Battleship Game
Overview
The battleship game is a fun game that allows students to practice game situations, team building and cooperative learning. They also get practice in following rules and in improving overhand throwing. The needed equipment are mats, bowling pins (small soccer cones or solo cups could also be used) and gator balls.
Description
Spread nine mats out around your gym (eight in a circle and one in the middle). See this diagram for reference. Four bowling pins (or items mentioned above) should be placed on the long side of each mat. If you want to increase the difficulty, they could be placed at each corner. Students will be divided into eight groups and will go to a mat (“battleship”) at the border of the gym. The middle mat is reserved for the team that wins the first round.
Each student is a crew member and must stay on the mat at all times. The crew members are to throw balls at other ships, trying to knock their bowling pins down. Crew members are not allowed to stand up and throw – they must stay seated or on their knees. Four crew members on each ship are called “protectors”. Their job is to protect the team’s pins from getting knocked down. Protectors are not allowed to hug, cover up or touch the pin.
One crew member per ship is designated as the “tugboat”, whose job is to collect ammunition (balls) to throw back at other ships’ pins. The “tugboat” is not allowed to throw any balls, but is allowed to hover around their battleship and collect balls for his/her team.
Each ship also has a captain who stands behind the protectors. He/she lets crew members know when all pins on the ship are down and the crew must swim to shore.
The goal of the game is to knock down other ships’ pins and sink their ship. Once a ship’s pins are knocked down, that ship is “sunk” and the crew members have to “swim to safety” (stay behind their ship on the sideline). While the crew members are behind their ship waiting for the battle round to end, you can have them perform a physical activity – like 10 jumping jacks, 10 push ups or 10 crunches. The last ship that still has pins standing wins that battle round and moves to the center battleship (mat) in the next round.
Rules
Once a pin is down, even if accidentally knocked over by a crew member, it’s DOWN.
Tugboats cannot throw balls at other ship’s pins
Protectors must stay seated or on knees at all times.
No blocking pins (that is cheating).
Rotate crew members to different ships after each round
Variations
The below variations can be introduced if you want to mix it up a little:
Don’t have a mat in the middle, just have eight around the perimeter.
Don’t rotate ships after each round.
The winning ship can pick their next ship.
Put the pins or cones at the four corners of the mat.
Add more or less pins/cones per ship.
Change up physical activities for losing ships each round.
From Elementary PE teacher Website
