Turkey Town

Purpose: to apply movement concept and strategy in chasing and fleeing activities. To increase cardiovascular, core, upper, and lower body strength. To work on basic addition, subtraction, or multiplication.

Suggested Age: K-6

Equipment: 12 orange cones, 12 scarves (optional), 4 different colored hula hoops, 6-10 tumbling mats, LOTS of beanbags, 4-8 objects used for tagging (I use fuzz balls)

Game Objective: the object of the game is for the Turkeys to capture as many seeds as possible for their team within 1 song while the farmers try to prevent them from capturing seeds

Set Up:

• This games is played using the width of the gym, not the length

• On one of the sidelines, space out all 12 orange cones and place a scarf in the top. These are the “bushes” and the dimensions of the basketball courts is the “farm”.

• In between the bushes and the gym wall, place 4 hula hoops on the ground about 20 feet away from each other. These are turkey homes.

• Inside the basketball court, spread out and stand up all of the tumbling mats (tractors, silos, barns, etc.) facing various directions. Next scatter the beanbags all around the gym, but within the basketball court lines

• Split the students into 5 different teams and assign 4 of those teams to a home (hoop). Send the 5th team to the middle of the gym to be farmers.

• Choose 1 core, 1 lower, and 1 upper body exercise as well as a set number of repetitions

When the music starts the turkeys will attempt to enter the farm and capture a seed without being tagged by a farmer. If they are successful then they must put it in their home and try again, but if they are tagged they must drop their beanbag and go to either the left or right side of the gym to perform one of the set exercises. Once they complete their exercise they must go behind the bush line before going back into the farm. The farmers not allowed to cross the bush line to tag turkeys.

This game is great to play around thanksgiving but can be used at any time of the year. I always hype up the game before playing by telling a little story to set the scene.

General Rules:

There is no sliding allowed and turkeys are only allowed 1 seed per trip. Seeds also cannot be kicked across the ground or thrown by either a turkey or a farmer. If turkeys are caught cheating then I will take a handful of seeds out of one of their homes and return it to the farm. If there is ever a tie in regards to the turkey making it across the bush line to safety, the tie always goes to the Turkey.

As soon as the song is over I have the turkeys begin counting up their seeds. Once the beanbags are totaled, the team with the most seeds will be the new farmers. For older students I have each color set at a different value. 

I also love to play this game by moving up levels after each round of play:

• Level 1
• All beanbags are worth 1 point. All above rules apply

• Level 2
•  Once you enter the farm you may not go back behind the bushes unless you have a beanbag. If a farmer catches you going out and coming back they are allowed to steal 2 beanbags from your home.

• Level 3 
• You are only allowed to collect beanbags that are the same color as your hoop. If there are any beanbags that don't match any hoop, those are considered "wild" and may also be collected

• Level 4
• For every beanbag that you collect that matches your hoop you get 2 points. However, you may also sabotage other teams by putting colors that don't match their hoop in their home. These count as -1 point. Wild beanbags also count as 2 points for your team.

Tips:

This game is also VERY tiring and as such many water breaks are needed. I usually have the farmers get drinks while the turkeys are counting the beanbags, then have the former farmers spread out the captured beanbags while the turkeys get drinks. 
If you don't have an even number of each colored beanbag it may be difficult to do levels 3 and 4. Instead you can have different beanbag colors assigned different point values and some colors specifically designated as "bad seeds" (-1). 

Make sure to tell the students to be very careful when going around the mats

Video: