School Rounders

A traditional British bat-and-ball game, an ancestor of baseball, where the batter runs around four posts after every good pitch, hit or miss. Students practice batting, running, and deciding when to stop at a post.

How to play

1. Set 4 poles in cones around the batting box, about 40 ft apart; split into two teams of 12–13 (3 min).
2. The fielding team's bowler pitches underhand from about 20 ft, between the batter's knee and shoulder.
3. After every good pitch, the batter drops the bat and must run, hit or miss, toward the posts; they can stop by touching a post with their hand.
4. Reaching the fourth post on their own hit scores 1 rounder; getting there without hitting, or over several plays, scores half a rounder.
5. A runner is out if the hit is caught in the air or a fielder touches the post they are running to with the ball before they arrive; they go back to the batting line.
6. Switch roles once the whole team has batted; play 2 innings per team (20 min).

Rules

• Safety: drop the bat on the ground inside the batting box; throwing it gives the other team half a rounder.
• Only one runner may stop at each post; if another arrives, the first must move on.
• No passing a teammate who is running ahead of you.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: a buddy runs for them, or they run to halfway posts marked with different-colored cones.
• Autism: show the post order with a chalk diagram and numbers on the ground.
• Fitness level: students who tire can be the bowler or a post guard, which involves less running.

Learning goals

• Hit an underhand pitch with a bat.
• Decide when to stop at a post and when to keep running.
• Learn a traditional game from another culture and how it relates to baseball.

Equipment for a class of 25

• soft bats: 2
• soft balls: 4
• poles: 4
• cones: 8

Teacher tip

The rule about always running after a good pitch surprises students at first, so play two practice rounds. Assign one fielder to guard each post to keep the game organized.

More activities like this

More main activities for Elementary