Cone Town Mail Carriers

A small town with streets and numbered houses made of cones is set up on the playground, and students deliver letters by address using a town map. They practice reading street maps, house numbering and moving around safely.

How to play

1. Before class, lay out 4 parallel streets and 2 cross streets. Each street gets a cardstock name sign and each house is a numbered cone: even numbers on one side, odd on the other.
2. Take 3 minutes to explain the map and the numbering. The post office in the middle holds letter cards with addresses ('5 Moon Street').
3. In pairs, mail carriers take a letter, find it on the map, travel along the streets without cutting through houses and leave it under the right cone.
4. They head back to the post office for another. Deliver as many letters as possible in 7 minutes.
5. Second 7-minute round: now it's pickup. The teacher calls out addresses, pairs bring back whatever letter is there, and the class checks if it was delivered correctly.
6. Wrap up for 3 minutes by reviewing misdelivered letters and figuring out the mistake together.

Rules

• Travel only along the streets; never step over the cones.
• Power-walk on the right side so you don't bump into oncoming traffic.
• Each pair carries one letter at a time.
• Look both ways before crossing at an intersection.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: make the streets 2 meters (about 6 feet) wide; the partner places the letter under the cone.
• Hearing impairment or autism: use a picture-symbol map with color-coded streets and demonstrate one delivery.
• Fitness level: give the most active pairs letters for faraway streets; others can deliver at a walk.

Learning goals

• Read a simple street map with street names and house numbers.
• Follow pedestrian safety rules during a game.
• Stay active while planning the shortest route.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 36
• cardstock signs: 42
• letter cards: 50
• town maps: 13

Teacher tip

The odd-even rule confuses kids at first; let them discover it by reviewing misdelivered letters. This pairs nicely with a classroom lesson on a real neighborhood map.

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