Sports Lab: Fuse Two Alternative Sports

A group project where students create a new game by mixing rules from two alternative sports they've already played, such as ringo, pinfuvote, colpbol, or datchball. They work on creativity, analyzing rules, and teaching others.

How to play

1. Form five groups of 6; each draws two alternative sports from the unit at random (4 min).
2. Design on the card: the game's goal, three rules from each sport, how to score, and one safety rule (8 min).
3. Test the game within the group and fix what doesn't work (8 min).
4. Each group teaches its game to another group in under a minute and they play it together; then switch groups (15 min).
5. Show-of-hands vote for the most creative rule and the one that gets the most people involved (5 min).

Rules

• Every new game must include the whole group, with no eliminations.
• All safety rules from the original sports stay in place.
• Explaining the game to another group takes one minute at most.
• Critique the rule, not the people who suggested it.

Variations

Adaptations

• Students who are deaf or hard of hearing: the explanation also uses the card and a demonstration.
• Students who use wheelchairs: their group includes a rule that guarantees them an active role, and that counts in the vote.
• Students who find public speaking hard: can do the hands-on demonstration while someone else explains.

Learning goals

• Design a movement game as a group from existing rules.
• Analyze which rules make a sport more inclusive or more competitive.
• Explain and teach a game to others.

Equipment for a class of 25

• ringo rings: 6
• foam balls: 6
• cones: 20
• pinnies: 30
• cards: 6

Teacher tip

Best done at the end of the unit, once students have played the sports. Cards can be cut-up paper or cardstock. The usual mistake is inventing too many rules: cap it at six.

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