Refilling the Body’s Canteen

Each small team has a giant canteen (a bucket) that has run dry from all the playing; children run to fetch water drops (blue balls) one at a time and fill it together. It works on out-and-back running and teamwork, and ends with drinking real water.

How to play

1. Sitting down, the teacher explains that running makes the body lose water, like a canteen emptying out, and we refill it by drinking (2 min).
2. Form five groups, each beside its bucket; the blue balls (water drops) are scattered at the far end of the playground (1 min).
3. Run to grab one drop, come back and drop it into your canteen; then another friend goes, or you go again (4 min).
4. When all the drops are in the buckets, the teacher scatters them again and we repeat carrying the drop on the head, against the tummy or between both hands (3 min).
5. Refill the real canteen: everyone goes to their bottle and takes a few sips (2 min).

Rules

• Carry only one drop at a time.
• Run looking ahead so you don’t bump into other groups.
• No group wins: we finish when every canteen is full.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the drops near the child’s spot are theirs, or they carry on their lap the ones a classmate hands them.
• Autism: mark one path out and another back with cones so the route is always the same.
• Visual impairment: use balls with bells inside and a partner guide who claps from the bucket.

Learning goals

• Keep up out-and-back running for several minutes.
• Understand that the body needs water after moving.
• Work together to fill the group’s canteen.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Blue balls: 40
• Buckets: 5
• Water bottles: 25

Teacher tip

Use large foam balls, never small ones; on hot days play in the shade and move the drinking time earlier. The usual mistake is turning it into a race between groups: say from the start that everyone helps everyone.

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