Bug Bashers 🐞

YouTube 📺 link for video of Bug Bashers: https://youtu.be/afoat0E5zSk?si=TGgkuZukgll10Lrb

🎯 Objective: Encourage aim, movement, and racket control in a fun, imaginative setting!

🌳 Set-Up: “The Forest”

·       Scatter traffic cones (trees) across the hall or court

·       Place colourful round cones (bugs) on top of each traffic cones

·       Give the kids footballs and tell them to dribble on the ground

🧩 How to Play

1.     Children move around the forest, weaving footballs in and out of trees

2.     When they reach a tree, they use their racket to hit the football towards it

3.     The aim is to knock the bug (round cone) off the tree

4.     Coaches or assistants replenish bugs as they are knocked off to keep the game going

🔁 Progressions

·       🏑 Dribbling challenge: Older kids dribble two balls (hockey-style) toward the cone before hitting

·       ⏱️ Countdown round: Final 60 seconds — how many bugs can each child knock off?

·       🎯 Distance bash: Create “start zones” for kids to hit from further away

🪶 Feathers – Younger Children

·       ✅ Allow younger tots to place the ball near the cone and whack it (no dribbling)

·       🧸 Let them simply walk up and hit the bugs off without using a ball

·       👨‍👩‍👧 Encourage parent assistance — one holds the racket, one sets up the ball

End Game

Just let the kids whack the bugs off at the end! Careful, make sure they don’t whack each other!

Seasonal adaptations breakdown for your Bug Bashers / Smash the Bugs game 🐞🎾 — quick themed variations for Easter, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's, Mother’s/Father’s Day, etc.

🐣 Easter – Egg Bashers

Swap round cones (bugs) for pastel-coloured “eggs” or little chicks.
🗣️ “The Easter Bunny has hidden eggs on top of the trees — knock them down gently!”
Use soft balls or beanbags for little ones, and hide "golden eggs" worth bonus points!

🎃 Halloween – Smash the Spiders 🕷️🦇

Place “spider” or “bat” round cones (black or purple) on top of the trees (cones).
🗣️ “The haunted forest is full of creepy crawlies — whack them off before they scare us!”
Progression: Add “zombie trees” (coaches slowly moving with cones) for older kids!

🎄 Christmas – Knock off the Baubles 🎄🎁

Decorate the forest like a Christmas tree forest — round cones are “baubles.”
🗣️ “Santa needs help clearing the decorations. Tap the baubles off gently without knocking down the tree!”
Feathered: Let kids just walk up and tap with rackets if they're very young.

💘 Valentine’s Day – Pop the Love Hearts 💘💝

Use pink, red, and white cones for “love bugs” or “hearts.”
🗣️ “Cupid’s heart bugs are hiding in the forest — knock them off and bring them back to the Love Nest!”

👩‍👧‍👦 Mother’s Day / Father’s Day – Knock the Breakfast Baskets 🧺🍳

Pretend the bugs are “breakfast baskets” stuck in trees — croissants, toast, juice, etc.
🗣️ “We need to collect breakfast for Mum/Dad — knock the food off the tree with your best aim!”

Broken Forest🌲🎾🍎👹

Story Setup

The trolls have knocked down the forest and stolen the fruit! Some trees have survived, but they need the stolen fruits to survive.
Your job: sneak through the broken forest, collect the fallen fruit, and return it to the remaining trees without waking the trolls.

🟢 Equipment:

·       Broken trees: Traffic cones tipped on their side, scattered to make a “forest” maze.

·       Fruit: Round dome cones in various colours, placed beyond the forest.

·       Healthy trees: Tall, upright traffic cones at the far end, one per fruit colour.

How to Play

1.     Start: Children begin at one side of the broken forest.

2.     Through the Forest:

o   Players weave through the “trees” without knocking them over.

3.     Collecting Fruit:

o   At the far side, they find the fallen fruit (round cones).

o   They can push from behind with their racket or drag from the front, but cannot use hands.

4.     Return Journey:

o   Carefully guide the fruit back through the forest.

5.     Delivery:

o   Match the fruit colour to the correct “healthy tree” (tall cone) and place it there.Progressions:

1.     Troll Guards: Coaches or players act as trolls who try to steal fruit from anyone carrying it.

2.     Touch Penalty: If a player touches a tree, they must return to the start.

3.     Timed Rescue: Teams have 2 minutes to collect as much fruit as possible.

4.     Double Fruit: Allow players to try and carry two fruits at once (more risk, more reward).

5.     Reverse Run: Trolls can only steal fruit inside the forest — encourage careful dodging.

Variations

·       Relay Mode: One player at a time per team collects fruit.

·       Silent Forest: No speaking allowed — if a player talks, the trolls wake up!

·       Trap Trees: Some fallen trees are “unstable” — if touched, player must freeze for 5 seconds before moving again.

Seasonal alternatives

Its always fun to adapt the game to the season, some ideas are below but you can always try a valentines addition, mothers/father’s day use your imagination.

