Ayla Avilez

LEI 4724
Activity: The Hula Hoop Pass
Source: http://www.peacefirst.org/digitalactivitycenter/files/hula_hoop_pass.pdf
Equipment Needed: One-Two hula hoops
Activity Description: This game can be used with 5-25 participants from early elementary age and
up. The point of this game is to work on communication, cooperation and teamwork.
1. Get everyone to hold hands and make a circle.
2. Ask two people to let go of their grip to add a hula hoop, by having one participant place their
hand through the hula hoop and then have them rejoin hands.
3. The participants have to maneuver the hoop clockwise around the circle in the quickest possible
time without letting go of their hands and without talking.
a. You should illustrate how to pass the hula hoop by stepping through the hoop and
ducking your head to move your body through the hula hoop and passing it on.
4. The game is successfully completed when the hula hoop made it around the circle to where it first
began.
5. When they have completed this challenge add another hoop at the same time and have it going
counterclockwise instead.
6. If you have large numbers have teams compete against each other.

Leadership Considerations:
Make sure participants do not pull on each others hands and follow directions. To process the
activity ask the following questions: Was the activity easier or more difficult than imagined? How did
it feel to successfully complete the task as a team? What did you have to do differently when there
were two hula hoops going around?

Adaptations:
Working with participants with a Major Depressive Disorder, social interaction and feeling of worth is
important. Therefore, allowing participants to talk and encourage each other will benefit the participant
with a major depressive disorder. Group work provides social interaction with other individuals and can
diminish social isolation amongst participants with major depressive disorder. Individuals with MDD may
have difficulty concentrating, therefore have a small group size from 5-7 people and add a hula hoop or a
certain number of times the hula hoop has to pass through the circle to increase focus.
When working with individuals with Parkinsons disease, the goal is to reduce muscle stiffness and
increase range of motion being that this can be very painful for individuals. In this case the use of a tied
thera-band can provided enough stretch for individuals to get their entire body through. The bands are of
different resistance levels, therefore when an individual is stretching the band to get it through the entire
body it also provides a workout for their arms. Be aware that a sudden release will cause the thera-band to
snap back into place and can cause injury.