1. Divide class into teams of five or six.

2. Position boxes throughout the gym and number them.

3. Each team designates a youngster to be Santa in their group.

4. Tell the class that Santa Claus has asked you to choose a group of helpers to assist him on Christmas Eve.

5. Start with Group 1 (or have more groups start depending on your space and situation). Fold the parachute in half and have Santa sit on it. The other group members are the reindeer. They stand and hold the sides of the parachute. Santa has a net bag full of P.E. equipment in his sleigh along with a gift list. (Ex: House 1: Basketball; House 2: Football, etc.).

6. Tell the group that they are to pull Santa to each house (the boxes) and place the correct piece of equipment down the chimney (in the box). You will time each group with a stopwatch. Have a finish line (The North Pole).

After activity is completed, ask the class the following questions:

• What strategies worked best for your group when you were trying to deliver the gifts quickly?
• "What types of things slowed you down?"
• "Do you think there is something you could change that would help you complete the task even faster?"

You might even include a 'task quality' assessment such as these:

• What happened when groups tried to go too fast or too slow.
• Did Santa fall out of the sleigh?
• Did reindeer trip and fall?
• Was the task completed with appropriate stealth?