Spider Ball Game
Spider ball is a variant style of playing dodgeball that is just novel enough to keep the kids excited for something new while still offering the usual benefits of a fun exercise: pumping hearts, circulating blood and positively making use of that overwhelming amount of energy that small children seem to have.
Equipment
You will need the following items for a spider ball game.
- Volley balls. 1-3 should suffice.
- An enclosed space.
Non-Team Play Set-Up
If you intend to play the game as a free-for-all, begin by giving two or three children a ball to start the festivities.
Team Play Set-Up
If the game is to be team-based, only one team member on each side should be given a ball.
How Spider Ball is Similar to and Different from Dodgeball
A spider ball game follows most of the same rules as a game of dodgeball.
- Throwers throw a ball in the hope that it hits a player on the other side of the field.
- All players are free to move within half of the field.
- Players struck by a thrown ball, ideally below the face or the waist, are considered “out.”
- Players who avoid or catch a ball with their hands become throwers.
- Players who become out are still able to participate as a “spider.”
- Spiders can still contribute to play but must keep at least one limb in contact with a boundary, such as a wall (or a net, for those wanting to emphasize the spider part of the game’s name) at all times. A spider is able to throw a ball so long as it comes close enough for him to reach it while maintaining contact with the boundary.
- Play continues until all players become spiders.
How Team Play Differs from the Regular Game
- In a team game, one team consists of spiders and the other are “flies.”
- Spiders continue to follow the normal rules for that role and flies that become out must either sit down in the space where they were hit, serving as a potential obstacle for other flies to avoid being hit, or leave the field of play.
Horizontal Spider Ball
- In this version of the game, the floor is treated as the wall.
- All players sit on the floor with their arms outstretched from their body.
- Players keep their hands flat on the floor, keeping their fingers splayed out away from their body.
- Movement involves lifting a midsection off of the floor and only moving with feet and arms, mimicking the method in which a spider moves about.
- The referee then throws between one and three balls into play.
- The goal of this game is to kick a ball into the opposing side’s goal.
- A kick is only a legal move if the player keeps both of his hands planted on the ground.
- A kick made with only a single hand planted on the ground is considered a foul ball.
- The penalty for a foul ball is passing the ball to the other side.
There you have, the rules and game instructions for spider ball. Make sure you check out the rest of the site for more outdoor games and games to play with friends.
