Army Dodgeball

The two teams are picked and a line is made in the center of the playing area. Each team is assigned a side and neither team may cross the center line or they risk being automatically eliminated. Several dodgeballs are then distributed to the teams. Each player then tries to hit the other team's players with the balls, and the spot that is hit is therefore "wounded" and the player must move to the back of the playing area and wait for the "medic" to come heal them. The medic is one player assigned at the beginning of the game by each team. As the two teams throw the ball(s) at each other, if a "wounded" player is hit by a ball before being "healed" they are then removed from the game. The game ends when one player remains unwounded and not out. The game is best played by a medium-sized group (10-30) and lasts from 20 minutes to an hour.

Around the World – Basketball

1)Game play usually begins at the edge of the key on either side of the basketball net with all places for shots being marked with poly spots or cones.

2)There are four positions on either side of the basket, the foul shot and the shot directly under the basket. The players must move around the whole key in order to win the game.

3)The first player shoots, and if he makes the shot, moves onto the next position on the key. The player will continue in this fashion, moving around the key until he misses a shot.

4)Once a shot is missed, the player has the opportunity to take a chance shot. If they make the shot, they get to continue on, if they miss, they have to go back to the beginning and start all over again. The player may also opt to stay at the position in which he missed the shot, and wait for his turn again to try it again. At this point, player two will proceed from the starting position and follow the same pattern as the previous player.

5.)The match is finally won when one of the players makes a shot from the position directly under the basket and then the final at the center of the three-point line.

Band-Aid Tag

One person is "it." Whenever someone is tagged by "it" they must hold a Band-Aid (their hand) on the spot where they were tagged. Then the game continues. When someone runs out of Band-Aids, (they get tagged three times), they are frozen until two other people come over to them and "operate." The two other people need to tag the frozen person at the same time and count to five. Let the game continue for as long as it remains exciting and fun. Switch the person who is "it" often.

Beanbag Basketball

In this game you put a bucket on each side of the basketball court and you need two teams of at least 4-5 players (it works best that way).

Game Play: Choose one team to "throw off the beanbag". They throw the beanbag to the other team to start the game. Once this is done the offensive team (with the beanbag) must make their way to the other side trying to get the beanbag into the bucket on the other end of the playing field. The other team can play defense but they cannot take the beanbag out of anyone's hands or physically touch any other player. They basically can try to distract the other players and make it harder to make good passes. The only way to move the beanbag is to pass it. Nobody can run with the beanbag. It must be passed and caught. If the beanbag is passed and missed, the other team gets possession of the beanbag.

Blob Tag

The kids avoid being tagged by the ever-growing and dividing "blob". First, define boundaries. A player is chosen to be 'it' or 'the blob' and the others run. When tagged by 'the blob', the player joins hands with 'the blob' forming a larger blob, and together they continue chasing the others. Once 'the blob' is made of four people, it splits into two blobs (two pairs) and each blob continues chasing the others. The last person caught will then become 'the blob' and the game starts all over again.

Bocce Ball

1)Make teams and each select a color. If four people are playing, each person gets to throw 2 balls of their chosen color. If two people are playing, each gets to throw 4 balls of their chosen color.

2)Stay behind the foul line. Player 1 tosses the small white ball in the alley. Formally, the ball should be about 5 feet past the regulator peg and 1 foot from the wooden boards.

3)Either by flipping a coin or some other method one team will start the play by throwing the small white ball. This same team usually the same person will throw one of their team’s balls to get it as close as possible to the small white ball. The opposing team will then throw their balls until they have a ball closer than their opponents. Teams switch back and forth when they have gotten closer than the previous throws. At this point, the balls are allowed to hit the sides and other balls even the small white ball.

4)Know how to keep score. After everyone is done tossing, the balls from one team that are the closest to the small white ball get 1 point each.

5)Finish scoring, go behind the opposite foul line and play again. Keep repeating until a team gets 12 points.

