The Supersized PhysEd Podcast
The Supersized Physed Podcast is dedicated to providing new ideas, activities and inspiration to our physical education field. Each week a new episode about various physed topics comes out, sometimes with a guest, sometimes it's just me!
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The Supersized PhysEd Podcast
Beg, Borrow, Build and Steal Equipment!
Hello PE Nation!
How much money are you working with at your school? In this episode, you will learn how to effectively manage your PE equipment budget to bring more variety and excitement to your classes. This episode explores strategies to acquire equipment creatively by begging, borrowing, building, and stealing.
• Strategies to maximize PE resources on a budget
• Importance of asking for support from PTOs and community members
• Benefits of borrowing equipment from fellow teachers
• Building and adapting existing materials creatively
• How to steal ideas for games and activities from others
• eBook promotion with additional resources and grant applications
• Encouragement to engage with local resources and community support
Take care,
Dave
Beg, Borrow, Build and Steal ebook with links, Free game PDFs and my personal grant writing files: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Beg-Borrow-Build-and-Steal-Equipment-13063549
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FREE E-Book on setting up your PE program
My website: https://www.supersizedphysed.com
Website for the book: https://www.teacherchefhockeyplayerbook.com/
Hello and welcome to the Supersize Phys Ed podcast. My name is Dave and today I want to talk about your budget and what you can do to maximize that by beg, borrowing and stealing equipment. Yes, I love doing that. So, without further ado, here we go. Hello PE Nation and welcome in. So today, again, I want to talk about how you can maximize your PE equipment for years to come and make it affordable and even free most of the time, and this will just bring a great new variety of games and activities to your PE program. And I want to tell you about how I did it. I do want to mention that today is one of those days where I'm recording outside, so you might hear a little more wind or birds chirping or my cats meowing. So I appreciate you listening in. I'm just trying to get out an episode because I'm kind of behind and I want to make sure I get it out and this is the best place for me to do this. So let's talk about the BBS, which is really the big borrow, uh, build and steal BBBS. Wait, is that right? Big borrow, build and steal? Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1:A method that I've used quite a bit in my 14, going on 15 years of teaching PE and over 22, 23 years of teaching just overall. So you know, I started off with a lot of equipment actually at my former school, and a lot of it was junk, though, and it was because it was a newer school and it still is, relatively speaking, because it was a newer school and it still is relatively speaking. But a lot of the stuff was junk. There were things I just didn't want, didn't use, just didn't have a lot of use for, and I just thought it was wasted money, wasted space, wasted junk, really Just things I couldn't use. So in the beginning I did have a budget. So I don't want to stand here or sit here or whatever and say I didn't have any budget.
Speaker 1:As a title one school, we actually had a thousand dollars a year, which that's a lot, I'm not gonna lie, that's a lot. So I, you know, I tried to use it as wisely as I could, but everybody knows that dodgeballs or gator skin balls, basketball, soccer balls, all that stuff, I mean if you want six to eight good ones, that's over $100 right there. It just doesn't go very far with the money. And then we lost our Title I status, so it went down to $500 a year, and when I went to my current school it was $500 as well for the first year or so. It was my fourth year. The first year was $500. Then they got rid of it and then I just asked my principal for money, kind of thing.
Speaker 1:This year I didn't get any money and so I had to become creative and this goes back to my former school and current school Creative in how I got money and how I utilize the money I have and just how I've, you know, be able, how I'm able to raise all this money, and I've raised over $30,000 in the past 14 years. It's probably way more than that actually, and that's on the low end. And currently we get something called Class Wallet in Florida and it's $300 something a year. I'd have to take a look and all teachers get it. So I do get that and I use that for things like markers, even poster boards or colored paper, things like that, for our jukeball tournament expo markers, random little things. I can't buy a lot with that money, but I do put it towards a little bit here and there. I think I actually did buy six basketballs for like $100, that kind of thing. So that is where I spend my money currently. So I do have that money available to me. It's again, it's like a little over $300 a year.
Speaker 1:But I want to talk about, if you have nothing, or if you have just what I have, like a little bit here and there, what you can do with your money and how you can get it, and not only what you do with your money, but how you can get more money for free. And before I forget, even though this episode is free, everything I've been telling you is free. I did put together a small, very small ebook for $4.99. It'll be in the episode notes and that'll have all the links extra, a lot of extra things that I'm not talking about today, that I just don't have time for and I can't fit in there and things like that. So extra stuff, as well as links to some of my PDFs that you can play right away or you can project on your screen or whatever you need to do with it, and also an equipment checklist to make sure you have the basics, if nothing else, and some extra things. So those are all going to be in the episode notes. It'll be $4.99.
