Seated Bucket Toss: Tennis Balls for Points
Seated on the floor in teams, students toss tennis balls into buckets at three distances, each worth a different number of points. Sitting down and focusing on accuracy helps bring heart rate down at the end of the lesson.
How to play
- Each team of five sits behind a line facing three buckets at 6, 10 and 13 ft, marked with cones; take a 15-second pulse when seated (1 min).
- Round one: each student tosses two balls underhand into the bucket of their choice; the 6-foot bucket is worth 1 point, the 10-foot one 2 and the 13-foot one 3 (2 min).
- Decision break: the team looks at the hits and decides who throws at which bucket in round two (1 min).
- Rounds two and three using the agreed strategy, throwing in silence and taking turns (3 min).
- Final tally and a second pulse check to compare with the first (1 min).
Rules
- Throw only on your turn and when nobody is picking up balls in front.
- Balls are collected at the end of each round, all together and walking.
- Stay seated while throwing.
Variations
Easier
Buckets at 5, 6 and 10 ft and throwing from the knees.
Standard
Three distances with increasing points and a team strategy between rounds.
Harder
Throw with the non-dominant hand only, with one required bounce before the ball goes in.
Adaptations
- Wheelchair users: throw from the chair with the line at the same distance and no other change.
- Visual impairment: a teammate taps the bucket before each throw to give the direction.
- Shoulder injury: throws with the healthy arm or acts as the team scorekeeper.
Learning goals
- Bring heart rate down during a low-intensity task.
- Adjust throwing force to the distance.
- Make team decisions based on results.
Equipment for a class of 25
- tennis balls: 30
- buckets: 6
- cones: 18
Teacher tip
If you have no buckets, clean trash cans or cardboard boxes work. Taking the pulse at the start and end lets you discuss recovery in a couple of sentences.
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