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active challenge:

paper basketball

Suggested Ages: K – 5th Grades

Take your shot at reinventing the game of basketball! In this challenge you’ll design paper hoops and your own rules for a one-of-a-kind indoor b-ball game. As you design, your goal is to BE VISIONARY by thinking beyond regular basketball to make a version unlike any you’ve ever played before!

Active Challenge: Fun, movement-oriented games and activities to spark innovation and creativity

This is no ordinary DIY activity for kids: It’s a step toward becoming an innovator.

 

Every Galileo Active Challenge gets kids moving and teaches the same mindsets that professional designers, engineers, artists and athletes use in their work. With skills like these, we believe you can change the world.

Get Involved—For Grown Ups

Materials list:

Help your child find these materials or a close substitute: 

 

  • Paper or thin cardboard (like from a cereal box)
  • Scissors
  • Tape

 

Activity GUIDE:

Refer to these steps to keep young innovators on track as they play:

 

1.  Crumple a piece of paper to make a ball.

 

2.  Make a hoop out of paper or thin cardboard (1:08).

 

3.  Tape it to a wall or other vertical surface.

 

4.  Add more hoops and make the rules.

  • Support being visionary—If kids aren’t sure how to add on to their first hoop, ask guiding questions and brainstorm with them to come up with some ideas they’re excited about.
  • Ask: How might you play around with the size/number/placement of hoops?
  • Ask: What other game elements might you create out of paper besides hoops?

 

5.  Test by playing!

  • Ask: What might you adjust/add to make the game easier/harder/more fun?

 

6.  Redesign to make the game even more fun.

 

More Ideas:

Every project presents opportunities to add your own twists or extensions. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

 

  • Innovate On! Come up with a theme for your basketball game and add decorations to your hoops and playing area. Maybe your game is Superhero-ball or Bunny-ball!
  • Share your creation! Invite others to play your game. You can even ask for feedback and ideas about what else to add.
  • Collaborate by having someone else come up with a different set of rules and goals using the same hoop design. Play their version. Now you have two games in one!

 

Wrap Up Questions:

Lock in the learning by asking kids these questions about their activity and how they practiced the featured Innovator’s Mindset element: 

 

  • What were the goals you decided on for your game? Did you redesign them as you went? How?
  • What visionary ideas did you come up with to make a totally new version of basketball?
  • What other ideas does this give you about games that use balls and hoops?

SHARE!

The last step in the Gallieo Innovator’s Process is SHARE. Great learning can come from sharing successes and failures—to solidify your own experience as an innovator and to inspire others.

 

SHARE WITH galileo

 

Share a photo or video of you playing your paper basketball game and share it with the Camp Galileo Anywhere Facebook Community.

 

Share with family and friends

 

Your innovation doesn’t stop with you. Inspire someone else by sharing your project challenge—maybe they’ll try it themselves or maybe your project will give them a new idea.

 

  • Who: someone in your house, a family member, a friend
  • How: in person, on the phone, online
  • When: anytime, starting now!