Street Sweepers Push the Trash

At dawn, children are street sweepers who use a broom (pool noodle) to push trash (balls) along neighborhood streets (rope lanes) to the garbage truck. It builds controlling an object with a tool, hand-eye coordination and caring for our streets.

How to play

1. The teacher says the street got messy overnight and shows how to sweep: both hands on the broom, low, pushing slowly (2 min).
2. Free sweeping: each child pushes their ball around the yard with the broom without losing it, like a piece of paper (2 min).
3. Streets: push the ball inside a lane of two ropes without it rolling onto the sidewalk (3 min).
4. Corners and traffic circles: the street turns and we steer around a cone (a lamppost) before going on (2 min).
5. The garbage truck (a box on its side) waits at the end: push the ball in gently and go back for another (2 min).
6. Clean street: put the brooms away and stroll down the street to see how clean it is (2 min).

Rules

• The broom always stays on the ground, never up high.
• I push my ball, not someone else’s.
• If it gets away, I walk to get it.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: from the wheelchair, with a longer noodle and a big ball that rolls easily.
• Visual impairment: a sound ball and lanes marked with thick rope you can feel underfoot.
• Less control: a shorter broom held close to the ground and a street with no turns.

Learning goals

• Guide an object with a tool.
• Adjust pushing force.
• Value the work of keeping streets clean.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Pool noodles: 25
• Foam balls: 25
• Ropes: 10
• Cardboard boxes: 4

Teacher tip

Cut noodles to the children’s hip height: a long noodle gets swung like a bat. Kids tend to whack instead of push; say “the broom pets the ball.”

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