Four Team Volleyball

OBJECT - Win a game of volleyball against three other teams.

GAME TYPE - Four team game.

WHO'S IT FOR - Group Three. You need at least three players per team.

WHAT YOU NEED - Two movable volleyball nets, an extra pole or two, and a volleyball.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Set up the court. Put a pole in the middle. Set up the nets so the middle is tied to the pole, and the ends make a ninety degree angle to each other, creating four equal quadrants. Alternately, you can have two poles in the middle and wrap the nets behind them.
2. Each team goes to a quadrant.
3. The serving team must serve the ball into the quadrant that is directly across diagonally. After that, the ball can go anywhere.
4. After the serve, each team has three tries to get the ball over the net. One player cannot hit the ball twice in a row.
5. If the ball hits the ground, or if a player commits a foul such as hitting the ball twice in a row, their team gets a point.
6. If the ball goes out of bounds, the team that hit it out of bounds gets a point.
7. The serving team keeps serving until they get a point, at which point the next team to the left serves. Alternately, you can set a five serve limit before they must pass.
8. Players rotate the serve whenever it is their team's turn to serve.
9. Once a team reaches 15 points, the game is over. The team with the lowest point total is the winner.

This game requires a lot of focus becauser the ball could be coming from anywhere. Players will learn how to fake each other out, so make sure everyone is paying attention.

THIS WORKS ON - Athletic ability (volleyball skills), competition (playing against three other teams), observational skills (paying attention to the ball), teamwork (playing as a team)

Bedlam

OBJECT - Make it from corner to corner.

GAME TYPE - Racing game and/or elimination game.

WHO'S IT FOR - Group Two. You need at least four, but really, the optimal number would be twelve or more to make it true bedlam.

WHAT YOU NEED - A large square or rectangular space with clearly defined border. Also, a stopwatch or timer of some sort.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Have the players stand in different corners of the playing area. There should be an equal number, or close to it, in each corner.
2. On the word "GO", all players have ten seconds to race from one corner to the opposite corner, meaning all players will meet in the middle and create bedlam.
3. Everyone who makes it to their corner within the time period gets one point.
4. On the next run, give them nine seconds. Then eight, then seven, etc. You can go as low as you want.
5. When you reach a point where no one can make the opposite corner in the time period, the game is over. Add up the points to determine the winner.

For an alternate, more competitive game, put two flags on each person's waist. Give a ten second time limit for all rounds. Players still cross the square and must end up in the opposite corner. They can grab other player's flags in the middle, but must be in the correct corner within the time limit. Any player who loses both flags or does not make it to their corner in time is out. Redistribute the players so the number in each corner is close to equal. The last one standing wins.

THIS WORKS ON - Competition (racing against others), time management (getting to corner in time), spatial awareness (knowing where you are, the space you have to get to, and obstacles that must be avoided).

Bucket Brigade

OBJECT - Fill the bucket.

GAME TYPE - Racing game, passing game.

WHO'S IT FOR - Group One. You should have at least five people in a line, and if you have enough players, you can have several lines going at once.

WHAT YOU NEED - A bucket full of water, an empty bucket, and a lot of plastic cups.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Line the players up. At one end of the line, place the full bucket. At the other, place the empty bucket.
2. On the word "GO", the player next to the full bucket fills a plastic cup and passes it to the next player. The cup makes its way down the line to the other end, where the last player dumps it in the bucket.
3. The first player keeps passing full cups down the line, one after the other, until the bucket at the other end is either full, or full to a predesignated level.
4. If you only have one line, try to record the fastest time. If more than one, have a race.

This can make the floor pretty wet, especially if the cups are full when passed. Be careful

THIS WORKS ON - Eye-hand coordination (passing the cup, receiving the cup, not spilling), teamwork (passing quickly without spilling)

Table Baseball

OBJECT - Score the most runs.

GAME TYPE - Two team game.

WHO'S IT FOR - Group Three. There should be at least three people per team, but as in real baseball, no more than nine per team.

WHAT YOU NEED - A ping pong ball, a scorecard, and a marked square table. The markings are described below.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. First, set up the table. At the center of one side, mark a home base. From there, mark diagonal foul lines to one third the distance of the sides. These are your foul lines. At the other end of the table, draw three lines parallel to the end. The area closest to home plate is a single, the next area is a double, and the third area is a triple. There should be some room between the foul lines and the single line.
2. Place the ping pong ball on home base.
3. One player from the batting team kneels so his mouth is right behind the ball. This is the batter.
4. Three players from the other team make up the outfield, and kneel on the opposite side of the table.
5. When ready, the "batter" blows the ball. He may only blow it once. He is trying to blow it over the edge where the "outfielders" are.
6. The outfielders also blow the ball. Their object is to blow it off the edge of the table before it scores either a run or a hit.
7. If the ball goes off the edge of the table in foul territory, the batter may try again. However, they only get three total chances. If it fouls on the third try, they're out.
8. If the ball goes off the edge of the table between the foul line and the single line, they batter is out.
9. If the ball goes off the edge of the table in the single zone, the batter goes to first base (mark this on your scorecard). If a double, they go to second base. If a triple, they go to third base. If it goes off the edge of the table where the outfielders are, it's a home run.
10. Keep track of which base each batter is on. They may only advance on force moves. If a batter is on second with no one on first, and the next batter gets a single, the batter on second does not move. If a batter is on second with no one on first, and the next batter hits a double, the batter on second may only move to third. Of course, a home run scores everyone.
11. Each team gets three outs or five runs per inning. This means that if a team gets their three outs before getting five runs, the next team is up. If the team gets five runs before it gets three outs, the next team is up.
12. Keep playing for a predetermined number of innings. The winner is the team with the most runs scored.

