The Paralympic Games
ACTIVITY 1: DESIGN A MASCOT
Begin by asking pupils to read or listen to the Fact Sheet. This will give pupils an understanding of the origins
of the Paralympic Games.
In this activity pupils design a mascot for the Paralympic Games.
Each Paralympic Games since 1980 has its own mascot. This website shows all the Paralympic mascots since
1980: https://www.paralympic.org/mascots
Children can be inspired by Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic mascots to create their own.
https://www.paralympic.org/news/meet-rio-2016-mascots
“The mascots represent our joy, our way of being. Both of them are magical creatures with super powers and
relate naturally with the young audience, who we want to engage with our event so much.”
Beth Lula Rio 2016 Brand Director.
‘The Olympic mascot represents all of the different animals in Brazil. He combines the agility of cats, the sway
of monkeys and the grace of birds. He can stretch his arms and legs as much as he wants. The Paralympic
mascot is a fusion of plants found in Brazilian forests. He is energised by photosynthesis and can pull any
object from his head of leaves. He is always growing and overcoming obstacles.’
www.paralympic.org
You might like to support pupils in researching the process of photosynthesis and create ‘magical’ rainforest
mascots of their own for this year’s games.
The following activities help pupils to understand the challenges faced by Paralympic athletes:
ACTIVITY 2: LET’S PLAY BOCCIA!
In this activity pupils learn to play Boccia.
What is Boccia?
The word Boccia comes from the Latin word ‘bottia’, meaning ‘ball’. Boccia is a ‘target’ sport that will help
children to develop their ball throwing skills and their ability to concentrate.
Boccia is thought to be Greek in origin and can be played by able-bodied or disabled athletes. The game is
played on a rectangular court by individuals, pairs and teams and the players aim to land balls close to a
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‘target’ ball.
Boccia was introduced to the Paralympic programme at the 1984 Games and is now played by more than 50
countries across the world. Great Britain are the defending Paralympic champions at the ‘Team’ event in
Boccia.
Boccia is a game for paralympians confined to wheelchairs. Take some time to talk to pupils about why
people might be confined to a wheelchair. Explain to pupils that some people are unable to walk and so they
use a wheelchair to move around. This may be because of an accident, illness or a condition that they were
born with, such as cerebral palsy.
Do you know anyone who uses a wheelchair?
There are many wheelchair sports in the Paralympics and playing Boccia whilst sitting down can help children
gain an understanding of the skill needed by wheelchair based Paralympians.
Introduce the game of ‘Boccia’:
To understand the game of Boccia pupils can begin by playing ‘boules’ or ‘green bowling’.
Has anyone played ‘boules’ before? Has anyone played ‘bowls’ on a green before? Has anyone seen their
parents or grandparents playing bowls?
Boccia is also similar to ‘green bowling’. Some of the pupils’ grandparents may play this game. You might like
to visit your local park and watch a game of bowls being played.
Playing boules or bowls can help pupils understand the rules and structure of Boccia, such as playing in ‘ends’.
Once pupils understand the rules then they can try playing Boccia sitting in a chair. This will give them the
experience of how difficult it is to ‘throw’ a ball accurately when you are sitting down. It will help pupils
understand just how skilled the Paralympian Boccia players are!
How to play Boccia
Begin by creating a ‘throwing box’ in which to place a chair.
These are the words that pupils will hear when playing Boccia:
Court: This is the playing area. It measures 12.5m x 6m. (You might like to make a smaller playing
area to fit your school hall or outdoor space.)
End: An ‘end’ is called when six balls per athlete, pair or team have been thrown.
Jack: This is the white ‘target ball’ (If you do not have a white ball you could use a different colour
to the main balls). Competitors aim to land their balls as close to the pack as possible.
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What you have to do …
The aim of the game is to get your ball as close as possible to the jack.
You can roll, throw or kick the ball. Explain to pupils that if a player is unable to throw or kick their
ball they can use a ‘ramp’ to help them.
Explain to pupils that they can choose whether they want to throw, roll or kick their ball as close to the jack
as possible.
Begin by putting pupils into pairs or into teams of three or six. Give each player, pair or team six balls.
The players or teams now play each other and take turns to try and get their ball closest to the jack.
Ask someone from one of the teams to roll or throw the jack.
The pupils take turns in trying to get their ball near to the jack. At the close of each ‘end’, the player, pair or
team whose ball is closest to the jack scores one point. They also receive an additional point for every ball
that sits closer to the jack than the opposition’s closest ball.
Individual and pairs matches consist of four ends, while team events are held over six ends.
https://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/120305112804244_Card_1_Athletics.pdf
Boccia and Goalball
http://www.paralympiceducation.org.au/primary/boccia
ACTIVITY 3: LET’S PLAY GOALBALL!
In this activity pupils learn to play Goalball.
What is Goalball?
Goalball is one of the most popular and most exciting paralympic sports and is played competitively in more
than 100 countries.
Goalball was created for injured soldiers who returned from World War 2 who had badly impaired vision.
The game is played using a ball with bells inside.
All the athletes who play Goalball are visually impaired. They all wear eyeshades to allow athletes with
varying degrees of vision to compete together. The goalball can reach speeds of 60 miles per hour!
