Riddle Cleanup: The Teacher Describes, You Bring It

The teacher describes a piece of equipment without naming it and students walk it back to its place once they guess. Cleanup becomes a calm attention and vocabulary game.

How to play

1. All the lesson gear stays spread around the court. The class sits in the middle (1 min).
2. The teacher gives a riddle ("I'm round, I have seams and you bounce me with your hand"). Whoever guesses raises a hand, says it and picks two classmates to walk that gear back (2 min).
3. Students take turns making up riddles about the remaining gear (2 min).
4. Last group riddle: together, describe the gear used most today and what it was for (2 min).

Rules

• Always walk when collecting.
• Each riddle goes to someone different; nobody repeats until everyone has gone.
• Put gear neatly in its place; don't toss it into the cart.

Variations

Adaptations

• Deaf or hard-of-hearing students: write riddles on a whiteboard or add gestures.
• Wheelchair users: collect light gear and carry it on their lap or in a bag.
• Students with language difficulties: may answer by pointing to the gear instead of naming it.

Learning goals

• Put equipment away responsibly.
• Use precise PE vocabulary.
• Calm down with an attention game.

Equipment for a class of 25

• lesson equipment: 1

Teacher tip

Have riddles ready for the stuff that's hardest to collect (pinnies, small cones). If there's a lot of gear, each correct guess takes a whole category.

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