Tennis Ball Frenzy

This game requires a lot of floor space, so a gym or large facility is best. If you like this game, but don’t have either of these at your disposal, you can play it outside. Here’s what you do.

You need 5 boxes and at least 50 tennis balls to play. Set 1 box in each of the 4 corners of the room/gym, and 1 box in the center of the floor. Put all 50 tennis balls in the box in the center of the room.

Now, divide your students up into 4 equal teams. When the teams have been divided up, place them behind the boxes in the corner of the room…in a straight line! They need to be in a straight line, with the first person being “runner 1,” the next person being “runner 2,” and so on.

The object of the game is for one team to be the first to have 10 tennis balls in their box. Teams can take balls from the center box, or from other teams’ boxes.

On “GO”, the first player, “runner 1,” runs out to get a ball from the center box. They then run it back and hand it to the next player in their line, “runner 2.” That player then puts the ball in their box then runs out to get another ball. That runner can get the next ball from the center box or from an opponent’s box! They then run it back to the next player in line, “runner 3.” Then that player puts the ball in their box and continues as before. A team is declared “winner” as soon as their box contains the 10 ball quota.

Here are a few extra rules.
1. Teams absolutely MUST stay in a straight single file line.
2. No player can ever take more than ONE ball at a time on their turn. In other words, a player must choose to take 1 ball from the center box, OR 1 ball from an opponent’s box. They can’t take balls from two different boxes, nor can they take multiple balls from one particular box.
3. Teams CANNOT guard their box or interfere with another player taking one of the balls from their box. (This can only be managed if players are in single file lines behind their boxes.)
4. Only one person from each team may be running on the court at a time.
5. Balls CANNOT be thrown to the next player or into the box, they must be handed-off and then placed in the box.

Have fun!

Idea by Kent