How to Play Kick Ball, by a Third Grader

Kickball gives kids a chance to exercise and work together as a team.

Kickball is a fun game to play with your friends at recess or in the backyard. To play you only need a bouncy playground ball, a group of friends and an open area. Not only does playing kickball give you good exercise while you play, you also get to practice important skills like teamwork and cheering others on, even if they're not on your team. While it is not always easy to lose, kickball sure is a fun game to play.

Things You'll Need

• Playground ball
• Four bases

Instructions

1. 

   Home plate is where you kick the ball.

   Gather a group of friends together on a baseball field or an open field marked with home plate, first, second and third bases. Divide the group of kids into two teams. Decide which team starts off with positions in the field and which one lines up to kick the ball. Assign one player to pitch the ball from the middle of the field to home plate. Assign one player from the fielding team to stand at each of the bases. Choose a player to stand behind home plate to roll the ball back to the pitcher. Tell the other players to choose a position to stand in the outfield.

2. 

   A red playground ball is easy to kick and to catch.

   Roll the ball from the pitcher's mound to home plate. Inform the kicker to kick from behind or on home plate. Call a "strike" if the kicker misses the ball or kicks it outside of the playing area. Call a "ball" if the pitcher rolls the ball 12 inches away from home on either side.

3. 

   Runners follow the same path a baseball player would run.

   Run to first base after kicking the ball. Stay within the base line, which means run in a straight path to the bases, even if someone with the ball is chasing you. Fielders must try to catch the ball before it bounces to get an out or tag any runner when the runners are off the bases.

4. 

   Three strikes and you're out.

   Switch team positions when the kicking team has tallied three outs. Call an "out" when a kicked ball is caught, a runner is tagged or three strikes occur at home plate. Stop runners from running the bases by throwing the ball to the pitcher. Continue the game until each team has had the chance to kick the ball six times. Count the number of times each team had a runner cross home to determine the winner.

References

• Digipen: Rules for Elementary School Kickball: David Sleigh
• National Association for Sport and Physical Education: Moving into the Future: National Standards for Physical Education, 2nd Edition
• Neighborhood Sports: Kickball Rules: 2007