Capture the Flag

Divide the class into two teams, one on each half of the gym each wearing different colored flag belts. In the back of each teams playing area place a ‘flag’ hanging from the basketball nets. The object of the game is to get the opposing teams flag and return it to your side of the field without having any flags removed. The first team to do this is the winner. A player that has a flag removed while attempting to steal the opponents’ base flag is sent to a designated area (dungeon). That player remains in the dungeon until touched by a teammate that has their flag belt on and escorted back to his/her own territory. Once a player is released from the dungeon they are entitled to a free walk back to his own territory as long as his/her hands are joined with the rescuing player. A player released from the dungeon must go to his own territory before attempting to capture the opposing team’s flag. A player may not have his flags removed while he is in his own territory.

VARIATION - Add a guard for each team to guard the base flag and the dungeon. When I do allow guards, I will designate an area around the flag in which the guards cannot be inside unless an opposing player is in the area first.

Down, Down, Down

You start off with a tennis ball and throw the ball continuously back and forth until somebody drops the ball. When someone drops the ball you say "Down on one knee" and the person must drop down and continue play on one knee. If the same person drops it a second time then you say "Down on two knees". If the same person drops the ball again you say "Down on one elbow". If it happens again you say "down on two elbows". It then goes to chin and then you're out but remember you have to stay in the position you're in to catch the ball and throw the ball.

End Dodgeball

The teams (each on their own side of line) throw two or three balls, back and forth, trying to hit the opposite team.As players are hit, they must go stand behind the opposing team on the back line so that they can RETRIEVE the balls AND THROW THEM BACK to their team.

European Dodgeball

Same rules as dodgeball (which vary for everyone, so use your own dodgeball rules), except there are small hockey nets used to get goals on. They are placed on each team's side or evenly spaced apart if you play in a circle.
The object of the game is to reach a certain number of goals per team by throwing a ball into the net. In addition to trying to score points, you try to get the other team's members out.
There are two ways to win:
1) Be the first team to reach the target number of points.
2) Get all of the other team's players out.

Floor Hockey

Goals are scored the same way as ice hockey, and the same basic rules apply.

1)No floor hockey sticks will come higher than waist level during play. If any players floor hockey stick comes higher that waist level during play they will sent to the Penalty Box for one minute.

2)A traditional lineup consists of six people: a center, two wing men, two defensive players and a goalie.

3)Make sure you have two goals at opposite ends of the court and a line that runs across the center of the court.

4)Drop the puck in the center of the floor hockey court to begin play. Players battle with their hockey sticks to gain control of the puck and hit the puck down the floor toward the opposing team's goal. Players pass the puck to one another by pushing it with their sticks.

5)Score one point in floor hockey by hitting the puck into the net or goal. Simply breaking the plane of the net's bars is considered a goal. The net should be closely monitored by counselors, because during game action, it can be hard to tell if the puck broke the plane of the bars.

6)Handle a puck only by using a stick. If a player uses a hand to hit the puck, it is considered a foul. Excessive body checking is not allowed. Defenders are not allowed past the center line. When these fouls happen, the other team is automatically given control of the puck and may begin play from the spot of the foul.

Four Square

The player in square 4 serves the ball by bouncing it in his square and tapping the ball into another square. The player in that space must tap the ball (after one bounce) into another kid's area, and so on, until someone misses the ball, lets the ball bounce twice, or sends it out of the grid. The player who misses the ball steps out and the remaining players rotate up through the numbered squares. If you are playing with more than four players, a new player enters the game at square 1. The player who is out waits in line to re-enter the game once square 1 is open again. Whoever is now in square 4 serves the ball to resume play.

Fruit Salad

You line the participants up against one end wall of the gym and you choose one participant to stand at the other end of the gym facing the line of participants at the other end of the gym. All the participants have fruit names, i.e. banana, apple, orange, peach, etc. The participant standing alone calls out a fruit and all the participants with that fruit name must run to the opposite wall while participant who is designated ‘it’ tries to catch them. As they are caught they join the person designated ‘it’ and becomes catchers. Sometimes the person designated as ‘it’ may shout ‘Fruit Salad’ and everyone runs at the same time. Keep going until the last participant is caught and they can be the new person designated as ‘it’.

