Apple Harvest

Setting: Intramurals

Season: Fall

Activity Goal

Participants engage in an active, fun, territory game 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

• Cones/pylons
• Various sized and coloured balls to represent different kinds of apples that are harvested in Ontario

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.
• Mark four corners of the playing area as the field boundaries. Designate end zones on each side of the playing area using cones/pylons or use chalk lines on a field.
• Divide participants into two teams and have them separate into opposite sides of the field.
• The objective of the game is for teams to harvest as many apples as they can by carrying an apple across their opponent’s end zone without losing possession of it.
• The game starts with a ‘jump ball’ with one ball that represents a type of apple (e.g., McIntosh, Empire, Red Delicious, Crispin). The team who gains possession of the apple works together to carry it across their opponent’s end zone without getting tagged while in possession of the object. Remind participants that a tag is a touch on the back, shoulder, or arm not a push, punch, or grab.
• The participant carrying the apple may pass it to another team member before getting tagged, who continues to attempt to carry it over their opponent’s end zone. If a player is tagged while holding the apple, or drops it while attempting a pass, the apple becomes the other team’s. They then try to get it successfully to their storage without being tagged. When a player is successful in carrying the apple across their opponent's end zone, they call out ‘The apple is harvested’ and the team is awarded a point.
• Participants cannot block or push an opponent out of the way to avoid their teammate from being tagged. Participants cannot tag the person who tagged them.
• The game restarts with another jump ball using a different size or coloured ball to represent a different type of apple.

Adaptations

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

• Adjust the playing areas based on availability of play space and in accordance with conditions of the playing area.
• Participants cannot travel with the object or limit their travel to three steps before having to pass the apple.
• Participants cannot pass the apple, and the opponents gain possession each time a participant is tagged when carrying the object.
• Have two apples in play at the same time.

Modifications

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

• For participants with limited mobility, have them and others stand or sit in the opponent’s end zone. In order for a group to score, they have to receive the pass in the opponent’s end zone.
• Consider inclusive approaches to increase or decrease the challenge to find a role for every participant and to encourage full participation.
• 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 (e.g., play rock/paper/scissors to determine who gets to advance) so everyone is playing at the same level.