How to Play Sproutball

This game is pretty simple and a great resource for summer camps and afterschool programs. The ideal participant age is 6-12 years old, mainly because this group will play until the sun goes down and the cows come home.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Five or more players
• 1 soft ball (nerf ball or gator ball) per seven players
• Large playing area (preferably a field or a carpeted gym

1. Once the players are spread out across the playing area, the facilitator of the game will throw the balls into the arena. Once a player has a ball, the objective is to throw the ball at another player. If hit, the player must sit down and cannot stand up and rejoin the game until the person who hit them has been hit. When seated on the ground or floor, players turn into 'sprouts' which essentially means they assist those still running around by allowing them more steps.

2. When in possession of a ball, a player is only allowed to take three steps in any direction. At this point they must either throw the ball at another player, or to a sprout on the ground. When a player touches a sprout with the ball, they are given three more steps. If a sprout is too far away, the player may throw the ball to the sprout, and the sprout must throw it back to the original player, who now has three more steps.

3. If a player catches a ball thrown at them before it hits the ground, the thrower must sit and is now a sprout.

4. If a player is in possession of a ball and takes more than three steps, they must turn the ball over to someone else and have a seat as a sprout.

5. If a player throws and hits another player above the shoulders, the player who threw the ball turns into a sprout. 'Head-shots' are not allowed.

Tips & Warnings

• The only way to win sproutball is to turn every player into a sprout before being hit by a ball.