How to make children’s free moments in the playground more attractive and pleasant? This guide answers them by describing new cooperative activities to enjoy on the school playground.
The guide by Blue Bells Public School will allow you to review the playground environment to make it a healthy active, stimulating, and safe living environment.
The cooperative games presented there are intended to be an extension of the physical education and health class and they meet the needs and interests of young and old.
They can also enhance the leisure activities of community members (young people, parents, grandparents) during days off and vacations. The important thing is to have fun and do so in complete safety!
1. Scooby-Doo and his scarves
In a game square, distribute a scarf to each player.
- The child places his scarf in the front pocket of his coat or in the back pocket of his pants.
- At the start, Scooby-Doo (the host) tries to take away a scarf (dog tail) from a player because he doesn’t have one.
- After collecting a scarf, he will take the time to place it outside the playing square.
- The child who had his scarf taken away by the entertainer will chase another child to steal his tail!!!
2. “Eagle of St-Marcel” Challenge
At the start, all players find themselves in the center of the “dodgeball” game rectangle. In possession of a ball, two students throw from one of the two bases to eliminate the other players from the game.
A player is eliminated if he leaves the game rectangle or if he drops a ball thrown directly at him.
An eliminated player may return to the game if he is the first to touch the ball outside the rectangle and if he eliminates a player by throwing from one of the two bases of play.
You win the game if you are the last one alive inside the playing rectangle.
3. Lords of the Rings
Material
- 3 PG balls (inflatable foam)
- 2 rings
- 1 crate of milk (or other container)
- Game description
Divide the group into two teams
- Name a Lord in each team; the others are knights
- The Lord of each team holds his ring in his hands. If he misses it during the game, the other team wins.
- To play, the knights must throw the balloons toward the other team, making sure to bounce them first in the zone
- If a ball bounces into zone X and a player catches it, the latter continues to play.
- If the player is hit by a ball but does not catch it, he is “injured”. He must then do an “MC jump” (jump with both feet while raising his hand) to be delivered. To do this, the Lord of his team will give him the ring. Suddenly, he will become the Lord of his team and will find form.
- The objective of the game is to hit the other team’s Lord with the ball. Be careful: any Lord who touches the ball eliminates his entire team!
- If a ball remains stuck in zone X of the game, it can be recovered by a Lord, who will use his ring to direct it towards one of his knights. The Lords are the only ones with the power to walk in zone X.
Suggestions
- Make photocopies of the game for each student.
- Hold a drawing competition illustrating the game in the classroom. The drawings can be displayed in the gymnasium.
- Have the rules of the game written, for example, in the form of a dictation with gaps.
- Take the time to go play the game with the students on a beautiful sunny day!
4. Rock Paper Scissors
- First, make sure the children in your group know the game Rock Paper Scissors.
- Rock (closed fist) > Scissors (index and middle fingers in “V”)
- Paper (open hand) > Rock
- Scissors > Paper
- Material
- 2 bibs of different colors.
Game instructions
- Each team appoints a captain (teacher or student).
- Each team regroups on the back line of its playing square.
- From the back of his playing square, the captain decides which gesture (Rock, Paper, or Scissors) will be used in the confrontation.
- The two teams line up face to face, separated by a center line (middle).
- Both captains say “Rock Paper Scissors” at the same time. The members of each team imitate the captain’s gesture.
Once the gesture of each team has been announced:
- The winning team must run and touch the most people on the other team.
- The losing team must escape to their back line without being touched.
- If a member of the losing team is hit, the latter must stay put and raise their hand.
- When everyone has returned to the end line, the captain of the winning team counts the raised hands: that is the score.
- Everyone returns to their starting point and the captains choose a new gesture that they share with their team, and we start again!
- If both teams perform the same gesture (thus a tie), each player returns to their back line with a smile to listen to the new gesture chosen by the captain!
Goal of the game: the first team to obtain 5 points wins! You can then start a new game. Fun, right?!
5. Dodgeball, version 2.0
Game description
- Divide the students into two equal teams.
- One person from each team starts at the back of the opposing team (called the cow). This person will return to the game as soon as the first player on their team is eliminated.
- The cow from each team throws a ball and tries to reach a player.
- If an opposing player catches the ball, well done, it’s their turn to throw.
