How to Make a Court in the Game of Four Square

Series Summary

Four square and seven games ago, John’s playground nemesis Cody brought forth a promise, misconceived in a delusional mind and dedicated to the proposition of making a fool of himself. “I am going to defeat you in a match of four square,” said the pompous loon, though never before had a such a ludicrous remark left his cranial chamber of imbecile thoughts.

Seven games, seven microcosms of the hopelessness of shattered dreams, seven snapshots of demeaning defeat, seven reiterations of superior skills and resolve, and-of course-seven victories for John. Dry the tears of your embarrassed friends and family, oh foolish one, that is if you can find them after such a display. For four square is the child’s field of honor, or in your case, despair and dishonor. Perhaps next recess, you would be better off re-covering your books or trading Pokemon cards in the lunch room, because the playground has no need for the likes of you.

In this free series of kids activity videos from our physical education expert, Expert Village tells you how to play the game of four square. Learn how to set up a court and choose the right ball, then watch a brief overview of the simple rules and you are ready to play. Yet mastering the game is no easy task, with crafty variations such as chicken feet, fire drill and alphabet soup. Tom Jones has coached four square teams for six years, so he knows how to get inside the head of your opponent. Hint: trash talk is the key to keeping them off balance. Hear that Cody? Or are you too busy crying to your Mommie?

Video Transcript

"Hey. I'm Tom Jones from McMilligan Elementary School. On behalf of Expert Village, today I'm going to teach you how to play four square. The big thing with foursquare is you can really play it anywhere. For this video we set up a court in a gymnasium. You can set up at your playground, you can put them in your backyard and your driveway, that's really the appeal of the game to many an adult and a child. In this example we've used white tape, although you could use duct tape, chalk, sticks, lines in the ground, the options are limitless, which really makes this such a great game. Regulation foursquare courts range from between ten, fifteen to twenty feet in diameter. But the real point of those regulations is just to ensure four equal squares. And that's the key to the rule. Such as this is a fine court with four equal squares."