Speaker 1:Again, no worries, but it'd be great if you supported the show in that way and as an extra bonus, I am providing three of my grant writing files, which are things I've written before on the brain, balls and the rally on obstacle course and pedometers Actually I think it's four, four and another one with technology that you can copy and paste. Well, basically, you'd have to change a few things, but you could present it to a local foundation, like I have or somewhere else, if you want. You're trying to get money and you're trying to back it up by research and other things. I have it for you done, completely done, already. So four dollars and ninety nine cents is a great, and I usually don't do that.
Speaker 1:If you've been listening to me for a long time, I do not promote my stuff on here very much, definitely not a lot of paid things. But if you again, if you want to support the show or you want something extra that will be in the episode notes, all right. So here's a brief overview. We'll make it a boomer. Now, here we go. Number one All right. So here's a brief overview. We'll make it a boomer. Now here we go. Number one All right. Number one is to beg for equipment. The beg borrow, build and steal, so beg. This is actually how I got the most.
Speaker 1:I've gotten the most free stuff from begging, and it's not literally acting like Oliver Twist and saying, please, sir, can I have some money? Please, things like that, with my hands together, or some porridge or whatever they ask for. It's not exactly that. It is. You know, going to, first of all, going to your PTO, your PTO, well, I should say, first go to principal to see if they have any money available at all, versus a principal just to spend on something. Okay, that's the first thing. The second thing would be go to your PTO and that would be um, if you have one, the parent, parents want to support you. They want the best for their students or their children. So ask and see if there is money. As a matter of fact, my PTO just got me six new Frisbee golf targets with extra Frisbees, and you know that was I don't, I guess I, I I'm not even sure how much. That was about 1500 bucks right there. So you know things like that if you just ask.
Speaker 1:There's also there's websites you can go to for free things and again, that is mostly on the, the uh, the PDF, uh, again, it's a PDF. It's about 22 pages, real short pages. In the ebook. Lots of websites, but I'll give you a few. There's, um the ebook, lots of websites, but I'll give you a few. There's, um, kids bike free there's, uh. There's some bowling ones out there. There's an archery ones out there. Um, there's all sorts of ones I have.
Speaker 1:Again, I have a foundation that I every year I can write a grant or two, uh, mainly a one like one grant, and I've gotten them almost every year. But just keep asking. Keep looking in your neighborhood, in your community there's golf and tennis clubs. I've gotten tons of tennis balls from them. I've gotten some golf equipment. As a matter of fact, from first tee golf I've gotten free equipment after taking an online little course. Okay, lots of free stuff out there.
Speaker 1:Parents sometimes say hey coach, what do you need? Just as in the car rider line. And one time they dropped off all this pickleball equipment. Like, just, I didn't even ask. They drop off jerseys. They drop off paper cups or whatever for water, all sorts of things. Ask your tech guy. I asked my tech guy for an outside projector. He gave it to me. I asked him for a few computers. I made a little computer lab where kids could log in their steps or their heart rate, things like that. It's great. Just ask, ask, ask.
Speaker 1:And again, these grants. I've written grants for heart rate monitors, pedometers, basketballs, workout equipment, brain balls, the Rally, art, obstacle course, three times brain balls, twice a gaga ball pit. This year that's $3,000. The rally out alone I've received over $18,000 for that altogether. I mean just, I've gotten a ton of free stuff and it's out there.
Speaker 1:You just have to ask the right people and find who the gatekeepers are that will give you this stuff. And parents want to help. People in the community want to help? Okay, point them towards you. And that is number one. Bag All right. Number two is borrow, and it's a pretty straightforward one, right. Borrow equipment from other PE teachers, from other people in the community, from other teachers, just in your school. And over the years I borrowed things like golf equipment or I've lent things out to tennis balls, cup stacking sets, deck rings. I just lent out to a parent at my school because he has three daughters go to my school but he's a PE teacher elsewhere in the district. You know real simple stuff, right, bowling pins, anything that you could borrow or lend.
Speaker 1:And make those good connections also, and I'm going to put the bike trailer in this category as well, because we used to get a bike trailer for two weeks after I attended one day class. We could sign up. We had bikes and scooters come to our school along with helmets. The kids would have to wear hairnets underneath just to keep it sanitary, and I'd have them go through an obstacle course on my basketball court. They'd have to signal left, right, left and stop at the stop sign, things like that. They'd have to know how to put on a helmet and fit it. Then, after they demonstrated that they could do that, then they were able to go on the bus ramp and just it. They would. Then, after they demonstrated that they could do that, then they were able to go on the bus ramp and just go, just free ride on the bus ramp for 10-15 minutes and it was awesome. So we used to borrow that trailer until the district lost the grant. But I do have plans for that. I think I have a way to bring it back, but I'm going to go on to the next one. But I'm excited about that.
Speaker 1:Borrow, borrow, borrow if you can. And even if you just borrow, maybe do it for a unit Like hey, I need hockey equipment. So borrow from a teacher down the street and then give it back, obviously. And then he or she can borrow from you for just a whole unit. Put your stuff together. He or she can borrow from you for just a whole unit. Put your stuff together, build an arsenal, build an army of stuff, and that's the way to go. So number two is borrow, all right.
