Bottle-Cap Curling: The House on the Classroom Floor

Two teams slide bottle caps across the floor toward a target taped on the floor, using curling scoring: only the team with the stone closest to the center scores. It works on accuracy and strategy and introduces a sport from Scotland.

How to play

1. Tape two targets (houses) with three rings and a delivery line 3–4 m away in the aisle or at the back of the room (3 min).
2. Explain curling: play is in ends, and the team with the stone closest to the button scores one point for each of its stones closer than the opponent's best (2 min).
3. Free sliding practice: everyone slides four caps crouching or kneeling (3 min).
4. 4-on-4 games on two houses: each player slides two caps, alternating with the other team, three ends (10 min).
5. Tally the score and discuss strategies: guard, knock out or draw close (2 min).

Rules

• Caps slide, they never fly through the air.
• No one steps in the house until the last cap of the end is played.
• Slide only from behind the line.
• The team not sliding waits to the side of the aisle.

Variations

Adaptations

• Wheelchair users: slide from the chair by pushing the cap with a stick or ruler, as in wheelchair curling.
• Students with low vision: high-contrast tape on the house and a partner clapping at the center.
• Students with less accuracy: slide from a closer line.

Learning goals

• Control force to slide an object accurately.
• Make simple game strategy decisions.
• Learn about curling and its scoring.

Equipment for a class of 25

• bottle caps: 16
• masking tape: 2

Teacher tip

If you don't have bottle caps, big erasers or cardboard tokens work; mark each team with a marker color. Curling has been played in Scotland for centuries, and wheelchair curling is a Paralympic sport.

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