Setting: DPA
Season: Fall
Activity Goal
Participants engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity in a fall environment to enhance their fitness and overall health and wellness.
The cornucopia has spilled! Participants must use a variety of movement patterns and locomotor skills to travel around the outdoor playing area to refill the cornucopia.
For participant safety, please review the contents of the Beyond the Walls: Safety Considerations page for information on Safety Standards, Fall Safety Considerations, and Outdoor Playing Areas and Surfaces.
Equipment
- Beanbags - One less than 1 per participant (fruit to fill the cornucopia)
- 1 hoop (the ‘cornucopia’)
Before 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.
- Scatter the beanbags around the playing area.
- Explain that a cornucopia is a container shaped like a goat's horn and is filled with food. The cornucopia has spilled, and the only way to save the day is to refill it. Designate one person as the ‘caller’ and co-construct a series of movement patterns. (e.g., zig-zag, wave) as well as a series of locomotor skills (e.g., bear walk, crab walk, bunny hop, skip, gallop). Instruct the caller to call out a locomotion, and a pattern.
During Play
- Direct the caller to choose a movement pattern and locomotion for participants to use to travel around the playing area until the caller yells “Save the Cornucopia!”.
- Participants must then race to grab the ‘fruit’ (e.g., beanbag) closest to them, and return it to the cornucopia in the centre of the playing area. Remind all participants to run with their head up and be aware of their surroundings to avoid collisions as everyone will be running to the same spot in the centre of the playing area.
- The last person will not have one to pick up and is thus designated the next caller. Direct that participant to re-scatter the beanbags for the next round of play.
After Play
Use the following prompts for participants to reflect on ways to be active in fall and engage others in activity to build a habit of engaging in outdoor activity throughout the year.
Question prompts:
- Which movement pattern did you enjoy experimenting with the most?
- How did it make your body feel to use different locomotion? Were some easier than others?
- What cultural or fall food might the different bean bags represent?
- How might this game represent how food and games are included as part of different cultural and/or fall celebrations (seasonal foods, variety, social play, cultural dance)?
Adaptations
Consider these tips to maximize the challenge and the fun for participants.
- Consider adding a component of ‘sending’ to the target as a part of this activity. Encourage participants to try to send using hands or feet and doing so from a distance that they feel they can be successful at.
- Consider implementing a ‘travel rule’ with the piece of equipment where participants must balance their ‘food’ on a particular body part or perform a motor task using the item (e.g., walk with their ‘food’ between their knees, balance it on their head).
Modifications
Consider these tips to maximize inclusion and fun for all participants.
- For participants who are blind/low vision, consider ringing a bell at the ‘cornucopia’ to allow them to locate their target more easily.
- For participants who are deaf, consider implementing a visual signal along with the auditory one of ‘save the cornucopia’.