Cone Pattern

Skill: Catch, Run, Throw
Time Required: 2
Activity Type: Physical
Group Size: Large Group, Medium Group
Age Group: 6 - 9yrs, 9 - 12yrs, 13+ yrs
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 to aim for the pylons and not at the defender.
Equipment: 6 or so cones per team (ideal to have 4 teams and 4-6 participants per team).
Dodge Balls.
Cones or rope for throwing boundaries.
Shapes taped onto the cones.
Objective:
For teams to collect all the cones they need to complete their pattern.
Other Skills:
Underhand Roll
Coordination
Set up:
Divide the participants into 4 groups of 4-6 participants.
Please see the attached document for an example of the set up.
Divide the gym or play area into quarters.
Create a throwing circle in the centre of the 4 quarters using rope, cones or hoops.
Give each group 6 (or so) cones to place at the back of their quarter. Depending on how the leader chooses to start the game, each group can start with cones that have the same shape (sun, diamond, spiral and pentagon).
Each team will select one participant to start as the collectors, one to start as the defender and the rest as the throwers.
All participants will start at the back of their quarter.
Step by Step:
1. Before each round, the leader will tell participants the pattern they will need to create with the cones. They can write it on a board, or give each group a piece of paper with the pattern. The pattern can be the same for each group, or different.
2. Each thrower will start with a dodge ball.
3. When the game begins, the throwers will all go run to the throwing circle in the centre of the area.
4. They can only throw a ball when they are in this circle.
5. The defenders will stand in front of their cones.
6. The collectors will stand outside the play area so they are not in the way of the cones.
7. Let's say the pattern team A (or all teams) requires to get is: sun, sun, pentagon, spiral, diamond, pentagon.
8. The team A throwers will throw at the other team's cones, trying to knock down cones that have a shape they need.
9. When they throw/roll the ball and it knocks down another team's cone, the thrower will call on the collector to go collect that cone and bring it to their team's cones.
10. A thrower can collect any ball that was thrown, but they have to go back to the throwing circle before they can throw again.
11. The defender can block the ball however they wish. If they catch a ball that was thrown, then the participant that threw it has to run around the area once and the defender can pass the ball to one of their team's throwers.
12. If the defender does not catch the ball, then they cannot pass the ball back into the circle; a thrower has to collect it.
13. When a collector brings a cone back to their area, they put it at the end of the line of cones.
14. When a team has all the shapes they need to create their pattern, the collector can move the cones to put them in the correct order. However, when this happens, if a thrower hits a cone, their team gets that cone. If a thrower hits the collector, then the collector has to do a full lap of the play area before they can start creating the pattern again (if they still have all the cones they require).
15. When a team has the correct cones in the correct order, they yell "Cone Pattern!".
16. Change the roles of the participants for the next round.
17. Make the patterns easier or harder, depending on the skill level and speed of the participants.
Variations:
Don't have a collector role; the throwers collect cones they hit down and bring them back.
Have more than one defender.
Allow participants to switch roles during a round.
Each team will have hoops instead of cones at the end of their quarter. Each group will start with one object in each of their hoops, such as beanbags, birdies, pinnies, tennis ball or basketballs. Throwers will have beanbags or frisbees or soccer balls, and they have to get the ball to land in a hoop in order to collect that object. They have to collect a certain amount of each object and place the same objects in the same hoop.
Participants throw tennis balls or beanbags, and there is no defender.
Sources: Developed for the Leisure Information Network.
Attachments: Download