Last week I shared fifteen fun and simple ways to change up your Four Square game for players of all skill levels. This week, I challenge Four Square rock stars to try one of these four square variations on the court.
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Sequential Clapping: The player in the A square serves the ball and claps once. The next player to hit the ball claps their hands twice. The third player to hit ball claps three times and so on. It helps to count the hits together so players don’t get confused.
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Bandaid: A tribute to Bandaid Tag, players can only use a body part once during a round (i.e. if a player uses their right hand, they cannot hit the ball again with their right hand). Players keep track of the body parts they’ve used on the honor system. Use your head, knees, hands, calves, butt and stomach!
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On-deck: After all four squares have been filled, the first player in line stands in the middle of the square and covers their head. The four players play the game regularly but must avoid hitting the ball into the player in the center. If a player hits the ball into the player in the center, they must leave the square. The player who stood in the middle then goes to the lowest square.
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Categories: Before the round starts, the player in the A square selects a category (sports teams, superheroes, countries of the world, types of birds, etc). Every time a player hits the ball they must name something in this category, without repeating something that has been said before. This is can be used to augment lessons taught in the classroom.
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Sandwich: In this rule, all players are making a sandwich. The player in the A square serves the ball and says “bread” as they hit it, starting the sandwich. After that, every players must hit the ball and say a new ingredient to add to the sandwich (reaching four new ingredients total). After this, every time a player hits the ball they can choose to add another new ingredient to the sandwich or say “bread” again thus closing the sandwich. When the sandwich is closed, all players must race to the middle and touch the letter in their square with a foot. The last player to do so goes to the end of the line.
What are your favorite four square variations?
Guest blogger Sam Mende-Wong is the founder of 4 Square of the East Bay and serves as Lead Facilitator and Creative Director. 4SEB meets every Thursday night from 9pm to midnight and has received many positive reviews on Yelp. Sam works a day job as the marketing specialist for Playworks where he has taped off a four square court in the office.
