Design Your Own Bat-and-Field Game: Three Rules and a Test Run

In groups, students invent a bat-and-field game with required elements, test it and teach it to another group. They apply ideas about hitting, running and fielding while working on a shared project.

How to play

1. Groups of five or six with a worksheet: the game must include a way to hit (bat, hand or foot), a place to run to and a way to get out that doesn't leave anyone sitting (5 min).
2. Design the game and set up the field with the gear available; write three clear rules plus one safety rule (8 min).
3. Test run: the group plays its own game and fixes what doesn't work (6 min).
4. Swap: each group explains its game to another group in one minute and they play it by those rules; do two swaps (12 min).
5. Thumbs up, sideways or down for each game, plus one suggestion to improve it (4 min).

Rules

• Every game needs a safety rule about the bat or ball.
• All group members take part in designing and explaining.
• Feedback is about the game, never about people.

Variations

Adaptations

• Students with visual impairments: the group builds a sound ball or verbal cues into its game.
• Students with limited mobility: help design, and the group makes sure they have an active role.
• Students who find explaining hard: they can explain the game with a drawing of the field.

Learning goals

• Design a bat-and-field game.
• Work together on a group project.
• Explain rules clearly.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 30
• plastic bats: 5
• softballs (soft): 10
• hoops: 10
• design worksheets: 5
• pencils: 5

Teacher tip

Visit each group during design and always ask about the out rule and the safety rule, the two things most often missing. Keep the worksheets: the best games can come back in a later class.

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