Activity 1 – Yiri (Part 1)

Required resources  

A pool, lake or flowing water; sticks, short lengths of dowels or tennis balls, a floating target, e.g. a life ring or rubber duck, rope

Suggested resources

Step by Step guide 

‘Yiri’ means to throw in the language from around the Sydney area. This game is known from Ulladulla in New South Wales, and Dunk Island in Queensland. This can be played from the bank or edge of the pool, or with one person or more people in the water as targets (with soft balls being thrown only). This game is basically moving target practice, useful for fishing and hunting and will build students’ throwing skills. 

If it is not possible to throw objects into a flowing body of water, buckets of water or hula hoops placed on the ground at varying distances can be used. Mark out the boundary of the ‘water’ with a line or skipping rope. 

1. Players stand on the edge of the water and throw their ‘spears’ (sticks, short dowels, or balls) at the floating targets. Once they are all thrown, the game is stopped and they can be retrieved. 

2. For moving target practice, a target can be towed across the water using a length of rope. Students each have two tries to hit the target. Scores can be kept to make it a competition. 

3. Stones can also be used to throw at pieces of bark floating on the water. Safety precautions will need to be discussed with students for all of these options.