Players needed: 1-4 (do you have a bigger than 4 household?! More can play too!)

Ages: All!

*Preschool Can play a modified version of bouncing the ball from square to square, try not to catch it! It’s like hot potato but bouncy!*

*Kindergarten, ignore the line rules- those are confusing, if the ball goes out of bounds that is considered an out, and if it hits any of the lines just continue play as normal. If playing with older siblings they can play your rules as well!*

Equipment needed: Chalk, and a ball that bounces, preferably kick ball sized but a tennis ball makes for a GREAT challenge!

Set Up:

 Rules/Game Play: Each of the 4 players will enter a numbered square 1, 2, 3, OR 4. 4 Is the server and is sometimes called the king/queen but we are playing a game of 4 Square not ruling a country so for our purposes; server is Number 4! Number 4 will place at least ONE foot behind the serving line which is the triangle in the corner. Notice how only square 4 has this. 4 Square MUST serve underhand, and to any player. The ball must land inside of the square and not touch any of the inside or outside lines. The ball MUST bounce before any player can strike it for play.  Once the ball has been served each player can move anywhere inside their square.

The goal of the game is to become the server. How do we do this?!

• -If you hit a ball and it lands on any of the inside lines you are ‘out.’ and will retreat back to square 1. If you are playing with more than 4 people there will be a line for those people behind square 1 waiting to join. When you are ‘out’ you will have to join said line.
• -If you hit a ball out of bounds you are out
• -If you do not let a ball bounce into your square before hitting it you are ‘out’
• -If you miss a ball and it bounces twice in your square you are ‘out’

These rules apply to other players as well so once the person above you is out, you would move into their spot and the same goes if you were in square 3 and missed a ball and got out you would switch back to square 1 or the line.  We always rotate up to the square above us when someone gets ‘out.’

Here’s a visual to see a game in action:

4 Square Game

Common Questions: 

• What happens if the ball hits the OUTSIDE line?! 
  • A: The outside line is considered IN and you should try to hit it before it touches the ground again! 
• Why is the INSIDE line considered an OUT or a bad play?!
  • A: Because you cannot tell which person’s square it would have hit! The line is shared and thus is considered out by the person that hit the ball last
• How do I keep score?!
  • A: There isn’t an official way to keep score! The goal is to try to serve the ball and work your way up through each square! When and if you get out you should shake it off, and get excited to try to challenge yourself back at square 1! 
• What if we disagree?!
  • This is a self referee’d game meaning we all have to be honest when we have faults- remember you will get right back into the game! The server can make a final decision but if the problem involves the server you must play one round of rock, paper, scissors to solve the problem. OR You can remember Coach Sadie’s PE Solution Station and use those strategies! 

Have a smaller household? 

3 players can play in the shape of a peace sign!

 

2 Players can play 1v1!

This is more of a rally (meaning hitting it back and forth) but it is a great challenge! Remember do not hit the inside line! 

1 Player?!

If you have an available wall that your family doesn’t mind a little chalk on, you can make a square on the ground and a square on the wall so that when you hit the ball it must stay in the boundaries of the square on the wall, if the ball bounces off the wall and misses your square you defeated a wall! Wild! 

Variations!

• Play with your feet! Ball still has to bounce- for my soccer lovers out there this is a tough challenge! 
• Use a racquet! Make sure your square is big enough so you won’t accidentally hit another player and use a smaller ball to bounce it to other squares. Remember the word I use when we need to be softer FINESSE! 
• Create ‘mini games’ where the server can call out a game mid play. For example- PacMan- The server can call this after the serve, they then catch the ball and say PACMAN! Then everyone runs on the lines of the squares until tagged with the ball (you cannot throw the ball). When a person is tagged they must leave their square and go back to the first square. 

Players Needed: 1-Infinite players

Equipment needed: 4-9 Pieces of colored paper OR 4-9 Pieces of paper that have a different shape, color,  letter or number on each page. Don’t have paper? Got paper plates? Napkins? Different colored T-shirts you can lay out? Rags?!

Set Up: Set up the pieces of paper in a grid like tic tac toe  

 

Multiplayer Game play: This game can be played with many players and all ages, remember social distancing please play with members of your household OR call a friend and play via phone or facetime! One player will go first and set a pattern using hopping and jumping locomotors (one foot OR two feet). They will set the first single hop/jump. The next person will then attempt to remember the previous hop/jump and add the sequence to their jump or hop. Play continues until one of the players forgets the pattern! This may look like this:

Challenger’s turn: Hopped with one foot on the oval

Coach Sadie’s turn: Hopped with one foot on the oval, and then set the next shape to be hopping on the Heart with one foot. 

Challenger’s turn: Hopped on one foot on the oval, hopped on the heart with one foot, and added the next shapes as a DOUBLE jump with one foot on the diamond and one foot on the triangle.

Coach Sadie’s turn: hopped with one foot on the oval, hopped with one foot on the heart, jumped onto the diamond and triangle THEN added a hope with one foot on the circle.

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Single Player: Challenge yourself to create a sequence that the pages/items don’t touch, for example: Trapezoid, Heart, Oval, Circle, Parallelogram…   None of those pages touch in a row!

Challenge #2-  Create a sequence using anything but your feet! Remember your patches and points! (Points: Elbow, Knee, Hands, Shoulder,  and Head. Patches: Back, Stomach, Bottom, Leg, and Arm)

Challenge #3- Use a clock to see how fast you can hop a pattern of 3 sequences, then 5, 10, 20! How Fast can you touch all items/pages?!