To Market with a Load on Your Head

Like market sellers in many parts of the world who carry their goods on their heads, children carry beanbag "fruit" from the garden to the market stalls without holding it with their hands. It builds balance on the move, upright posture and respect for other traditions.

How to play

1. Look at how to carry something on your head: straight back, eyes forward, short steps (2 min).
2. Pick a beanbag fruit from the garden (the basket) and walk it slowly to a stall (a hoop) (3 min).
3. If it falls, stop, put it back and keep going without running (2 min).
4. Now the path has obstacles: walk around cones and step over a rope on the ground (3 min).
5. Carry two beanbags at once, one on your head and one in your hand (3 min).
6. Sellers set out their fruit at their stall and call out what they're selling (2 min).

Rules

• The load stays on my head; hands only to fix it.
• I walk slowly, no running.
• If it falls, I stop and put it back.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the child in a wheelchair carries the beanbag on their head or shoulder while a classmate pushes slowly.
• Visual impairment: mark the path with a rope they can follow with their foot and have a partner talk to them.
• Less balance: they may carry the beanbag on the shoulder instead of the head.

Learning goals

• Balance an object on the head while walking.
• Keep an upright posture.
• Learn about a tradition from other places in the world.

Equipment for a class of 25

• beanbags: 25
• hoops: 6
• basket: 2
• cones: 6
• rope: 1

Teacher tip

Show a few photos of markets where people carry loads on their heads before playing; kids love it. Use flat, floppy beanbags; round ones fall right off and frustrate them.

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