Speaker 1:Number three is build, and I am not that good at building. I can't build anything. I'm not handy-manny, I'm not anything close to that, I'm just not so when you. But building doesn't have to mean you're a carpenter. It could just mean using your imagination and putting some things together to make it what you need. I've done things like that in our storage unit. I've just made little hooks or little things I could hang up. You know used to hang up things with. I've used paint cans to paint dots, just empty paint cans as a template. I've used small like duct tape as a template and just the round circle and just spray painted dots on the track for kids to sit on. You know little things like that, and I know some of you are very handy. I am not.
Speaker 1:There's people in the community that are as well, or parents that want to help. So reach out to them. That goes towards the bag. I guess bag and build at the same time. But people do want to help and in a large school I'm sure you have some people that are very good at, you know, electrical work or carpentry or just anything you need. So reach out to them with a bag and get building, but don't be afraid to get your hands dirty, don't be afraid to get to work.
Speaker 1:So that's a short one, but that's number three and that is build. All right, my favorite one is steel. So the famous quote by pablo picasso good artists copy, great artists steal. And, by the way, there's a great book called steal like an artist by austin cleon. You gotta read that book. It's awesome.
Speaker 1:So, um yeah, I don't really steal anything like literally. I'm going to say I've stolen one thing literally. Just think about this. I stole a shopping cart and we use it all the time. But in fairness, it was behind my brother's store. He owns a store and it was there for like weeks and it was a I'm not going to say it, but it was a pretty famous, large company that you definitely would have heard of. And let's just say the cart was orange, if that helps. And he called and called and called and said, hey, you have a shopping cart behind my store and they never came to get it. So I'm like I'll just take it and I painted it black and now it's ours for equipment.
Speaker 1:So besides that, I don't really steal anything. I don't. I don't really steal anything. I never I don't steal anything. But I do steal games. I I've stolen lots of games I've seen at conventions or in books, like magazines, uh like you know equipment, magazines and stuff where you know I look like a genius because I don't want to, I don't have the money to spend, but but I'll use some equipment of mine and make a new game or make the same game with my equipment. I actually tried. I'm not kidding you today. It's been a long time since I played sabaki ball and the actual equipment. It was like shape Florida. I played it one time and it's like, oh, this is cool, but like the board itself is like a board, like an L shape, if you don't know what it is and a heavy, uh like almost like a NFL pile on in the corner like a heavy, pretty heavy pin, like structure. So I just use my shoot ball rebounders and a foam pin and play the same game. You know that kind of thing. So I'm stealing ideas without paying. I mean that was like a thousand dollars for that game, for like one set, and so you know, I just things like that.
Speaker 1:I've seen other game I'm not going to say the name of this game, but I saw another one where I mean all I needed was a large cone. Uh, I actually have a thing I call I call it poison dice and it's in the PDF Poison dice. But I stole that from the idea, at least from another game. It's not exactly the same. I've also taken or stolen the idea and I give credit. By the way, I give credit to these people online. I gave credit to this guy. He has a game and I took that game and just changed it into Porch Pirates, which again there's a PDF in the ebook of Porch Pirates where it's a tag game, and I gave credit to the guy online. I just changed it because it's more of a holiday theme game that we played, and I changed it a little bit because we have bigger class sizes, things like that.
Speaker 1:But that's what you need to do when you steal. Of course, you don't really steal unless you're like me and you're on the run and a certain business is looking for your cart. But other than that, steal games, steal ideas just give credit. And that's the last one. It is steal. Steal ideas just give credit. And that's the last one, it is steel. And now it is time for your cowbell tip of the day. All right, everybody.
Speaker 1:So your tip of the day is to, if you'd like, purchase the e-book. Again, there's a link in the show notes. I'd love to have you read it and let me know what you think and what could be really useful to you. I'd love to hear about that. Again. It has a bunch of links to free grant writing sites. It has my grant writing files, which, again, I've written over $30,000 worth of grants, and it has some free PDFs in there as well from some of the games, like Porch Pirates and some of the other games I've stolen, like Poison, dice, things like that. So I'd love to have you purchase it and just be part of the PE Nation team. And, yeah, I'd love to hear from you and see what you think of it. So, if that is, you grab a copy. I'd love to hear from you and love to have you implement some of the things that we talked about today. So that is your Cowbell tip of the day.
Speaker 1:Thank you everybody for tuning in. I really do appreciate it, as always. Go to supersizefizadcom for more information or check out my sub stack link in the show notes. That's where I post a lot now and I'd love for you to be a part of that conversation and part of the group. I just love Substack. It's like Twitter, but for writers and people who write articles, things like that. So that's me and I love it. So join me there. I'd love to see you there and, with that, take care PE Nation. You guys and girls are awesome. Let's keep pushing our profession forward. Thank you.
