Sack Hop Kangaroos Like at the Town Fair

Grown-ups remember the sack races from their town fairs and neighborhood festivals, and here we turn them into a kangaroo parade: kids and grown-ups hop inside sacks, holding hands, with no rush and no winners. It works two-footed jumping, balance and the fun of a shared festival game.

How to play

1. The teacher asks who has ever raced in a sack; a grown-up tells what sack races were like at their fair (1 min).
2. Each child steps into a sack, holds it at the waist with both hands and tries hopping in place like a kangaroo (2 min).
3. Hop in pairs: the grown-up, beside them without a sack, holds their hand and they hop together to the cone (3 min).
4. Now the grown-up gets into a sack too (or puts their feet in a big bag) and both hop holding hands (3 min).
5. Kangaroo parade: all families hop in a line together, following the teacher along a path of cones (3 min).
6. Take off the sacks, lie on the mats and pedal your legs in the air to shake them out (2 min).

Rules

• Hold your sack tight with both hands.
• Jump with feet together and land with soft knees.
• If you fall, get up. It's part of the game!
• No racing here: we hop together.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: in a wheelchair, a blanket over the legs is their "sack" and they mark the hops with their arms while other kangaroos hop around them.
• Poor balance: instead of a sack, put both feet inside a hoop and shuffle forward with feet together.
• Autism: offer the sack beforehand so they can explore it and decide whether to get in or hop without it.

Learning goals

• Jump with feet together and land softly.
• Keep balance with the body inside a sack.
• Learn a traditional festival game.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Fabric sacks or pillowcases: 25
• Mats: 6
• Cones: 6

Teacher tip

Use fabric sacks or old pillowcases, never plastic bags, and hop on grass or mats. If a grown-up would rather not get in a sack, they hop alongside without one.

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