Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium Part 79

_Playground; gymnasium._

_Basket ball._

GROUND.--The ground should be marked off with boundary lines, which should inclose a s.p.a.ce at least fifty feet long by twenty or twenty-five wide. For expert players a much larger ground is desirable. Ten feet from the rear boundary line at either end of the field, another line is drawn, on which the players line up.

PLAYERS.--The players are divided into two equal teams, each of which selects a kicker for the ball. There should also be one leader who serves for the two teams. The kicker for each team stands five feet within his half of the ground measuring from the center, and should be halfway between the two side boundary lines. The rest of the players for each team line up on the line previously designated for that purpose. The leader stands at one side of the field near a boundary line.

OBJECT.--The object of the game is to kick the ball over the heads of the opposing team.

[Ill.u.s.tration diagram: HAND FOOTBALL]

START.--The leader puts the ball in play by throwing it so it will touch the ground between the two kickers. Both kickers at once run for the ball and try to kick it over the heads of their opponents.

RULES AND POINTS OF PLAY.--The players on the line-up may intercept the ball only with their hands. They may not grasp or kick the ball, but merely bat it with the hands. At no time may they leave their places on the line.

SCORE.--A point is scored whenever a kicker succeeds in sending the ball beyond his opponents' line-up. Players then exchange fields for the next round. Ten points win the game.

HOME RUN

_10 to 60 players._

_Schoolroom._

_Gas b.a.l.l.s or bean bags._

Arrange the players so that all the rows are filled and the same number in each row. No. 1 in each row has a bean bag or ball, and at the word "Start!" stands and throws the bag or ball to No. 2, who also stands at the word "Start." No. 2 throws it back to No. 1 and sits down while No. 1 throws the ball to No. 3, who stands up as soon as No. 2 is seated. No. 3 throws it back to No. 1 and the game continues until No. 1 has thrown the ball to the last player in the row. When No. 1 receives the ball from the last player, he lays it down on the desk and runs to the seat of the last player, while all players move up toward the front one seat. No. 2 in the row then becomes No. 1, and tosses the ball as his predecessor did. The game continues until the original No. 1 reaches his original place and calls "Home run!" thus scoring a point for his row and starts again. The row scoring the most points during fifteen minutes becomes the winner.

This game was originated by Miss Amy A. Young of Cleveland, Ohio, and was submitted in a compet.i.tion for schoolroom games conducted by the Girls' Branch of the Public Schools Athletic League of New York City in 1906. This game was one that received honorable mention, and is here published by the kind permission of the author, and of the Girls' Branch, and of Messrs. A. G. Spalding & Brothers, who publish the handbook in which the game first appeared.

LINE BALL

_10 to 60 or more players._

_Schoolroom._

_Gas b.a.l.l.s; bean bags._

For this game a line should be drawn on the floor across the front of the schoolroom, a short distance in front of the blackboard. One player from each row of seats takes his place toeing this line.

Another line is drawn at the front of each aisle even with the edge of the front desks. The game consists in a tossing of the ball from the leader on the forward line to different players, who take their places in turn on the line at the head of the aisle. Each row of seats should contain an even number of players, as the different lines compete with each other.

The first players in the rows rise from their seats on a given signal, toe the line at the head of their aisle, and catch the ball, which should be tossed to them immediately by the leader who stands opposite. This player quickly returns the ball to the leader by means of another toss, and sits down at once. His sitting is a signal for the player next behind him to run forward to the line, catch the ball from the leader, toss it back to the leader, and reseat himself. This continues until every player in the line has caught and returned the ball, when the leader should return to his seat and hold the ball up at arm's length, as a signal that his line has finished. The line wins whose leader is the first to do this.

For a more advanced form of this game, see _Home Run_.

LINE CLUB BOWLS (DOUBLE)

(See also _Line Club Bowls (Single)_; _Center Club Bowls_; _Circle Club Bowls_.)

_2 to 60 or more players._

_Playground; gymnasium; schoolroom._

_Hand ball; bean bag; Indian clubs._

This game is like Single Club Bowls, except that the object of the play is to pa.s.s the ball or bean bag between a pair of upright Indian clubs, instead of trying to knock one over.

If there be a few players, one pair of clubs is set up for each player, with an interval between them two inches wider than the diameter of the ball that is used. At from ten to twenty feet from the clubs a line is drawn on which the players stand to throw. The players slide the bag over the floor or roll the ball; all play at once, each player scoring one if his ball or bag goes between the clubs without knocking them over. The clubs are then put in order if displaced, the b.a.l.l.s or bags gathered up, and the players return to the starting line and bowl again.

The player wins who first scores twenty-five or fifty, as may be determined before the game opens.

Where there is a large number of players, the same form of play is used with the players in relay formation; that is, they should be divided into groups of equal numbers, each group lining up in single file before the starting line, and each member of the group bowling in turn.

The group or team with the highest score when all have bowled wins.

LINE CLUB BOWLS (SINGLE)

(See also _Line Club Bowls (Double)_; _Center Club Bowls_; _Circle Club Bowls_.)

_2 to 60 or more players._

_Playground; gymnasium; schoolroom._

_Basket ball; hand ball; bean bag; Indian club._

This game differs from Double Club Bowls only in the object of the play. In Single Club Bowls the object is to knock over one Indian club which stands alone. In Double Club Bowls the object is to bowl the ball or bean bag between two upright Indian clubs without knocking them over.

Any kind of ball or bean bag may be used for this game. If there be few players, one Indian club is set up for each player, all clubs being widely separated and on a given line. At from ten to thirty feet from this club line a second line is drawn, on which the players must stand to play. The players all slide the bag over the floor or roll the ball, at once, each player scoring one when he knocks over his Indian club. The clubs are then replaced, the b.a.l.l.s or bags gathered up, and the players return to the starting line and bowl again.

The player wins who first scores twenty-five or fifty, as may be determined before the game opens.

Where there is a large number of players, the same form of play is used with the players in relay formation; that is, they should be divided into groups of equal numbers, each group lining up in single file before the starting line, and each member of a group bowling in turn for the club. After each player has bowled, he should replace the club and bring back the ball or bean bag to the next player. In this form of the play it is not necessary for the different rows to throw simultaneously, unless that be desired as a question of order or to facilitate the scoring. The row or team which makes the highest score wins.

LINE ZIGZAG