Let's Fill the Ball Pit

Standing mats form the walls of a pool, and together children fill it with balls, carrying them in different ways from the other side of the room. It builds cooperation, carrying objects and working toward a shared goal.

How to play

1. Set up the pool: four mats standing on edge in a square against the wall, with the balls in boxes across the room (2 min).
2. First trip: everyone carries as many balls as fit in their hands and drops them in the pool (2 min).
3. Bucket trip: fill a bucket with a partner and carry it together by the handle (3 min).
4. Creative trip: carry a ball under your chin, in the crook of your elbow or between your knees while hopping (3 min).
5. Full boxes travel pushed across the floor by pairs to the pool (3 min).
6. The pool is full! Look at what we did together (1 min).

Rules

• Carry the balls; don't throw them.
• Drop the balls in, but don't climb into the pool yet.
• Help a friend carrying a heavy bucket.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the child in a wheelchair holds a box on their lap, classmates fill it, and the child dumps it into the pool.
• Autism: give a set, repetitive job, such as emptying the boxes that arrive.
• Visual impairment: mark the route with a rope on the floor to follow with the foot, and keep the pool in the same spot.

Learning goals

• Carry objects in different ways.
• Work with classmates toward a shared goal.
• Move while carrying an object without dropping it.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Ball pit balls: 200
• Mats: 4
• Cardboard boxes: 6
• Buckets: 6

Teacher tip

Secure the mats against the wall or brace them with tables so they don't tip. If you don't have ball pit balls, large newspaper balls or foam balls work; nothing small enough to fit in a mouth.

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