Apples in the Bucket

Setting: Intramurals

Season: Fall

Activity Goal

Participants engage in an active, fun, striking/fielding activity that makes connections to fall harvests and provides additional opportunities to be active throughout the school day.

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

For each group of three:

• 2 buckets, large fishing nets, or lacrosse sticks
• 3 cones/pylons, or 1 batting tee and 2 cones/pylons
• Variety of implements for striking (e.g., bats, golf clubs, hockey sticks)
• Variety of soft balls suitable for striking

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.
• Ask participants which kinds of foods they usually notice being served in their homes, harvested from their gardens, or served as part of school food programs in the fall. Discuss cultural activities that may revolve around food, and what foods are eaten seasonally.
• Share with participants that apples are often harvested in Ontario during the fall season and ask participants to share if they have ever gone apple picking or helped purchase apples at their local market. Inform participants that this game symbolizes the harvest of apples.
• Arrange the cones/pylons in a triangular shape in the infield (similar to the shape of a baseball diamond). When selecting a space for the activity, check that it is a safe distance away from other activities to avoid being hit by a thrown/hit object.
• Divide participants into groups of three. Designate one participant as the ‘tree’ (the striker), and the other two as ‘buckets’ (the fielders). Have groups choose their implement, their ‘apple’ (i.e., ball), and their ‘bucket’ (e.g., bucket, fishing net, lacrosse stick, baseball glove). While they are choosing, direct the striker (the tree) to place their ‘apple’ on the batting tee, or cone/pylon to send the ‘apple’ out towards the ‘buckets’.
• If the ‘tree’ is successful in sending the apple toward the outfield, direct them to run around the cones/pylons, and race back to the batting tee before the buckets can return the apple to the ‘apple tree’. The ‘tree’ is awarded a point if they can return to the batting tee before buckets return the ball to touch the batting tee.
• If a fielder (the ‘bucket’) can catch the apple before it hits the ground, the bucket is awarded a point. The buckets can also gain a point if they throw the ball to each other or run the ball and touch the tee before the ‘tree’.
• Continue play until one of the participants reaches 3 points. Participants then rotate their positions and commence the next round of play. Ensure at least three rounds are played so all participants have the opportunity to participate as both the tree and the bucket.

Adaptations

Consider these tips to maximize the challenge and the fun for participants.

• To increase the difficulty, use a smaller ball or have participants self-pitch the ball, rather than hit from a tee or cone/pylon.
• To decrease the challenge of the activity, consider encouraging participants to throw the ball or select a larger ‘apple’.
• Consider having participants self-select sending with the implement or sending using their feet.
• Increase or decrease the playing area to maximize the challenge.

Modifications

Consider these tips to maximize inclusion and fun for all participants.

• Consider wiffle balls or elephant skin balls to slow down the movement of the ‘apple’.
• Invite participants to consider ways to reduce the speed of movement around the playing area to ensure inclusion and success for all.
• Consider inclusive approaches to increase or decrease the challenge to find a role for every participant and to encourage full participation.