Game On: Tactics, Teamwork and Fair Play

You need: cards with the names or pictures of 20 sports and games · four hoops or mats labelled with game family pictures

1. In small groups, deal out the cards.
2. Place each card in a hoop: invasion (get into the other team's area to score), net and wall (send the ball where they can't return it), striking and fielding (hit the ball and run while others field), target (get closest or hit a target).
3. Argue about any that could go in two places.
4. For each family, write the main tactical problem: what do players have to decide?

How you'll know: You can sort games into families and explain the main decision players make in each one.

Go further: Invent a new game that mixes two families. What new tactics does it need?

You need: cones · a timer · warm-up planning cards

1. Pulse raiser (3–4 minutes): gentle jogging, skipping or a tag game to raise your heart rate.
2. Mobility (2–3 minutes): arm circles, hip circles, ankle rolls.
3. Dynamic stretches (3–4 minutes): leg swings, walking lunges, high knees, heel flicks. Move while you stretch; no long holds.
4. Game-specific drill (2–3 minutes): passing, dodging or catching like the game you're about to play.
5. Mental rehearsal: close your eyes and picture one thing you'll do well.
6. Take your pulse for 15 seconds before and after and multiply by four.

How you'll know: Your warm-up raises your pulse, moves every major joint and prepares you for the actual game, and you can explain why each part is there.

Safety: Start slowly. Stop if anything hurts; stretching should never be painful.

Go further: Design a warm-up for a very different sport, such as waka ama or swimming. What changes?

You need: a role card for each role · a team board or poster · bibs

1. Read the role cards: captain (leads the huddle, keeps spirits up), coach (watches and gives one tip), warm-up leader, umpire (knows the rules, makes calls), equipment manager, statistician (tallies team stats).
2. Each person chooses or is given a role for the week.
3. Before each game, every role does its 'before' job. After, each role reports one thing.
4. Rotate roles each week so everyone leads at least twice.

How you'll know: Every member has a clear job, and your team runs a game without adults having to organise it.

Go further: Write a role card for a new job your team needs, such as 'inclusion checker' or 'hype crew'.

You need: cones for 10 m by 10 m grids · a ball per grid · bibs · tally sheets

1. Play 3 attackers v 1 defender in a grid. Attackers try to make 5 passes in a row.
2. Coach's freeze: stop the game and look. Is the ball carrier alone? Where is the empty space?
3. Try the tactic: after you pass, move into space so there's always a triangle.
4. Make it harder: 4 v 2, a smaller grid, or no passing back to the person who passed to you.
5. Statisticians tally completed passes and turnovers in each round.

How you'll know: Your team's completed passes go up when you use triangles and move after passing, and your tally shows it.

Safety: No contact. Defenders intercept or touch the ball only.

Go further: Add a goal line so attackers must also go forward. How does that change your choices?

You need: a low net or rope between two chairs · a soft ball or volleyball · hoops

1. Play in fours, two each side, with a catch-and-throw rule.
2. Place hoops in the empty spaces on the other side. Landing in a hoop scores 2 points; landing in court scores 1.
3. Defenders move the hoops after each point to wherever there's a gap.
4. Afterwards, discuss: which spaces were easiest to attack (deep, short, sideline, between players)?

How you'll know: You look up before you send the ball and aim for spaces, not people.

Go further: Play with a volley (no catching) and see if you can still find the gaps.

You need: a soft ball · a bat or racket · a batting tee or cone · 8–10 cones

1. Set out a fan of cones to make 'gates' in front of the batter.
2. Batters score by hitting the ball through a gate on the ground.
3. Fielders spread out and try to cover the gates. After three hits, fielders can move one cone.
4. Switch roles. Fielders practise backing up: one fields, one gets behind them in case they miss.

How you'll know: You can explain where you aimed and why, and how fielders adjusted to close the gaps.

Safety: Batters stay in the batting zone; everyone else stays behind a safety line until the ball is hit. Only the batter swings the bat.

Go further: Keep a tally of which gates the ball went through. Where should fielders stand next time?

You need: two short rolled-newspaper or dowel sticks per person · a steady beat (clapping or a drum)

1. Kneel facing a partner, sticks upright on the ground in front of you.
2. Learn a simple pattern: tap the ground, tap your own sticks together, then pass one stick to your partner's right hand on the beat.
3. Add a second pass and try to keep the rhythm steady.
4. Swap partners and teach them your pattern.

How you'll know: You and your partner keep a steady rhythm for eight beats without dropping a stick.

Safety: Soft or rolled-paper sticks; pass, don't throw, at this stage.

Go further: With a kaiako Māori or kapa haka tutor, learn how tī rākau is performed with a waiata, and why the rhythm and words matter.

You need: a round field marked with cones (an outer circle and an inner circle) · a central target (a tall cone or padded pole) · a soft kī (small round ball) · bibs · a kaiārahi or teacher who knows a local version

1. Listen as your kaiārahi explains the version of kī-o-rahi you'll play and any tikanga to follow.
2. Walk the field: find the outer boundary, the markers (pou) around it and the central target (tupu).
3. Play a slow walk-through: one team scores by touching the pou and bringing the kī into the centre; the other scores by hitting the tupu. Rules vary between regions, so follow your kaiārahi.
4. Play a full taster with 'touch' instead of tackles.
5. Talk afterwards about teamwork, respect for the game, and how it compares with games you already know.

How you'll know: You can describe the field and the basic aim of kī-o-rahi and explain why it's important to learn it from someone who knows it.

Safety: Touch or tag only, no tackling. Soft ball. Keep clear of the central target when it's being thrown at.

Go further: Find out whether a kī-o-rahi competition or festival runs in your region and how schools take part.

You need: card for rule cards · coloured pens · stats sheet template · the equipment each game needs

1. Choose one invasion, one net and one striking and fielding game.
2. Write a rule card for each: how to score, five rules max, one safety rule, with pictures.
3. Use STEP to make it inclusive: change the Space, the Task, the Equipment or the People.
4. Add a stats sheet with one simple team stat for each game.
5. Test each game with another team and fix anything confusing.

How you'll know: Another team can read your card and play the game without asking you questions, and nobody is left standing around.

Go further: Make a version of one game for players who use a wheelchair or who can't run, and test it.