Colombian Tejo Adapted: Beanbags to the Bocín

Tejo is Colombia's national sport: players throw a metal disc at a clay pitch with a central ring, the bocín, surrounded by small charges called mechas that pop on impact. In this safe version, plastic cups stand in for the mechas and beanbags for the discs, keeping the traditional scoring system.

How to play

1. Introduce tejo and its Indigenous Muisca roots; if any students have Colombian family, invite them to explain how it's played there (3 min).
2. Set up six pitches: a 1 x 1 m chalk square with a hoop in the middle and four upside-down cups on the edge of the hoop; throwing line at 8 m (2 min).
3. Explain scoring: mano, the beanbag closest to the bocín, 1 point; mecha, knocking over a cup, 3 points; embocinada, landing inside the hoop, 6 points; moñona, a mecha and embocinada at once, 9 points (2 min).
4. Team games in groups of four, two vs. two, to 21 points; each player throws two beanbags per round and one player from a waiting team referees (14 min).
5. Wrap-up: each team discusses which trajectory, high or flat, earned more mechas and why (4 min).

Rules

• Throw underhand and only when the pitch is clear.
• Referees stand to the side of the pitch, never behind it.
• Knocked-over cups are reset before the next throw.
• If the mano is close, the referee measures with the tape measure.

Variations

Adaptations

• Wheelchair user: throws from 5 m while teammates reset the cups.
• Visual impairment: the referee taps the hoop with a stick before each throw and calls out the result.
• Intellectual disability: uses a picture card showing each way to score.

Learning goals

• Adjust force and trajectory to a mid-distance target.
• Learn about a traditional Latin American sport and its Indigenous roots.
• Referee and keep score honestly within the team.

Equipment for a class of 25

• beanbags: 24
• hoops: 6
• plastic cups: 24
• chalk: 3
• tape measures: 6

Teacher tip

Explain that in Colombia the pitch is sloped and the official throw is about 60 feet; here it's shorter and on flat ground. Reusable plastic cups will last for many lessons.

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