🎄 Christmas Alternative – "Santa's Forest Rescue"
The Christmas trees have lost their baubles! Sneak through the snowy forest to collect fallen baubles (round cones) and hang them on the upright Christmas trees (tall cones). Watch out for mischievous elves trying to tangle you in tinsel! 🎁🎄🧝‍♂️

🐣 Easter Alternative – "Egg Hunt in the Woods"
The Easter Bunny has hidden eggs (round cones) deep in the forest. Carefully navigate the broken trees and retrieve the eggs without waking the snoozing foxes 🦊. Deliver the eggs to matching colour baskets at the edge of the forest. 🐰🥚🌼

🎃 Halloween Alternative – "Haunted Forest"
Spooky pumpkins (orange cones) have rolled into the haunted woods! Players must sneak past ghost trees and return the pumpkins to their spooky shrines before the witches catch them. No touching the haunted trees or the ghosts may wake! 👻🎃🕸️

Cone Hands 🎾 🤚🔴🔵

Theme: Reactions • Colours • Two-handed coordination

🗣️ Story/Script Intro

“Did you know tennis players use both hands — for balance, control, and power? Today you’ll need sharp eyes, fast feet, and your special cone hands to win the challenge!”

🧠 Purpose

• Improve colour recognition
• Develop two-handed awareness
• Encourage quick reactions
• Build fun parent-child interactions

🏗 Setup

• Every child has 2 mini traffic cones –different colours; have another set for parents so you need lots of the same colour cones e.g. blue and red
• Coaches and parents have extra coloured cones to hold up or use as “hats”
• Spread out around a tennis court, sports hall, or open space

🟢 Coach-Led Colour Calls

Children space out in the playing area with a cone in each hand

1. Get the children to wear the cone hands with one colour on each hand, thumb on the outside and two fingers inside, get the children to play the cones like cymbals.

2. Coach calls out a cone colour (e.g., “BLUE!”)

3. Players must lift that colour cone high in the air with the correct hand

👀 Mix it up:
• Call out “both!” to lift both cones
• Call “switch!” and have them swap cones between hands
• Add jump or spin before lifting the cone

👨‍👩‍👧 Progression 1 – Parent Hi-Five Challenge Good for small Tots

1. Pair each child with their parent

2. Parent holds up a coloured cone (like a signal)

3. Child runs to the parent and hi-fives their cone with the matching cone in hand

4. Progress to parents tricking child with calling one colour but holding up the other, swapping cones over

🔵 Progression 2 – Cone Hat Smash! Good for small Tots

1. Parents place an inflatable football on the ground

2. Add a cone hat (colourful cone placed upside down on top of the ball)

3. Children run forward and knock off the cone hat using the matching coloured cone from their hand

4. Reset and repeat with new colours

🔴 Progression 3 – Rolling Reaction Smash

1. Parents roll a football toward the child

2. As they roll, they call out a cone colour (e.g., “Red!”)

3. The child must use the matching cone to “whack” or block the rolling ball

4. Progress to trick calling; feed the ball out to left-hand colour but call right, so that the child has to scamper around and use the called hand

5. Progress to child turning away: child turns away and parent leaves it later and later to call, they need to turn and tap the ball back using the correct colour quickly.

🔴 Progression 5 – Cone hands rally (older Tots or Titans)

1. Progress from rolling, parents parent now bounce football toward the child and calls colour, child lets it bounce and hits back with correct colour.

2. Progress to rallying with parents (both wearing cone hands)

🪶 Feathers (Easier Variations)

• Use just one cone (simplify decisions)
• Use stationary balls instead of rolling
• Allow walking between stations instead of running
• Parent stands close to reduce travel distance
• Have children shout the cone colour before moving

⚡️ Progressions (Advanced Play)

Add a further progression for older children: Parent bounces ball to child and calls out a colour

• Add 2–3 colour calls in a sequence (“Red, Blue, Switch!”)
• Use small foam balls instead of inflatable balls
• Have kids spin before cone contact
• Race format: Which pair finishes all colour calls first?

·       Switch to two rackets and call left and right instead of colours

🌸 Seasonal Variations

🎄 Christmas – “Santa’s Helpers”
• Red = Santa hat 🎅
• Green = Elf cone 🧝
• Knock off “presents” (cones on foam balls) into Santa’s sleigh

🎃 Halloween – “Pumpkin Smash”
• Orange cones = pumpkins 🎃
• Add ghost/witch sound effects when running to smash cones
• Call it the "Haunted Hat Whack!"

🌼 Easter – “Bunny Bounce”
• Use pink and yellow cones as Easter eggs
• Children must “hop” to each cone hat to knock it off with their matching egg-cone

❤️ Valentine’s Day – “Cupid’s Cone Catch”
• Pink and red cones
• “Catch” the love heart cone and match with a parent hug/high-five

🧺 Finishing Touch

Let children help collect cones and balls at the end — encourage sorting them into the right tubs or colours. Reward effort, teamwork, and listening.