Frog In The Box!

Set up two teams at their desks. At the front of the class, put a box and mark a line about 2-3 metres (yards?) away.

Choose a member of team A to stand on the line. The child must underarm a fluffy toy/teddy bear/frog/duster into the box.

• If the child gets it in, his/her team asks them an ‘easy’ question, e.g. 3×2. If they get it right, they win a point for their team.
• BUT, if they miss the box, the other team asks them a ‘hard’ question, e.g. 7×9. If they get it right, they win the point.

Then it is the other team’s turn for a shot. Choose a member to have a go. Go back and forth until all children have had a go. Great fun!

Kath Linacre has contributed the following variation to this idea:

With my Year 2 class, I found the children would ask the same questions over and over so that their team would get loads of points. To encourage the children to think, I made up two sets of cards (an easy set and a harder set) to display on a table, board, etc. The cards were face down, so the children couldn’t see the questions. When a question was needed, the children chose a question, and the opposite team read it out.

Lee has suggested another variation:

When the team member gets the toy in the box, their team asks the ‘easy’ question, and if they miss, the other team gets to ask them a ‘harder’ question. Then both teams can be in play at the same time, and the opposing team will surely want to ask a harder question. You might need to pose boundaries on how hard the questions can be, but it should be fun anyway.