Setting: Intramurals
Season: Winter
Activity Goal
Participants engage in a fun activity in a winter environment to build healthy relationships and social connections with others, appreciating the benefits of being physically active outdoors all year long.
For participant safety, please review the contents of the Beyond the Walls: Safety Considerations page for information on Safety Standards, Winter Safety Considerations, and Outdoor Playing Areas and Surfaces.
Equipment
- Cones or pylons
- Various balls for throwing or kicking outdoors (e.g., soccer ball, elephant skin ball)
Preparation
Plan ahead by identifying interested participants as activity leaders. Generate ideas with participants through planning sessions with Intramural student leaders to co-plan and facilitate this activity with the Intramural supervisor (teacher) to provide interesting opportunities for participation in outdoor activities during winter.
How To Play
- Review the safety rules and activity instructions with participants prior to the activity.
- Establish the boundaries for the designated playing area and share them with participants.
- Divide the activity area into sections to accommodate the number of teams participating and to increase participant movement in the cold weather.
- Divide participants into teams of four to five, depending on the number of participants. To increase participants' movement in winter, consider teams of three to four. Have teams join with another team as opponents.
- Have teams set up their modified softball diamond by placing 3 cones in a triangle formation, equal distances apart. Using cones as bases, designate home plate, first base and second base.
- Have teams decide who will be at bat and who will be in the field.
- The objective of the game is to score a point by sending the ball into the field and running around all the bases to get back to home plate before the fielding team gets the ball to home plate.
- Participants may kick or throw the ball when “at bat”. If the ball is kicked, it must remain on the ground to be a “fair ball”. If it is kicked into the air, it is a “strike”. If the player chooses to send the ball into the field by kicking it, then opponents may use their hands to retrieve/stop the ball but must use their feet to pass the ball on the ground to get it to home plate before the runner touches or crosses the cone. If the player throws the ball, then the fielders may use their hands to retrieve and throw the ball back to home plate.
- The ball must remain within the playing field, or it is an automatic out.
- Runners must make contact with each cone as they run by each base. The fielding team must not impede the progress of the runner by blocking or causing interference.
- There may only be one runner on a base at a time.
- The inning is over when all players on the batting team have had a turn.
- Encourage participants to provide feedback on the event by reflecting on how participating in daily physical activity outside in winter makes them feel, what they enjoyed most, and what they might enjoy in the future to continue participating in Winter Intramurals.
Adaptations
Consider these tips to maximize the challenge and the fun for participants.
- Invite participants to determine a game's point system or adapt the games to make them more challenging.
- Adapt the playing area to accommodate the number of participants (e.g., add more bases, increase the playing area).
Modifications
Consider these tips to maximize inclusion and fun for all participants.
- Consider inclusive approaches to increase or decrease the challenge to find a role for every participant and to encourage full participation.
- Invite participants to consider ways to reduce movement or movement speed around the playing area to ensure inclusion and success for all.
- For participants with mobility challenges, adjust the game's rules and invite the whole group to think of a way to make the game more static, so everyone is playing at the same level.