Ghost in the Graveyard

Choose a central location to be the “home base” for the game. Gather everyone at the home base. You’ll need a large outdoor play area for this game. Tell everyone the boundaries of play and make sure everyone knows not to go past these boundaries.

To begin, choose a volunteer to be the “ghost.” This person leaves the base and hides somewhere within the boundaries while everyone else closes their eyes. After a minute or two, the rest of the group counts aloud: “One o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock…” until they reach midnight.

At this point, everyone leaves the base and searches for the ghost. The first person to spot the ghost yells “Ghost in the graveyard!” and all the seekers rush back as fast as they can to base. The ghost chases after everyone and whoever is tagged becomes next ghost.

Horse – Basketball

1)Establish the rules beforehand and stick to them. Create an order for the players. This can be done by alphabetical order or by shooting for the order of play.

2)Call the shot. The player shooting must verbally call out what shot they are going to take before the shot. The exception is if the shooter is not going to use any props or make any special moves.

3)Shoot the first shot. The first player takes a shot within the established rules. If the shot is made, the next player has to make the same shot or they are assigned the letter H. Shoot the next shot. If the second player makes the same exact shot then it falls to the next player and so on until the original shooter is up to shoot. At that point the original shooter takes another shot.

4)Re-slot the order. If a person shooting first misses then they proceed to the back and the player next in line becomes the leader and gets to decide on the shot taken. If that person misses, then control proceeds down the line until it returns back to the original shooter. Assign the letters. As each shooter misses he earns the next letter in the word Horse. When a player reaches H-O-R-S-E she is out.

Horseshoes

All participants have their own set of shoes. The lower-rated contestants pitch their four shoes, and then the higher-rated pitchers pitch their four shoes. The counselor(s) walk to the other end of the court, decide on the scoring, and the participants pick up their shoes. The team with the highest score will pitch first for the rest of the game.

Points are scored in the following manner:

  • No ringers, closest shoe (must be within six inches of the stake): 1 point
  • No ringers, two closest shoes: 2 points
  • Ringer: 3 points
  • Leaner (a shoe that is propped up against the stake): 2 points (although this only scores as 1 point in professional matches)

The highest score for a single player in a single round is 12. Players can score in more than one way during a single round. For example, if a player has one ringer and two additional horseshoes that are closest to the stake, that player would get 5 points, 3 for the ringer and 2 for the two closest shoes (the ringer can't count as one of the closest shoes).

Hotbox

Split the group into two groups and then place them about 30-40 feet apart facing each other. Then pick two counselors to stand with them. These two people have a ball that they toss back and forth. The others on the team try to get from side to side without being tagged. They then keep tabs of how many times they have spanned the distance and call the number out each time they make it.

Human Sculptures

"Human Sculptures" involves teamwork from beginning to end in a charade-like theme. By setting open ended goals, children learn to verbally consult with one another to come up with ideas to succeed as a team. Divide children into two teams and have each team choose a leader. Give each leader a pen and paper. Team leaders must collaborate to establish a category of interest that will be the topic of each round, such as celebrities, zoo animals or popular films. Have the two separate teams then collaborate to choose a related theme to use to create a human body sculpture, write it on a piece of paper, and return the paper to you. Each team will form a human body sculpture that represents the idea written on the paper, while the other team tries to guess what it is. For example, if the main topic is "cartoons" and a team chooses "King of the Hill," team members may lay over each other in a hill-like pile while one team member climbs to the top to represent the "King."

Jailbreak

Follows the same rules as normal Dodgeball, except that it incorporates the goal boxes on either end of the court; they are referred to as "jails." When a player gets out, he goes to "jail." In order for a player to get out of jail he must catch a ball thrown to him/her by one of their teammates. At this point the player is released from jail to play once more.