Pirate Gold
Crews carry gold from the island to their ship with a new way of travelling every round, and the whole group counts one total.
A hoop ship in each corner and the gold piled in the middle; crews travel out, take one piece and bring it home.
Set up
- Put one hoop in each corner of the square as a ship.
- Pile all the gold in the middle as the island.
- Put each crew at a ship. Change crews every round.
8 to 12 children in 4 crews of 2 or 3, an area about 25 m by 25 m (15 m by 15 m for 2021s).
How to play
- On Set sail, pirates travel to the island, take one piece of gold and bring it to their ship.
- Each round has a new travel rule: skip, gallop sideways, bunny hop, carry gold on your head, dribble a ball as gold with your practice foot, crab-walk the last 3 m.
- After 60 seconds, count all the gold in all four ships together. That is the crew total.
- Next round, pirates may also take gold from any ship. Try to beat the crew total.
Keeping everyone moving
Everyone travels at once and there is no tagging or catching. Nobody is out.
Make it easier
- Make the pitch smaller.
- Allow walking for the carry-on-head round, or use big soft gold only.
Make it harder
- Carry two different items with two different body parts.
- Allow gold to be passed crew-mate to crew-mate instead of carried.
Three things to say
- Quick changes of direction when the island gets busy.
- Heads up to find open gold.
- Controlled carries that do not drop.
Words that work: "Brave, you went for the far ship!", "Great look up before you moved.", "Love the crew passing and helping."
Colts habit
Work hard, every round a full 60 seconds.
Both feet
The practice-foot dribble round.
Heads up
Scan for which ship has the most gold before you set off.
For your birth year
Pick a birth year to show the tweak for that group.
- 2020 to 2021
- 15 m square, pirate stories, no stealing round.
- 2018 to 2019
- Add the stealing round.
- 2016 to 2017
- Gold must be dribbled or passed along the ground to a crew-mate. Add a hands-only round with overarm throws into the ship.
A young leader can run this one, with an adult coach beside them.
Safety: Keep the island pile wide so children do not all dive at one spot. Heads-up rule: no running with eyes on the ground. Remove hard cones as gold for 2021s.
Keeping score: The group's crew total, compared with last round and last week only.