- If the ball jumps before reaching a person, that person is not eliminated.
- When a player does not catch the ball thrown directly at him, he is eliminated and quickly leaves the field, heading towards the cow zone. When he manages to hit someone with the ball, he will then be able to return to his team.
- If the ball goes out of bounds, one of the players in the cow zone can go and get it.
- A throw directed from the cow pen which eliminates an opponent delivers all players on the team. The successful player remains in the cow zone until one of his teammates is eliminated.
The game ends when all players on the same team are eliminated. When recess ends (or at the end of a timed game), the team with the fewest people in the cow zone wins.
6. Get your ball
Material
- a tennis ball or a bag of sand
- A space delimiting a bottle in the game of basketball (the bottle is the name of the restrictive zone)
- 1 collection bin placed on the ground where the basketball hoop is located
- a stopwatch
- (This game introduces children to the next activity in this same guide: the bottle.)
Game Description
- At the start, all the students in the group lined up behind the basketball bottle.
- The first participant is given a ball or a sandbag.
- The child who has a ball enters the bottle, and throws from the free throw line to achieve a “recycling basket”. If he succeeds on the first throw, CONGRATULATIONS! He gives his group a point!
- He quickly retrieves his ball to give it to his closest friend who doesn’t have a ball. Then, he places himself at the end of the line for the chance to start again another time.
- On the other hand, if the child misses the target, he quickly recovers his ball and places himself on the line of the nearest bottle to make another shot.
- As long as he has not completed his recycling basket, he continues to make throws.
- Attention! If the ball leaves the bottle, the thrower returns, as at the start, to the free throw line.
- The objective of the game is to make the most recycling baskets in a given time and try to improve your score in each game.
- Come on, friends!
- Question to ask students before the game
- But where is the bottle on the ground?!?
7. The bottle
Material
- 3 foam balloons
- A space delimiting a bottle in the game of basketball (the bottle is the name of the restrictive zone)
- A stopwatch
Game description
- The players all place themselves inside the basketball bottle.
- At the start, 3 players have a ball in their hands and must shoot for a basket from outside the bottle.
- To stay alive in the game, throwers must touch the ring or make a basket. Otherwise, they go into the bottle…
- A player who successfully throws from the side of the bottle scores 2 points, which allows 2 players to get out of the bottle. A successful throw from the bottom, outside the bottle, releases 3.
- The game is timed. In the end, all the players must be freed, otherwise, it is the GAME that wins… Hence the interest of this cooperative game!
8. Gold medal (expert)
Game description
- The medal is a circle on the ground divided into four equal parts. These parts represent #1: GOLD, #2: SILVER, #3: BRONZE and #4: PARTICIPATION.
- Four players start the game, one player in each part of the medal).
- The game aims to fault the player who finds himself in the GOLD part (#1) of the medal. The ball is put into play by the latter.
- Initially, the player bounces the ball on the ground and hits it WITH AN OPEN HAND towards one of the other three parts of the medal. (You cannot be eliminated from a service.)
- The ball must bounce in another part of the medal and the player concerned redirects the ball in the same way to any other area of the medal.
- A foul is called when a player fails to hit the ball OR hits it outside the medal:
- The player who made the mistake will place himself at the end of the line of replacement players.
- Players who can “move up” one position, and the first substitute comes into play at position #4 (PARTICIPATION).
- The player who manages to remain at GOLD medal #1 when the end of recess rings is declared the winner.
9. Power 4
Material
- 4 lines of 6 hoops of different colors
- Party hats to separate the two teams
Game description
Initially, divide the group into two teams. In turn, a player places themselves in the unoccupied hoop of their choice.
As in the board game Puissance 4, to win the game, 4 people from the same team must end up together (side by side) diagonally, vertically, or horizontally.
10. RPC to the hidden face!
Material
- 2 different decks of cards
- Progress of the game
Game description
- Divide the group into 2.
- For each team, a leader will distribute cards from his deck.
- When everyone has a card, the game can begin.
- To win a card, players must while walking, challenge a player from the opposing team.
- Following a rock-paper-scissors (RPC) battle, the winner takes the opponent’s card.
- The loser returns to his boss to get a new card.
