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K-4Movement SkillsTime: 18–25 min

Pin Down (Square Version)

Players choose any open square in the gym as their home base and place their pin inside it. The goal is to knock over other players’ pins with soft balls while protecting your own. You may leave your square to get a ball, but you do so at your own risk — if your pin gets knocked down while you’re gone, you’re out. When a pin is knocked down, everyone yells “PIN DOWN!” That player takes their pin to the side of the gym they started on and joins the waiting line. The next person in line takes the pin, chooses any open square, sets it up, and jumps into the game. Non-stop action, throwing accuracy, decision-making, and constant movement!

Created by Miller
Equipment
Bowling pins (or plastic pins) – enough for about half the class, soft foam/gator-skin dodgeballs, the existing gym floor squares
Character Focus
Self-Control & Fair Play “A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.” – Proverbs 25:28 We control our emotions — no revenge throws — and we play fairly even when our pin goes down.

TEKS Alignment

  • K.1A / 1.1A / 2.1A / 3.1A / 4.1A / 5.1A – Demonstrate mature form in throwing and locomotor skills while traveling
  • K.5A / 1.5A / 2.5A / 3.5A / 4.5A / 5.5A – Demonstrate responsible personal and social behavior while working with others
  • 2.7A / 3.7A / 4.7A / 5.7A – Apply movement concepts and strategies in game situations

5E Lesson Plan

engage
🔥 Engage (2–3 min) Gather students. Hold up a pin and point to the gym squares. Say: “Today every open square in the gym is a possible home base. You’ll pick a square, set your pin in it, and protect it. Soft balls will be flying — your job is to knock down other pins while keeping yours standing. You can leave your square to go get a ball… but that’s at your own risk! If your pin goes down, everyone yells ‘PIN DOWN!’ You take your pin back to your starting side of the gym, join the line, and the next person comes in. Ready?” Quick demo of setting a pin in a square and knocking one over.
explore
🔍 Explore (12–15 min) Split the class in half: boys start on one side of the gym, girls on the other. (They may choose any open square anywhere in the gym, but when their pin is knocked down they must return to their original side to wait in line.) Give pins to about half the students. Those students each choose an open square, place their pin inside it, and become the first group of defenders. Remaining students form two lines (one on the boys’ starting side, one on the girls’ starting side). Scatter soft foam balls around the gym. On the signal, players try to knock over other pins. They may leave their square to retrieve a ball, but their pin is then unprotected. When a pin is knocked down, the whole class (or the waiting lines) yells “PIN DOWN!” The player whose pin fell picks up their pin, returns to their starting side of the gym, and goes to the back of the line. The first person in that line takes the pin, chooses any open square, sets the pin up, and immediately joins the game. Continue for the full time or until energy is high.

Grade Modifications