Plogging Around Campus: Run and Pick Up Smart

In groups of three, students mix jogging and picking up litter around campus, following plogging, a practice that started in Sweden. It builds endurance with active breaks and care for a shared space.

How to play

1. Explain the allowed areas, what to pick up and what never to touch, and hand out gloves and bags per group (4 min).
2. First route: easy jog through the assigned zone; pick up each item with a proper squat (8 min).
3. Switch zone and roles: the bag carrier becomes a spotter and vice versa (8 min).
4. Sort at base: separate containers, paper and trash into three bags (5 min).
5. Hand washing and debrief: where trash piles up most and what the class could suggest to the school (5 min).

Rules

• Never touch glass, needles, cigarette butts without a picker or anything sharp: tell the teacher.
• Always gloves on, always in your trio, inside the marked limits.
• Squat with a straight back to pick up; no sudden bending.
• On the whistle, everyone returns to base.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: smooth-ground zone and a long litter picker.
• Asthma or low fitness: alternates walking and jogging at their own pace.
• Students uncomfortable with dirt: carries the bag and keeps count.

Learning goals

• Sustain moderate aerobic effort with breaks.
• Care for the school grounds safely.
• Learn about a current sustainable sport practice.

Equipment for a class of 25

• garden gloves: 30
• trash bags: 12
• litter pickers: 6
• cones: 8

Teacher tip

Sweep the area yourself before class and remove anything dangerous. Without pickers, thick garden gloves are fine for paper and containers. Let the front office know students will be around campus.

More main activities for Middle School