Catch the Magical Creatures (Throwing)
The magical creatures have escaped! Catch them all to keep the magical forest a secret. Your child will learn how to overarm throw in this imaginative game to challenge all abilities.
Scatter ~10 'creature huts' in a small, flat space. Creature huts can be designed by laying tea towels on the ground, drawing small circles with chalk, or taping small sections of a floor. On each hut, place 1-3 objects (e.g a ball, cupcake wrapper, pen, beanbag, soft toys). Children stand several meters away from the huts. Place an empty bucket or container behind the throwing area (this will be the treasure chest). Each child starts with a pair of balled up socks.
Examples of magical creatures include;
- Cupcake wrapper = turtle
- Ball = slime ball
- Soft toy = an animal
- Pen = unicorn horn
- Skipping rope = snake
Step 1:
- Explain to the children that they are the ‘Magical Creature Catchers’ and all the Magical Creatures have escaped and need to be returned safe to their home before the humans find them!
Step 2:
- Upon your instruction of "Ready, Aim, Fire!" the children overarm throw their sock
- If they land in a hoop with a magical creature, they choose one animal to collect and return to the treasure chest
Step 3:
- Once everyone has thrown, everyone collects their sock and returns to their spot to throw again
- Continue working as a team and return all the creatures back to the treasure chest before the magical forest is discovered!
- Move huts closer
- Use more huts
- Move huts further away
- Try using your non-dominant arm
Before starting demonstrate how to throw. Practice throwing without a ball. Remember the throwing teaching cues:
- Ready: Stand like a surfer (side-on)
- Aim: Make a muscle arm (throwing arm bent up above shoulder), Point other arm at target
- Fire: Step on the star (step with opposite foot onto star marker) and throw
- Have huts set up at a variety of distances to challenge all children
- Build the story behind this activity to engage children even more
- Work as a team to rescue all the creatures together