The Three-Hole Clown

A big cardboard clown face has three holes: a big mouth and two smaller eyes. Children toss beanbags to "feed" him through the mouth or make him wink through the eyes, and the clown reacts with faces acted out by the teacher. They practice aiming at targets of different sizes and expressing emotions.

How to play

1. Meet Tomato the clown: he's hungry and sad; shall we feed him? (1 min).
2. We throw at the big mouth in turns of five, and the teacher does a happy clown voice when one goes in (4 min).
3. We try the small eyes: if one goes in, the clown winks and we all wink too (4 min).
4. We make faces like the clown: sad when we miss, surprised, and super happy when it goes in (2 min).
5. We empty the box behind the clown and thank him with a bow (1 min).

Rules

• I throw from the line and don't go up to the clown's face.
• If it misses, the clown gives me another try.
• I wait my turn sitting down and cheer for the others.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: tilt the clown against a chair so the mouth is at their height.
• Hearing impairment: the clown "talks" with big gestures and face cards.
• Autism: preview the clown voice before starting and lower the volume if it bothers them.

Learning goals

• Throw at targets of different sizes.
• Recognize and show basic emotions.
• Wait for a turn while cheering.

Equipment for a class of 25

• large cardboard clown face: 1
• beanbags: 25
• box: 1

Teacher tip

Lean the cardboard against a box that's open at the back so it catches the beanbags. Paint the face in cheerful colors and make the mouth at least a hand-span wide. The clown voice makes the game, so go all in.

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