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Beanbag Tic-Tac-Toe Toss

Two teams of three toss beanbags onto a grid of nine hoops to get three in a row. It combines underhand throwing accuracy with the strategy of choosing which hoop to take or block from the other team.

PhaseMain activitie
Duration15 min
Ages6–10
SpaceAny space
Equipmenthoops, Bean bags
IntensityLow

How to play

  1. Lay out 4 grids of 3 x 3 hoops and mark a throwing line 10 ft from each grid (2 min).
  2. At each grid two trios face off, each with 5 beanbags of its color; if numbers are uneven, one team has 4.
  3. Trios alternate underhand tosses, one player at a time; a beanbag that stays inside an empty hoop claims it.
  4. A beanbag outside or in a taken hoop does not count. The first trio to get three in a row wins; if beanbags run out, the team with more hoops wins.
  5. Each game takes about 2 min; after two games, trios rotate to a new opponent on the whistle (10 min total).
  6. Cooperative final round (3 min): both trios try to fill all 9 hoops together using 12 tosses.

Rules

Variations

Easier

Line at 6 ft, and a beanbag touching the hoop edge counts.

Standard

Line at 10 ft, and only beanbags fully inside count.

Harder

Line at 13 ft with non-dominant hand tosses.

Adaptations

Learning goals

Equipment for a class of 25

Teacher tip

If you lack two beanbag colors, put one trio in pinnies and have players remember their tosses. Ask trios to whisper their plan before tossing so strategy shows up naturally.

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