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Canada / Canada’s Great Moments / Drawing 16

Canadian history · Drawing 16 of 37

Two peach baskets

1891

Colouring illustration: Two peach baskets
An imagined gym: the teacher is not a portrait of Naismith, and the players are fictional.© Atlasmio · All rights reserved

In 1891, James Naismith, a teacher born in Ontario, invented basketball in the United States. For the first game, he used two peach baskets as goals.

Look together

Where does the player want to throw the ball?

An idea to try

Put a laundry basket or a cardboard box on the floor and take turns tossing rolled-up socks into it. Invent one rule together to make the game fair.

For the adult reading along

A little more to discover

James Naismith was born in 1861 in Ramsay Township, near Almonte, Ontario, and studied at McGill University in Montréal. In 1891, while teaching at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts (later Springfield College), he was asked to create an indoor game for winter, fair for all players and free of rough play. Inspired by “duck on a rock,” a throwing game from his childhood, he fastened two peach baskets to balconies about 3 metres high and used a soccer ball. The first game was played on December 21, 1891, with two teams of nine; his 13 rules were published in January 1892.

Parks Canada notes that he chose a non-contact team game to promote fitness. Today, basketball is played around the world. Ask your child to invent a game with three simple rules, then check together whether they are fair for everyone.

Sources and context (2)

These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. Source titles appear in their original language; some linked pages are in French.

  • The Canadian Encyclopedia — James NaismithBorn in 1861 in Ramsay Township near Almonte; McGill; instructor at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield; asked to create a fair indoor game; “duck on a rock”; peach baskets on ten-foot balconies; soccer ball; first game on 21 December 1891 with two teams of nine; 13 rules published 15 January 1892; played worldwide.
  • Parks Canada — Naismith, James National Historic PersonBorn on a farm in Ramsay Township; in 1891, as a teacher in Massachusetts, he devised basketball as a non-contact team game to promote fitness in winter.

Source review: 2026-09-24. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.