Stadium Cleanup: Sweep the Yard and Sort the Waste

At the end of class, students walk the schoolyard in sectors at an easy pace, picking up litter like a cleanup crew after a game. They sort and count the waste and connect it to what a big sporting event produces.

How to play

1. Assign sectors with cones: groups of four with one pair of gloves per pair. Slow walk collecting anything that shouldn't be in the yard (3 min).
2. Sort into three bags: containers, paper, and everything else (2 min).
3. Quick count by category, logged on the board or the teacher's phone (2 min).
4. Closing circle question: if this comes from one schoolyard in a week, what do 50,000 fans produce in a stadium? Who cleans it up? (1 min).

Rules

• Pick up only with gloves; never touch glass, needles, or sharp objects, tell the teacher instead.
• Walk, don't run.
• Each group stays in its sector.
• Bags are tied and taken to the right bin.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: runs the sorting table and the count.
• Visual impairment: covers a small sector with a partner and handles tying and carrying bags.
• Students with allergies or who are squeamish: act as recorder or bag manager.

Learning goals

• Lower arousal after class with a calm, useful task.
• Take responsibility for shared space.
• Connect everyday waste with the impact of sporting events.

Equipment for a class of 25

• gardening gloves: 10
• trash bags: 3
• cones: 8

Teacher tip

Borrow gloves from the custodian or the school garden. Walk the yard yourself first to remove anything dangerous. The usual problem is it turning into a race to collect the most: insist on a slow pace.

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