There's a Hole in My Cup

Skill: Hop, Run, Skip
Time Required: 15
Activity Type: Physical
Group Size: Large Group, Medium Group, Small Group
Age Group: 6 - 9yrs, 9 - 12yrs
Play area: Outdoor - Field
Safety Considerations: Remove any safety hazards and obstacles from the activity area.
Remind participants to be aware of their surroundings and to keep their head up.
Equipment: Plastic Cups
Pin or another object to poke holes in the cups
Bucket filled with water for each group
Empty bucket for each group
Pylons
Objective:
Participants transport as much water from one bucket to the other as they can using their cups with holes on the bottom.
Other Skills:
Speed
Set up:
Divide participants into groups of 4-5 participants.
Have one bucket filled with the same amount of water for each group, or have a big bucket filled with water for all groups.
Each participant will have a plastic cup. Poke holes in the bottom and/or sides of each cup. One cup for each group will have the most holes, and make less holes for each cup after that. Ensure that each group has cups with the same amount of holes.
Have each group number themselves off from 1-4 (or 5 if there are 5 participants per group).
Each number 1 will get the cup with the most holes at the bottom (and the sides), the participant that is number 2 will have the cup with the second most holes and so on.
Number 1 will start at their group's bucket filled with water or the shared bucket for all groups. The next participant will start at the pylon that is placed around 10-15 feet away. The next participant will stand at the other pylon placed 10-15 feet away, and so on.
There will be an empty bucket placed at the end for each group (does not have to be directly behind them, could be on the opposite side of where they are, depends on how difficult you wish it to be).
Step by Step:
1. The first participant (number 1) in each group will have the cup with the most holes in the bottom and/or sides.
2. They will scoop up water into their cup and then run to the next participant in their group (number 2), who will be standing at the first pylon with the cup with the second most holes.
3. Number 1 will dump the water from their cup into number 2's cup.
4. Number 2 will then have to walk/run backwards to the next participant (number 3), who is standing at the next pylon.
5. The water will be dumped into their cup.
6. Number 3 will turn skip to the next participant (number 4), who will be standing at the next pylon.
7. When number 4 has the water in their cup, they will turn and take big steps over to the next participant.
8. When the next (last) participant (number 5) has water in their cup, they will speed walk to their empty bucket and dump the water in the bucket.
9. After each participant brings the water to the next participant, they will run back to their pylon and wait for the next cup to come.
10. After the first participant dumps water in the next participant's cup, they can run back to their bucket to fill up their cup with more water.
11. However, they have to be aware of how fast the other participant's are moving. If they fill up their cup with water too quickly, then a participant may have to wait for another participant to return to their pylon, and their cup will leak more water.
12. Participants are not allowed to cover up any of the holes in their cup.
13. The first team to fill their bucket up to the top, or to a line, wins!
14. Or the team to have the most water at the end of a certain time frame wins.
Variations:
All cups will have the same amount of holes in them.
All participants run to the next participant. Or select different movements/actions for each participant to perform. Examples of other actions are: hop on one foot, hop on both feet, walk on their tiptoes, skip, do lunges and so on.
Set out obstacles between each pylon/participant. Such as, hoops they have to jump in, pylons they have to run around, ropes they have to walk on, a ball they have to kick in a net (or hoop), and so on.
After the last participant dumps water in the empty bucket, they run to the start and are now number 1 and scoop water from the starting bucket. Number 1 is now at number 2's pylon and so on.
Sources: Developed for the Leisure Information Network.