School orienteering – PE and geography activity for KS2

What's included?

Four-page PDF featuring activity ideas

Key Stage

KS2

Age

Years 3-6

Subjects

Geography, PE

Introduce KS2 pupils to school orienteering with this set of activities from Scout Activity Centres.

Set up a course around your school grounds to help pupils embed their knowledge of maps through practical application. They will develop and reflect upon their skills, allowing them to compete effectively in progressively more challenging activities.

By the end of this activity, pupils will:

Build on their knowledge of maps, applying this knowledge in the field
Take part in an outdoor adventurous activity presenting intellectual and physical challenges
Work both individually and as part of a team to develop skills and solve problems

Starter activity

Through discussion, establish what the class already understand about orienteering. Orienteering is a
competitive sport similar to a treasure hunt. In pairs or individually pupils race to retrieve answers hidden
around the school. To win, they will need to locate the answers and navigate between them quickly using a map.

It’s important to grab attention early on in this school orienteering activity before too much skills work is completed. Use the ‘Starburst’ game to get pupils involved quickly.

Starburst game

Place 15 markers at landmarks around the boundary of a playing field or similar area. You also need a map of the area with all the landmarks shown. Produce enough copies for every pupil (plus some spare) but on each map show the location of only one of your markers.

Starting from the centre of the area, give each pupil a map and send them to find the ‘answer’ on their marker.

When they have the answer they return to you – a correct answer means they get a new map. Pupils run back and forth in a star pattern finding all of the markers.