This season’s virtual challenge has a lot to offer. There is a different activity for each state, plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico! Below are three fun ways to incorporate the Coast to Coast Virtual Challenge into your lesson planning. But don’t feel limited to these! Get creative and do what works for you and your class. We’ve also included supplemental tools to help you assign the activities and help kids track what they’ve done.

Share ideas and progress with other educators on our Facebook page or Pinterest.

52-State Challenge

Whether your kids are being physically active at home, in the classroom, or in the gym – we have mapped out a fun Coast to Coast Challenge that can last through the calendar year. You can set goals for the activities to do together as a group, either in the classroom or in PE, or for kids to do individually at home during their remote learning. To get through all 52 activities, take it region by region and tie into your geography or social studies lessons, go in alphabetical order from the list below or let the kids choose where to go next on their coast to coast journey.

We suggest you use the monthly charts or the color as you go tracker for this.

Marathon Challenge

Do you want to cross the finish line of the Virtual TCS New York City Marathon? Take the month of October and assign all 52 activities in the lead up to the marathon which runs from October 17 through November 1. But leave New York state as the last activity!

Have your kids map out their marathon course across the country—maybe they want to zig zag across from north to south, move west to east, go alphabetically by region, or start with the smallest population and progress to the largest. Let them do a little research! To finish in October, we suggest assigning two activities per weekday and three on the weekends. You can also focus on a different region each weekday, completing 2 or 3 activities per day.

If your kids know people at home or in your school running the marathon, add fun DIY activities that week to help cheer them on and congratulate them after their 26.2 miles.

We suggest you use one of the two monthly charts for this.

Create Your Own Challenge

Are 52 activities too much for the fall? No problem. Take it a week at a time and assign states just in your region or those that align with what kids are learning in class. Use them as Daily Brain Breaks at school or at home. Discuss in class the new facts they have learned while getting physically fit. Let them share the trackers with each other and celebrate what they have achieved together.

We suggest you use the weekly tracker for this.

How to Use the Tools

The four tracking options are developed to support you and your kids as you navigate through the activities. The weekly and monthly trackers are editable PDFs for you to customize the assignment or instructions prior to distributing and for your kids to track what they have completed.

Color by State: After completing each state, ask the kids to locate it on the map and color it in.

Weekly Tracker: Enter the state(s) and region(s) for the assigned activities. Once complete, the kids should mark off how they felt using the key for the smiley faces. They can also reflect on what they learned during the activity or what they learned about the state(s). Edit the instructions to add a more specific question for what they learned.

Monthly Tracker: Enter the date for each box and the state(s) and region(s) assignment for that date. You can also ask your kids to complete that portion if they are choosing which activities to do. The kids should mark off how they felt during each activity using the key for the smiley faces. For the regional version of this, assign states applicable to the region for each day of the week.

Certificate: Once you are done with the challenge, celebrate the achievement and give each of your kids a certificate. This is editable to include their name and the total number of activities completed.

If you create a bulletin board in your classroom to display the certificates or the color by state sheets, please share them on our Facebook page or Pinterest.