I like using random trivia games to introduce a topic. My goal is to have questions that people who have some trivia knowledge can answer and some questions that are really just going to be guesses for most people. I typically do these type questions as screen games, but this week I tried to add an active component to our typical Trivia game. This is what I came up with.

Bucket Trivia

Set Up:

• Prepare 3 buckets for each team labeled A, B, and C.
• Prepare 10 balls labeled 1-10 for each team (I used practice golf balls because I found them on sale)
• Teams should consist of at least 2 people and no more than 10, so plan your buckets accordingly.
• Place a piece of tape on the floor with enough space so that the teams can stand behind it.
• Place the buckets arranged in A,B,C groups about 10 steps from the taped line. (You may want to practice tossing whatever ball you have into the buckets and adjust your distance depending on how hard or difficult you want it to be to make shots)
• Place a 10 question quiz with multiple choice answers (A,B, or C) in a sealed envelope for each team.

How you Play:

• Divide your group into teams (no more than 10 people/team)
• Give teams the numbered balls (make sure they have numbers 1-10) and the sealed envelope with the quiz
• Have teams pass out the balls to everyone in their group. If you have fewer than 10 people in a team then people would get multiple balls.
• Once teams have a numbered ball they are not allowed to trade with others.
• When you say go teams must open the envelopes and read the questions.
• They will decide together as a group what is the answer to each question
• Then the person who has that number ball will toss the ball into the teams choice of answer. (See play sample below)
• If the ball misses a bucket or goes into the wrong bucket any person may retrieve the ball, but it must be thrown again by the person who was originally given the ball.
• Players must stand behind the designated line to throw balls.
• Give a set time limit (say 7 minutes because they must read the questions) for the game to be played
• When time is called 1 point will be given for each ball in the appropriate bucket.

Scoring

What we did was have teams rotate one space over and score the answer as I called them out. You can either call out which balls are supposed to be in which bucket (for instance in A you should have 3, 7, and 10) or you can go through each question and give the correct answer. I had students designate one person as the correct answer holder and one as the incorrect holder and they took the balls out of the buckets as we went over the answers.