Setting: Curricular
Season: Winter
Activity Goal
Participants send objects to targets while adapting to winter conditions and reflect on how weather and outdoor clothing affect their movement and game strategy. Participants consider how they dress for winter activity, adjust play to winter conditions, and play this game with friends and family to stay active in winter.
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
- Hoops
- Object to send, 1 per pair (e.g., bean bags, discs, rubber chicken)
- Pylons
Before Play
- Review the safety rules and activity instructions with participants prior to activity.
- Establish the boundaries for the designated play area and share them with participants.
- Divide participants into pairs and provide each team with a hoop and an object to send.
- Identify a start line and finish line for the activity using pylons or draw a line in the snow if there is sufficient snow.
- Have the participants place their hoops 5 to 10 metres in front of the start line.
- Inform participants that their goal is to send their object to land in the middle of their hoop without touching the edges, accounting for weather and the playing surface conditions.
During Play
- Have participants practise sending their object, using an underhand throw, to land in the middle of their hoop without touching the edges, accounting for weather and the playing surface conditions. Encourage participants to move their hoops closer if they have difficulty or further away to increase the challenge.
- Pause play and use the following prompts for participants to reflect on how to successfully send their object by adjusting to the weather and playing surface conditions:
- How is the weather or the playing surface conditions affecting your ability to send your object to the centre of your target?
- How does your winter clothing affect your ability to send your object accurately?
- How can you adjust the way you send your object to counter these conditions?
- Resume play by having participants take turns sending their object into their hoop and then quickly retrieving their object and returning to the start line.
- Invite participants to flip their hoop once toward the other end of the playing area each time they successfully land their object in the middle of their hoop.
- The game ends when the first pair successfully sends their object to flip their hoop from the start line to the end line.
After Play
Use the following prompts for participants to reflect on how they adapted their play to winter conditions and how weather and outdoor clothing affected their movement and game strategy. Participants consider how they dress for winter activities, and the activity can be adapted to play with friends and family to stay active in winter.
Question prompts:
- Considering the weather and surface conditions, how did you adjust how you sent your objects as you moved your hoop closer to the other end of the playing area?
- How did surface conditions affect how you travelled back and forth to retrieve your objects and flip your hoop?
- How did your winter clothing affect your ability to move and send your object?
- What should you consider to dress appropriately in winter for different physical activities?
- What did you enjoy about playing an inside game outside in winter?
- How might you change this game to play with friends and family to encourage others to be active in winter? What equipment could you use that you might find in your home? Where might you play?
Adaptations
Consider these tips to maximize the challenge and the fun for participants.
- Add the skill of receiving an object into the activity by having one participant stand in the hoop to receive the object, if safe to do so. If the participant successfully receives the object, they can flip the hoop.
- Place a time limit on the game and have participants play within the designated time.
- Invite participants to explore sending different objects and discuss the successes and challenges of sending or receiving with their chosen objects.
Modifications
Consider these tips to maximize inclusion and fun for all participants.
- For participants who have challenges sending an object, have the participant travel with the object to the target or move closer to the target.
- For participants who have challenges with aim and accuracy, offer an alternative entry point in the activity where their role is to determine the location of the hoop.