We studied Scotland yesterday in our homeschool. We looked at a map of the country and learned about the languages spoken there. Both children had a tough time pronouncing Edinburgh. We concluded our lesson with learning about the Scottish Highland Games.

I found a few videos on YouTube to show the kids how the games were played. We narrowed our favorites down to two: the caber toss and the stone put. We found some foam pool noodles that would work well for the caber toss and borrowed some lava rocks for the stone put. We then headed outside to the parking lot.

Caber Toss

It was time for our own Scottish Highland Games! First up was the caber toss. I demonstrated how to perform it with the foam pool noodles. We discovered they were a bit too light to be flipped like in the video we had watched.

The children gave it their best shot though. After letting them know that they had to stay in place to toss it, they threw their cabers a few times. Because of the weight, they didn’t travel far, but that was okay. As you can see, we even had a winner!

Stone Put

Next up was the stone put. Usually the stone put is performed with a stone that weighs over ten pounds, but I didn’t think such a heavy rock would be a good idea. I found the biggest lava rocks I could and we went to the end of the parking lot that had no cars. I showed the kids how to hold the stone behind their shoulders before they released it. They paid close attention to that lesson!

It was hard to keep them from throwing their stones at the same time. I had them stand behind a crack in the cement to throw. This event worked out much better than the caber toss as the lava rocks were a bit heavier. The stones still looked a bit lost in the parking lot though.

We had a blast playing the different games. You can hold your own Scottish Highland Games in your own backyard. All you need is a little imagination and some wind!

What creative games do you play with your children?