Cone Guardian

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Practice physical target throwing, defensive blocking, and quick risk assessment during active play.

Use it when: Use during active play sessions, youth energizers, or recess when a group needs physical activity with rapid participant turnover.

Skip it when: Skip in small rooms, areas with fragile objects, or settings where rapid running and ball throwing are unsafe.

Group arrangement: 6 active guardians stationed at 6 cones, with 1 to 14 participants waiting along the boundary line ready to rotate in.

Timing: UWT suggested 15 minutes, fitting the standard 5-to-15 minute Playworks activity window.

Materials and tools

• 6 tall, lightweight plastic cones
• 3 to 4 soft foam dodgeballs
• Floor tape or chalk to mark the waiting boundary line (optional)

Before participants arrive

1. Place 6 lightweight cones across an open playing area, spaced at least 10 feet apart.
2. Designate a waiting boundary line on one side of the area where waiting players stand.
3. Place 3 to 4 soft foam dodgeballs in the center of the field between the cones.

Say this to open

Today we are playing Cone Guardian. Six people will guard a cone while everyone else lines up along this boundary line. If you are guarding a cone, your goal is to keep your cone standing while using these foam balls to knock over other cones. You can block balls with your hands, but your feet cannot touch your cone. Getting hit by a ball does not count, only falling cones count. When your cone falls, give quick high-fives, jog to the back of the line, and the next person takes over that cone. Line players will stop stray balls and roll them back in.

How to run it

1. Demonstrate rules and roles 3 minutes

   Deliver the opening script. Walk 6 players to the 6 cones as the first guardians. Have all other participants stand along the boundary line. Demonstrate how to shield a cone using hands only, without feet touching the cone. Show that a ball hitting a body has no effect; only a tipped cone counts. Demonstrate the rotation: when a cone tips, that player gives hand claps or high-fives and joins the end of the queue, while the front person runs in to replace them.

2. Run first game cycle 5 minutes

   Shout the starting word. Guardians can leave their cones at any point to grab a foam ball and throw it at another cone. Remind players that their cone is undefended while they fetch a ball. If a cone tips over, whether hit by a ball or kicked accidentally by its guardian, that player heads to the end of the boundary line and the next person enters. Line players block stray balls and roll them back into play.

3. Add distance constraint and continue 4 minutes

   Pause play briefly. If guardians are blocking cones too easily, instruct all guardians to stand one full step back from their cones so they cannot hover directly over them. Restart play. Maintain fast rotations and ensure waiting line players actively return loose balls.

4. Debrief and conclude 3 minutes

   Call players into a seated semicircle along the boundary line. Ask two debrief questions: 'How did you decide when to leave your cone to chase a ball?' and 'What ways did you show support to players rotating back to the line?' Take 2 to 3 voluntary responses for each question.

Debrief questions

• How did you decide when to leave your cone to chase a ball?
• What ways did you show support to players rotating back to the line?

Finished output: A completed active play session where all participants cycle through active guardian and boundary retriever roles.

Remote

Cone Guardian relies on physical running, throwing, and shared cones and cannot be run online. As an online physical alternative, run 'Balance Guardian': each participant balances an empty paper cup or light plastic bottle on the back of their hand while following facilitator balance challenges on camera until it drops.

Hybrid

Cone Guardian cannot run fairly in a hybrid format. Remote participants cannot participate in physical throwing, dodging, and boundary retrieving alongside in-person players.

Access and participation choices

• Participants who prefer not to run can serve as boundary retrievers or line judges.
• High-fives can be replaced by fist bumps, verbal compliments, or quiet head nods based on personal preference.
• Any participant may step out of the queue to rest at any time without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

Players trap their cone between their feet to keep it from falling.

Remind players that feet must stay completely off the cone. If needed, draw a small circle around each cone that feet may not enter.

Players along the boundary line stop paying attention and balls roll away.

Remind boundary players that their active job is keeping balls on the field, functioning like outfield goalies.

Terms used here

• Guardian: An active player on the court assigned to protect a specific cone.
• Boundary line: The line where waiting players stand to block rolling balls and await their turn to enter the game.