Make Ten Beanbag Grab
Working in pairs, students leave their home hoop to collect beanbags labeled 1 to 9 scattered in the middle of the blacktop. They must gather pairs of beanbags that add up to exactly ten, so they practice a range of locomotor skills, ways to make ten, and teamwork with a partner.
How to play
- Spread 12 hoops in a big circle around the area, one per pair, and leave 50 beanbags in the middle, each with a number from 1 to 9 taped on (2 min).
- On the signal, one partner speed-walks out, grabs one beanbag and brings it to the hoop; then the other partner goes.
- When the hoop has two beanbags that make ten, the pair puts them together and says it out loud: "six plus four makes ten." That is one point (4 min).
- Round two: the teacher changes the locomotor skill every minute on a signal: jumping, hopping, sliding sideways or crab walking (4 min).
- Round three: students may "steal" one beanbag from another pair's hoop, but only one per trip and never from a finished ten (3 min).
- At the end, each pair counts its tens and everyone lines them up to check them together (2 min).
Rules
- Carry one beanbag at a time in your hand; no throwing.
- One partner goes while the other waits inside the hoop.
- Keep your eyes up on the way to the middle so you don't bump into anyone.
- Finished tens are off limits.
Variations
Easier
Use only numbers 1 to 5 and look for pairs that make five.
Standard
Numbers 1 to 9 and pairs of beanbags that make ten.
Harder
Three-beanbag tens, like 2 + 3 + 5, are allowed and are worth two points.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: move the student's hoop closer to the middle and use a bigger hoop; the partner brings beanbags and the student decides the sums.
- Autism: keep the same partner the whole time and show each round's movement on picture cards.
- Skill level: fast calculators can make twenty using beanbags with two-digit numbers.
Learning goals
- Make ten in several different ways.
- Travel using different locomotor skills and change direction without collisions.
- Agree with a partner on which beanbag to go after.
Equipment for a class of 25
- beanbags: 50
- hoops: 12
Teacher tip
Write the numbers with a thick marker on masking tape stuck to the beanbags, and make extra 3s, 4s, 6s and 7s so pairs don't run out. The stealing round invites collisions, so make it a walking round.
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