Be sure to rotate players - have a lineup, or order, for the batters, and if you have more than three players per team, make sure everyone gets a chance to be in the outfield.

THIS WORKS ON - Competition (playing a baseball game), oral motor (blowing the ball), strategy (knowing where you should aim the ball for the batter and outfielders).

Bottle Ball

OBJECT - Knock down the bottles!

GAME TYPE - Two team game, dodge game.

WHO'S IT FOR - Group Two. You should have at least three per side, but no more than eight.

WHAT YOU NEED - Twelve to twenty 2-liter plastic soda bottles, some empty, some filled with water. You'll also need two or three playground balls and a marked off space for the playing area.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Divide the group into two teams. The two teams go to opposite sides of a playing area, separated by a line.
2. Set up the plastic bottles at the back of the playing area, with space between them.
3. Place the three playground balls at the center. All players line up in front of their plastic bottles.
4. On the word "GO", players race to try and get the balls. No player may cross the center line.
5. The object of the game is to knock down all of the other team's bottles. The full ones should be harder to knock down than the empty ones.
6. This game also adds elements of dodge ball, in that if you hit another player with your throw (unless the ball touches the ground first), they are out. However, as soon as a bottle gets knocked over, all out players on the team whose bottle went down may reenter the game.
7. If a player catches a throw, they may return one player from their own team to the game. Nothing happens to the thrower.
8. If a ball goes out of bounds, one of the players from the team on the side where it went out of bounds may retrieve it. They may not throw the ball until they have come back in bounds.
9. Once all the bottles of one team have been knocked down, the game is over.

For a variation, give one point for each empty bottle knocked over, three for each full bottle knocked over, and set a time limit.

THIS WORKS ON - Athletic ability (throwing, running), competition (playing against another team), eye-hand coordination (aiming at targets), teamwork (playing as a team).

Balloon Sweep

OBJECT - Be the first to sweep your balloon over the finish line.

GAME TYPE - Racing game.

WHO'S IT FOR - Group One. You need at least two to play this one, more to make it a relay.

WHAT YOU NEED - Several blown up balloons (in case one pops), and two brooms (or more, depending on how many teams/racers you have).

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Divide the players into teams.
2. Give the first runner on each team a broom and place a balloon on the floor.
3. On the word "GO", players sweep the balloon towards the turn-around point, which can be a line, a chair, a wall, whatever.
4. At that point, they turn around and head back to the start.
5. When they cross the start line, they give the broom to the next player who now sweeps the balloon toward the turn around.
6. The winners are the first ones to have everyone cross the finish line.

The balloons will go all over the place, so definitely have more ready in case one pops. Also, you can have every player race individually rather than in teams, keeping track of the fastest time.

THIS WORKS ON - Eye-hand coordination (using the broom to sweep the balloon), competition (racing)

Red Handed

OBJECT - Find the object.

GAME TYPE - Observation game.

WHO'S IT FOR - Group Three. You should have enough people to make it hard for IT.

WHAT YOU NEED - Some sort of small object, such as a beanbag or a marble.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Have everyone stand in a circle.
2. Choose one person to be IT.
3. IT must close his eyes and count to ten slowly.
4. While IT is counting to ten, the people in the circle start passing around the chosen object behind their backs.
5. When IT reaches ten, he can look and try to figure out where the object is.
6. The members of the circle must keep[ passing the object, but to make it confusing, they are allowed to fake it (pretend to pass when they don't have it).
7. IT may make three guesses. If they get it correct in those three guesses, they win. If they can't figure out where the object is, the group wins.

This is not a competitive game in that no points are awarded, but the group does need to work together in order to keep IT from finding the object.

THIS WORKS ON - Strategy (distracting IT from the proper location), observational skills (looking to figure out where the object is), teamwork (working together to defeat IT)

Threeball

OBJECT - Score the most points and win the game.

GAME TYPE - Individual game.

WHO'S IT FOR - Group Two. You'll need eight or so players to play this game.

WHAT YOU NEED - Three kickable balls, a box, and a large field to play in.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Set up the field, with three bases and a home plate. They don't have to be as far apart as in standard baseball, but there should be some distance between them.
2. Set up the box in the middle, where the pitcher's mound would be.
3. Everyone plays defense and should go in the field, except for one player who is the first kicker.
4. The kicker stands at home plate with three balls on the ground in front of them.
5. The kicker kicks all three of the balls in different directions, and starts to run the bases.
6. The kicker scores a point every time they cross a base. If a player crosses home plate, they can keep running, and each base is worth two points.
7. The defense must corral the balls and put them in the box.
8. Once all three balls are in the box, the kicker is out. Add up the number of bases they crossed before being out for their score.
9. A new kicker comes up, while the old one goes to the field.
10. The winner is the one, at the end of the game, who scored the most points.

With enough players, you can even have two teams, with all players kicking before taking the field.

THIS WORKS ON - Competition (trying to score/prevent scoring), following directions (rules of the game)

Rooms

OBJECT - Switch rooms quickly, or be eliminated.

GAME TYPE - Elimination game.

WHO'S IT FOR - Group One. It doesn't matter how many people you have to play this game.

WHAT YOU NEED - An area, inside or outside, sectioned off into at least four squares. The squares can be in a box shape, or in a line. The squares also need to be labeled with the name of a different room - living room, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Set up the playing area as described above.
2. Have all players stand in one room.
3. You call out a room. All players must move to that room.
4. The last player to make it to the room is eliminated.
5. If you call out a room where everyone already is, they must stay there. Anyone who moves to another room is eliminated.
6. The last person standing is the winner.

As a variation, you can set a time limit for moving into the enxt room, like five seconds. Anyone who doesn't make it in that time is out.

THIS WORKS ON - Following directions (going to specific room), attending (to what room is being called)