a similar setup, spread cones around your zone – all at different distances – then aim to throw your hoop over each one. Swap hands to give each side of your body a go.
Group Activities
Aeroplanes & Airports
Equipment Required: Hula hoops
Abilities Involved: Agility, Sprinting, Decision-making, Cooperation
Time for an imaginative group game.
Here’s how it works: Lay out a handful of hoops (airports) in a designated area; they should number less than the amount of players. The players (aeroplanes) then try to occupy (land at) the airports. An airport can only occupy one aeroplane at a time. However, aeroplanes can’t continue to occupy an airport if another aeroplane wishes to land there, which means the occupant must leave and fly to a new airport.
Once you’ve got the game down, switch it up with these variations:
- Vary the difference between airport and aeroplane numbers to reduce or increase the amount of movement between airports.
- Include airport police officers who try to tag aeroplanes who are outside airports. Aeroplanes tagged in this manner swap roles with the police officer who tagged them.
Hut throwdown
Equipment Required: Hula hoops, dodgeballs
Abilities Involved: Teamwork, Cooperation, Concentration, Agility
Hut Throwdown is a dodgeball style game where each team builds and protects their huts (made of hula hoops) from being knocked down by the other team.
A hula hut is built using six hoops – one for the base, for four the walls, and one for the roof.
Teams create strategies with the intention of having the most huts remaining when the timer sounds.