Plexiglass (acrylic) is cool, but polycarbonate is a wonder material.

It’s like acrylic but stronger, insulating, flame retardant, blocks UV light, and lots of other interesting properties.

For throwaway COVID barriers Plexiglass is probably the right choice though... it’s cheaper! It is a fire hazard though, which could be relevant for some uses.

The house in which I spent most of my teens had a basket mounted above the center post of the garage. An airball, at the proper angle, could land inside the garage and bounce up to hit one of four garage windows (two per door). Fairly soon, all four windows were of plexiglass.