Online compatible : No.
Age group : Best played with students aged between 6 and 12
Materials :
- 3 ping pong balls
- 4 paper cups
- Tape
Preparation time : Roughly ten minutes to tape 4 cups together and write scores at the bottom of the cups.
Number of players : Works best in teams of 2, but can easily be adapted to private classes by having the student and teacher work as a team to achieve a predetermined number of points to win.
Objective : To be the team with the most points scored
Instructions :
Having prepared your four cups before class, divide the students into teams of two. With each round one student holds the cups, while the other student bounces ping pong balls across the table. The student with the cups must try to catch the bouncing ball inside one of the cups. After all 3 balls have been thrown, count up points based on which cups the balls were caught in, i.e if two balls landed in the cup marked 5, and one ball landed in the cup marked 10, 20 points have been scored.
After all teams have played, time permitting you could switch roles from cup handler to ball bouncer within each team and play another round, or count up the scores and congratulate the winners.
Four Cups is just one example of a target game from many. If you don’t mind splashing out on a cheap plastic toy gun, the kind that fires plastic darts that stick to surfaces, you can even play a target game online. Just draw a set of targets with points on your white board and hold your tablet above the gun with one hand. Your online students can then direct you to where they’d like you to shoot with basic commands like “up”, “down”, “left”, “right”, and “shoot!!” Obviously playing games with guns isn't ideal for classes with children, but if one hand must hold the tablet, and with most projectile launching devices requiring two hands, and when throwing a ball yourself removes any student participation, in my own experience the toy gun remains the only remaining viable option.