- The first team to win the 12 hidden faces (jacks, queens, kings) of the other team wins the game. Each of these cards is worth 1 point.
- When a leader has no more cards to give, he becomes a player. We simply have to give him a card won against the opponent to allow him to fight a battle.
- At the end of a game, each player on a team who has no cards gives the other team one point.
11. MCNDF
Material
- A dodgeball field
- Two hockey nets
- Two PG 8 balloons
- A cone delimiting the center of the game
- Two bibs
Game description
- Initially, divide the group into 2
- Name a goalkeeper for each team. Give him a bib (of invincibility).
- To start the game, players position themselves behind their team’s hockey net located at the end of the dodgeball field.
- The goalkeeper has 3 roles: he or she is invincible. He delivers the players eliminated from his team. He acts as a referee when a ball enters his net.
- The objective of the game is to throw a ball from your area and score a goal.
- A player who catches a ball thrown towards him or which touches the ground before reaching it remains alive.
- A player is eliminated when he cannot catch a ball thrown directly at him. Eliminated, he remains where he is, and jumps, raising a finger to the sky. To be delivered, the guardian will come and touch him with his hand.
- The game ends when there is a goal.
Variants
The team that loses the game will be able to choose a player from the winning team to join their team in the next game.
Place the net on the ground. The opening to score the goal is therefore reduced.
12. Mr. Carl’s 4 corners of the world
Material
- 4 cones
- 1 bib per player (4 colors)
- Cones to demarcate the 4 territories
- Balloons
Game description
Divide the group into 4 teams. Each team is identified by a different color and each of them occupies a distinct territory. The game is played like dodgeball. Players must try to hit their opponents directly by throwing a ball at them.
When a player is hit, he begins his “world tour”, that is, he goes to the territory to his right. When a player has gone to the three opposing territories, he returns to his territory.
Suggestion
At the end of the game, add up the points for each player per team: 4 points for a player who has not been eliminated. 3 points for a player who has been eliminated once.
2 points for a player who has been eliminated twice. 1 point for a player who has been eliminated three times.
13. Twister
At the start, the boys line up on one side of the game, the girls on the other. (Variation: use colored bibs to form two teams.)
At the signal, with the ball in his hands, a player jumps into the hoops (like in hopscotch), without touching the hoops:
- one foot in the first hoop
- two feet in the next two hoops (one in each hoop)
- at the line of the three hoops, two feet and one hand each in a hoop
- at the line of four hoops, you must hold the ball between your legs to place your hands and feet each in a hoop!
- then we continue to the end.
(Always keep the ball in your hands without dropping it!)
When the player reaches the end of the game, he gives the ball (the “bomb”) to the person waiting and places himself behind the line of players.
When the bell rings, signaling the end of recess, the player with the ball in their hands “JUMPS”, so the other team wins.
NB During the course, if the ball is dropped or the equipment moved, the child must start from the beginning and replace the equipment themselves, if this is the case.
14. The PROBALL
- The playing surface is rectangular, approximately the size of a basketball court, divided in two by a center line.
- The originality of this sport lies in the fact that the two teams facing each other can score on both sides.
- Teams are made up of 3 players.
- The soccer ball is put into play at the start of the game in the center of the halfway line. The goal of the game is to knock down the three pins placed randomly on each side of it.
- You can play the ball with your hands or feet. Passes and shots must touch the ground before reaching the target.
- After a pin has been knocked down, the opposing team restarts the game immediately from the place where it fell. When a pin falls, the ball must be crossed beyond the center line (in the middle of the game) to knock down another pin.
Conclusion
Grandparents, parents, and children: all have already had great experiences in a playground. For example, in the fall, make your team win at dodgeball, take the flag, and run with all your might to reach the paying zone under the encouragement of friends.
In winter, build the biggest snowman, and save the game during a game of boot hockey. In the spring, participate in the Olympics and eat hot dogs with the family on the last day of school. Everyone has a happy anecdote about THE COURT!
I would like to thank the young people and adults I have worked with since the start of my teaching career, in particular the children at St-Marcel school where I have been teaching for several years.
They were able to inspire me to create new games to always stimulate them and get them moving while having fun.
Hoping that the educational activities presented in this guide will become classics!
To all of you, have a good RECREATION!