Collect Your Dirty Laundry

Skill: Dodge, Run
Time Required: 20
Activity Type: Physical
Group Size: Large Group, Medium Group, Small Group
Age Group: 6 - 9yrs, 9 - 12yrs
Play area: Gymnasium (large indoor space), Outdoor - Field
Safety Considerations: Remove any safety hazards and obstacles from the play area.
Remind participants to be aware of their surroundings and to keep their head up.
Remind participants a tag is a light tap.
Equipment: Hoops
Pinnies (different colours)
4 cones
Cones or rope for boundaries if necessary
Objective:
For teams to collect their dirty laundry and bring it to their hoop without getting tagged or their laundry getting taken away from them by the laundry police.
Other Skills:
Speed
Agility
Coordination
Set up:
Use the basketball court as the play area. If not in a gym, use cones or rope to make the boundaries the same size as a basketball court.
Divide the participants into 3 teams.
1 team will start as the laundry police and will scatter inside the play area.
Have 1 hoop at each end for each team. In front of these hoops, place two cones a couple feet apart, this is where participants have to run through to drop off their dirty laundry.
Place a hoop in the centre of the play area with 2 different coloured pinnies inside (have as many pinnies as there are participants for each team).
Step by Step:
1. The goal for the two teams on the outside is to collect their dirty laundry (pinnies) from the centre hoop, and bring it back to their hoop.
2. Each team will have a designated colour pinnie that they have to collect.
3. If team A is red and team B is green, then there will be red and green pinnies in the centre hoop.
4. On the word "Go", the participants can start running into the play area.
5. Participants can run on the outside of the play area (this is the safe zone for them), and enter wherever they wish, but as soon as they enter, they can be tagged.
6. The goal is for them to run to the centre hoop, and with one foot inside the hoop, pick up one of their team's pinnies, and tuck it in their waistband.
7. When their foot is in the hoop, then they cannot get tagged.
8. Once the pinnie is tucked in, they have to leave the hoop and drop it off at their hoop, by running through the two cones placed in front of the hoop.
9. If a participant is tagged by the laundry police team when they don't have a pinnie, then they have to walk with their hands in the air back to their team's hoop and do 5 jumping jacks before they can resume playing.
10. When a participant has a pinnie tugged into their waistband, the laundry police team has to take the pinnie from them, tagging them won't do anything.
11. If they succeed in doing this, the participant has to put their pinnie back in the centre and walk with their hands in the air back to their team's hoop and do 10 jumping jacks before they can resume playing.
12. There can only be one member from each team in the centre hoop at a time.
13. Laundry police cannot guard the centre hoop.
14. Whichever team collects all their pinnies first, or the team who has collected the most after a set amount of time, wins! The losing team is the new laundry police team.
Variations:
Have tennis balls or badminton birdies in the centre. The same rules apply when participants are tagged, whether they have a ball or not (they have to bring the ball back to centre if they had a ball).
Have more teams.
Have 2 teams, one is the laundry police the other is trying to take their dirty laundry.

Adaptations (General):
Have participants who are tagged, or who’s pinnies are taken, perform an activity which corresponds with their abilities and strengths: e.g., a participant with a mobility limitation may not be able to perform jumping jacks but may be excellent at push ups.

Adaptations (Blindness/Visual Impairment):
Have another team member guide participants who are blind or visually impaired; these pairs can work together.
Sources: Developed for the Leisure Information Network.