Kayak Instructing Games

Learning how to kayak doesn't have to be a dry experience filled with lectures, rules and the dos and donts of going out on the water. Instructors can use assorted games to help neophyte kayakers learn how to operate their boat while still having fun; these games can also be altered for different skill levels to assist experienced kayakers in improving their skills.

  1. Simon Says

    • Once your students have learned a few strokes and techniques, you can get them to play the standard game of Simon Says; test out their knowledge of the strokes and their reaction time. Explain to your students that when you say "Simon says...," they must do the action following "Simon says...," and when you do not precede an action with "Simon says" they must not do the action. For example, if you say "Simon says drop the right-side blade into the water," they would proceed to do so rather than the left side or nothing at all. The last kayaker "standing" wins the game.

    Paradiddles

    • A term borrowed from music, it has been translated into the kayak world as a game where the kayakers are given a beat or rhythm to mimic with their own oars. Start with a simple pattern like "left stroke, right stroke, left stroke, right stroke" and progress into more advanced rhythms; or replace strokes with oar dips in the water. This teaches students to gain confidence and control of their oars and have quick hands to move them as needed.

    Tug Of War

    • The American Canoe Association's Kayak & Canoe Games (A Nuts 'n' Bolts Guide) recommends playing Tug Of War as a game to get new kayakers comfortable in their boats and work on stability out on the water. Use a long rope or length of another water-resistant material whose ends are given to opposing teams to pull; the first team to pull the other across the middle line wins. It can be done with as few as two kayakers are several competing against one another.

    Sponge Tag

    • Smith Kayak Kids, a school that runs out of Canada, offers sponge polo as one of its activities to allow children to become accustomed to the feel of a kayak while getting them to move around using their oars while avoiding being tagged by a sponge. Give each child a standard sponge to throw at their classmates, whoever goes without being "tagged", or hit with the sponge, wins.