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Why it is important that the Goalball arena is silent whilst the teams are playing? When do you think that the
audience is allowed to cheer?
How to play Goalball …
Goalball is played by two teams with three players on each side. The court has a goal at each end. You can
decide on the size of your court according the space you have available.
A point is scored by rolling the ball into the other team’s goal. The other team can try to block the ball with
their bodies.
The Olympic tournament is a knock out tournament, consider holding a school knockout tournament.
These are the words that pupils will hear when playing Goalball:
Ball: The ball used in Goalball is made out of rubber and is 24-25cm in diameter. The ball has eight
holes that allow players to hear the bells within the ball when it moves.
Court: The playing area, measuring 18m x 9m. All the lines on the court are tactile (this means that the
players can feel the lines with their feet.
Extra throws: If each team has scored the same number of goals then they are given extra throws. This
is the same as a penalty shootout.
Let’s play Goalball!
Pupils can begin to experience the skill of the athletes who play Goalball by wearing blindfolds or black out
masks.
You will need some balls with bells (such as toys that babies play with).
Put pupils into pairs and ask them to roll the ball to each other. The rest of the pupils will need to be very
quiet as the players will need to listen to the ball approaching them.
Pupils can play the full game of Goalball without blackout masks, remembering how difficult it would be if
they were unable to see. You can see a video of Paralympians playing Goalball online via ‘You tube’.
https://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/120305112804244_Card_1_Athletics.pdf
Boccia and Goalball
http://www.paralympiceducation.org.au/primary/boccia
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The Paralympic Games
ACTIVITY 4: HOOPLA!
In this activity pupils learn to play Hoopla.
‘Hoopla’ was an athletics event at the original Stoke Mandeville International Games.
It was based on the playground game, where rings are thrown onto a target pole.
How to play Hoopla
Hoopla is a simple game that can be played by individuals or teams. Pupils simply have to throw a hoop or
ring (such as a frizbee) so that it lands over the top of a pole. The pole can be placed in the ground or attached
to a base.
These are the words that pupils will hear when playing Hoopla:
Base: The base has a pole set in the middle.
Throwing line: This is where you stand
Let’s play Hoopla!
Place the bases in a random pattern in front of the throwing line. The distance from the throwing line to the
base can vary. You can give each of the bases a point score according to difficulty.
Alternatively, you can place ‘prizes’ against the base poles for pupils to win.
Give four rings or hoops to each team and ask them to throw it over the base stand.
You can try and play Hoopla seated or standing… whatever you do it will be lots of fun!
Here is a variation of Hoopla that pupils can play using hoola-hoops.
Let’s play Hoola - Hoopla
To play Hoola - Hoopla you will need 2 hula hoops.
The aim of the Hoola - Hoopla Game is to get a hula hoop from one end of a line of children and back without
releasing hands.
Separate pupils into 2 equal teams.
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Pupils in each team need to stand in a line.
Give each team 1 hula-hoop.
Ask the pupils in each line to hold hands.
The first person in line steps through the hula hoop and passes it to the next person in line without letting go
of their hands. Continue down the line until the hula-hoop reaches the end and then send it back again. The
first team that manages to get the hula-hoop down the line and back first wins the game.
If a team lets go of their hands the hula-hoop must go back to the beginning person and the team must start
again.
Variations for the game: Use 4 or more hula-hoops at one time.
ACTIVITY 5: TAKE A REST!
In this activity pupils learn to play the card game, ‘Hoopla’.
‘Hoopla’ is also a card game a little like ‘Scattegories’! Pupils might like to try playing this game… when they
get worn out playing the real thing!
The game can be adapted to help pupils become familiar with more Paralympian and Olympic events.
Explain to pupils that in this version of card game ‘Hoopla’ they are going to use the Paralympics and Olympic
sporting events as a theme for their game.
In groups ask pupils to make a list of as many Paralympic and Olympic events as they can think of. Share the
lists as a class. Gather together all of the events and make a long list of as many events as you can think of.
Photocopy the Activity Sheet onto thin card. Hand out the Activity Sheet and ask pupils to make four cards
each (you will need to designate sports so that they are not repeated). Pupils can illustrate their cards with
cartoon characters.
This version of the game could include events or action words such as swimming, wheelchair basketball,
Boccia, archery, clay pigeon shooting, shot put, weight lifting and so on.
Cut out the cards.
Spend some time acting out action words and the names of the more difficult events. How might you act out
the pentathlon or curling?
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When you think pupils are ready then you can set them off with the game.
Go through the rules with the pupils before you start.
Rules:
There are two teams, the number in the teams can vary, but a minimum of four in each team is suggested.
A row of cards are placed face down on the table in front of each team.
Set a timer to go off at the end of say 5 or ten minutes (according to how many are in each team).
A player in each team picks a card. They do not show it to their team but act it out and their team have to
guess the word or phrase on the card. Once the word has been guessed correctly then the next player can
pick a card and so on.
The winning team is the team that can guess the most cards in the time that is set. The goal of this card game
is to clear out your queue of cards before the timer runs out. For something you can play sitting down it is
certainly fast-paced and action packed!
Explain to pupils that they must ‘act fast’ as it is important to beat the timer!
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