Category Ball

Category Ball

Test your coordination,
creativity, and knowledge,
with this fun backyard game!







What You Will Need:

• Chalk
• Asphalt or Cement Driveway
• Bouncy Ball (such as a Pinky Ball)
• Rock
• 2 or more Players

What You Do:

• Use chalk to draw at least 10 squares on your driveway, each about 2 feet square. You can draw the squares all in a line, or draw them in "Hopscotch" fashion - you decide.
• Write the name of a different category into each square. For example, one square could be "Insects", another "Favorite Games", "Animals", "Fruits", and so on. You decide on the categories you would like to use, but we do recommend that the categories by familiar to all the players.
• Draw a "Throw Line" about six feet away from the Category Squares.
• To play, decide who will go first. Player 1 stands at the Throw Line and tosses a rock into the first square. If the rock lands in the square, Player 1 stands in the square, bounces the ball once, names something from the Category, and then catches the ball. Not too hard... yet!
• If Player 1 successfully completes the first Category Square, he or she goes back to the throw line and tosses the rock into the second square. If the rock lands in the square, the player must stand in the first square, bounce the ball, state something from that category (must be different than the first time around), catch the ball; then stand in the second square, bounce the ball, state something from that category, and catch the ball.
• Each time a player successfully completes a square, they return to the Throw Line until they've made it through all 10 squares, or until they miss a square - at which time, Player 2 gets a turn.
• If a player misses a square, they must return to the square they were at during their last turn.
• Each time a player goes through the Category Squares, they must state something different each time they are in the same Category Square. This is more challenging than it sounds!

Variations:

• Draw different configurations of squares to make the hoping from square to square more difficult.