Snow Shovel Relay

Overview

We may not all have a mound of snow piling up in our yard... but that doesn't mean we can't have a snow shoveling relay! Get a bunch of packing peanuts and voila! You now have the snow for a snow shoveling relay! If you are lucky enough to have wonderful white, cold, fluffy snow, then you can definitely have a shoveling relay... it might even help clean off the sidewalks.

Age

School-age, Tweens, Teens

Number of Players

2, 3 to 4, 5 to 10, 10 to 20

Team Division

Teamwork! (divide into teams)

Competitiveness

Either/or (can be played either way)

Difficulty

Easy peasy (fun and simple)

Noise Level

Rowdy

Mess Factor

Get the push brooms

Prep Time

10 - 20 minutes

Game Time Length

15 - 30 minutes

Supplies

1 large bucket per team

1 play shovel per team (like the ones that come with sand buckets)

Lots of packing peanuts or actual snow

1 hula hoop per team

Setup

1. Using two hula hoops, designate an area for each team.
2. In that area, pour a bunch of packing peanuts (or snow if you have it).
3. Provide each team with a plastic bucket on the other side of the play area about 20 feet away.
4. Line up each team near the plastic bucket and give the first person of each team a shovel.

How to Play

1. Have the children line up behind their large bucket, about 15 feet from the pile of "snow."
2. Give the first child in each team a shovel.
3. On "Go!" the first child on each team runs with their shovel to the pile of "snow" and scoops as much snow as they can, holding it on their shovel.
4. They then run/power-walk with the full shovel back to the plastic bucket.
5. Once at the bucket, the player will dump the "snow" in the bucket and hand the shovel to the next teammate in line.
6. The object is to see which team can scoop all of their "snow" into the bucket first.

Variations

1. If you don't have packing peanuts or snow, use a bunch of shredded paper or newspaper.