There's always a kid at the edge of the playground. The one who's decided sport isn't really for them. The one who watches from the outside and has stopped expecting that to change.
Â
Every educator knows that kid. Finding games that genuinely include them, not just tolerate their presence, is one of the harder problems in physical education.
Â
Charlotte Evans has spent years watching what happens when you give students space to move and play together. When she was introduced to gaga ball, she noticed something she didn't expect.Â
Most Games Sort Students Without Meaning To
Â
Team sports reward coordination. Ball games favour confidence. Competitive formats tend to punish the kids who are still figuring out where they fit. None of this is deliberate. It's just how the games work. And the result is predictable: the sporty kids play, and everyone else finds a reason not to.
Â
That dynamic doesn't just affect participation. It shapes how students feel about their bodies, about school, and about each other. For educators trying to build connection and wellbeing alongside academic outcomes, it's a real obstacle.
Â
No Skill Barrier, No Reason to Opt Out
Gaga ball doesn't sort students by ability. The rules take minutes to learn. There are no teams, no positions, no moment where one kid's weakness costs the group. Everyone enters the pit together, plays until they're out, then watches, waits, and jumps back in next round.
Â
Charlotte saw this play out in real time with a mixed group she hadn't taught before: different ages, abilities, and levels of confidence.
Â
"Anyone can play it," she says. "Even the kids that were maybe not as sporty, or a little bit more reserved and shy — they even loved it as well. Anyone can get involved no matter your ability."
Â
It wasn't familiarity or encouragement that got those kids in the pit. It was the game itself.
When the Game Does the Social Work
For schools, participation is only part of the equation. The social dimension, what happens between students once they're in the same space focused on the same thing, matters just as much.
Â
"Movement is so important," Charlotte says. "I've seen the benefits it can have in the classroom. Having a brain break and getting kids moving really helps with their mental health. But the social aspect, bringing people together, I've seen firsthand how important that is for development at that age."
Â
The pit creates a shared experience with no hierarchy. No star player. No sideline. And that changes the dynamic not just between students, but between educators and the kids they're trying to reach.
Â
"When you've got games and things that you're interacting with your students," Charlotte says, "it brings you on the same level and can break those walls down for some of those kids."
Â
Connection Doesn't Require a Conversation
For some students, the hardest part of school isn't the classroom. It's the unstructured time in between. Knowing what to say. Finding where to stand. Making a friend without it feeling forced.
Â
A shared game quietly solves that problem. It gives students something to do together before they know how to be together.
Â
"Making connections in school can be a really tough thing," Charlotte says. "When you take away that pressure and give kids a common goal, it's really going to help those kids."
The Pit Goes Where the Students Are
For schools with fixed outdoor spaces, a permanent timber pit becomes part of the school's identity, a dedicated place that gets used every day. For schools that share spaces, rotate equipment, or want to bring the game indoors, the portable gaga pit sets up in minutes and packs down flat. The experience doesn't change. The flexibility does.
Â
Either way, the game does the work. Including, especially, for the kid at the edge of the playground.