How to Play the Bottle Cap Game

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for Children
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Bottle Cap Game
Promote Eye-hand Coordination & Concentration

Children try to hit bottle caps in sequence with a ball.

How To Play

OBJECTIVES

• Promote body awareness and refine motor coordination,
• Develop and strengthen self-confidence,
• Learn positive interacting,
• Learn/practice on-task concentration, and
• Introduce/practice the concept of sportsmanship.

SUPPLIES

• Four different size bottle caps, and
• A ball (a tennis ball works great!)

INSTRUCTIONS

This game is best played outside, but can be adapted to indoors like a garage too. Group the children into pairs. Give each pair their own bottle caps and ball. The four bottle caps are placed in a line from biggest to smallest. The two children which form a pair stand upon opposite sides of the bottle cap line. They both stand an equal distance away from the line. The distance is determined by the facilitator. (See diagram)

The children take turns throwing the ball in an attempt to hit the bottle caps. The object is to hit all four bottle caps in order—going from the biggest down to the smallest. Each child can only go on to the next smallest cap after they have successfully hit the one sequentially bigger. Therefore, the two children may not be aiming at the same cap all the time. If a bottle cap moves as a result of getting hit, it is left in its new position for the remainder of the game.

An interesting rule can be added for excitement. Each time a child hits a bottle cap and it flips it completely over, they get to skip one bottle cap and go two caps below the one they hit.

Play Therapy Techniques
The facilitator needs to be sure that the children do not throw the ball in an inappropriate way like too hard or too high. They will need to set limits to ensure everyone's safety. The facilitator can reward both players for sincere efforts.

The facilitator can lead a discussion on how people felt and responded to being the winner or loser. It is a natural time to discuss sportsmanship and the idea of "winning modestly, losing graciously."

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