Dodgeball and Kickball were two of my favorite games growing up. Our parents would send us outside to play before 9:00 every morning and we weren’t allowed back inside until lunch! No TV, no video games, no lounging around…we had to PLAY! The kids in my neighborhood would all meet at an open field and spend hours….HOURS….playing these games. We love coming up with our own gross motor activities – this one is a fun way of combining these two classic games for kids.
WHAT YOU NEED: A ball and a bunch of friends!
WHAT TO DO:
-Designate one player as “it”. This player has the ball.
-The rest of the clan must line up, side by side, a good distance away (at least 20’).
-When the person who has the ball is ready, he must call out the name of one of the other players and then kick the ball.
-The person whose name was called must react by running to get the ball and then must try to get the person that kicked it out by tagging him or throwing the ball at him before he can make it to the line of children.
Confusing? Let’s spell it out.
-Nikolas is “it”. When he’s ready, he calls out “Sofija!”. He gives the ball a big kick and sprints toward the line of other children.
-Sofija hears her name called and runs to try to get the kicked ball. She then tries to get Nikolas with the ball by throwing it at him or tagging him with it.
-If Sofija gets Nikolas with the ball, he is still “it”.
-If Nikolas makes it to the line without getting tagged, Sofija is “it”.
HOW TO CHANGE IT UP:
-Playing with new friends? Names might be too difficult to remember. How about designating a color for each child? The person who is “it” calls out a color and the corresponding kiddo runs to get that ball!
-Need more of a challenge? Say Nikolas didn’t make it to the line because Sofija tagged him out…well, in this version, Nikolas stays with Sofija and they are now are a team. They keep accumulating teammates (only if they are tagged) until there is only one player left — can you say WINNER?!
SKILL AREAS ADDRESSED: Gross motor skills, coordination, endurance, motor control, visual motor integration
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photo credit: Gamma Man via photopin cc -photo modified, text added
photo credit: Micah Taylor via photopin cc – photo modified, text added
