Jump the River – PE/STEM Integrated Activity

(11/7) In this engaging PE and STEM combination activity, students participated in “Jump the River.” Using two jump ropes to represent a river, the teacher set the scene: students lived in a village and needed to cross the river each day to gather food. Each “night,” a flood made the river wider, challenging the students to jump farther to reach safety. Eventually, the river became too wide for anyone to cross.
At that point, the activity shifted to a STEM challenge. Students worked in groups on poster paper to brainstorm and design creative solutions for how their village could still cross the river—such as building bridges, boats, or other inventions. This activity blended physical movement with problem-solving, teamwork, and engineering design thinking.