Active Play
Learn 5 different ways to use this Toss Four Game for physical education class or general active play! If you are playing indoors, hang the target from any volleyball or badminton game standards. For outdoor use, hand it from poles or use existing game standards. The game allows for multiple players at a time, and can be used for teamwork activities, practicing throwing skills, coordination, and more.
Toss Four Games
Classic Toss Four:
Goal:
Toss balls at the target and get them to stick to the hook and loop patches. The first team to get 4 balls in a line (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) wins the game. Unlike standard 4 in a Line or Connect 4, the balls do not have to start at the bottom of the column and can be thrown anywhere on the target.
Set-Up:
Divide your players into two teams with about the same number of players and ability. Place all the pink balls in a pile or container and all the green balls in another container. Mark a toss line about 6 feet from the target using cones, floor tape or some other means. A player’s feet must remain behind the toss line, before, during and after their throw. If they cross the line at any point and the ball they tossed sticks to the target, it must be removed and they lose their turn.
How to Play:
For the first game, flip a coin to determine which team goes first. In subsequent games, the losing team goes first. Standing behind the line, a player from the first team throws the ball at the target to try to get it to stick to one of the hook and loop patches. Teams alternate throws back and forth. Players on each team go in a sequential order, one throw per player until all players have thrown and then repeat the same order until one team wins.
- If a ball is thrown and does not stick to the target it still counts as that teams turn, the ball is simply retrieved and returned to their un-thrown pile.
- If a ball falls or is knocked off the target at any point during the game, the ball or balls are replaced on the target in their previous positions.
- If after a throw two balls somehow stick to the same patch, the ball that was just tossed is removed.
Variations:
- Require all players to throw overhand.
- Require all players to throw underhand.
- Vary the distance to the toss line.
- Move the winning team’s throw line back 3 feet before the start of the next game to make it harder for them to win the next game.
- Baseball vs Softball (or boys vs girls) – Have the boys throw overhand and the girls throw underhand or vice versa!
- Bounce the balls at the target (target will need to be hung pretty close to the ground)
Place Four:
Goal:
Place balls on the target such that 4 balls are connected in a line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal). The first player or team to get 4 in a row wins the game.
Set-Up:
Place all the pink balls in a pile or container and all the green balls in another container. For 2 players, no additional set-up required. For teams, divide your players into two teams with about the same number of players and ability. Teams will alternate placing balls on the target and players from each team rotate through their entire team.
How to Play:
In this game, balls must be placed on the bottom row of a column before they can be placed on next row up. Similarly there must always be a ball in the row and column below where a ball is being placed. Thus this game will play identically to traditional 4 in a Line games. Communication among teammates is allowed.
Variations:
- Sounds of Silence – Don’t allow any talking, pointing, grunting, etc. by the players.
- Time Limit – Put a time limit on how long a player / team has to place their ball (try 10 seconds to start and adjust up or down as desired in subsequent games). If they don’t place a ball in time in an eligible spot, they lose their turn.
Relay Race Place Four:
Goal:
Place balls on the target such that 4 balls are connected in a line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal). The first player or team to get 4 in a row wins the game.
Set-Up:
Place all the pink balls and green balls in separate containers a minimum of 30 feet from the target. For 2 players, no additional set-up required. For teams, divide your players into two teams with about the same number of players and ability.
How to Play:
In this game, balls must be placed on the bottom row of a column before they can be placed on the next row up. Similarly there must always be a ball in the row and column below where a ball is being placed. Thus this game will play identically to traditional 4 in a Line games. The big difference in this game is that a players / teams can place their ball on the target as fast as possible; you don’t have to alternate turns!
- In a two player game the players, just race back and forth from their pile to the target placing the balls on the target as fast as possible. The first player with 4 in a line wins.
- In a team game, the first player on each team grabs two of their team’s balls and race to the target. They place one ball on the target and race back to their teammate with the 2nd ball. They then hand their teammate the 2nd ball, one their teammate has one ball, they can reach into the container with the rest of their balls and grab second. Once they have two balls, they can now race to the target and place a single ball. The process repeats until one team has 4 balls in a line. The 2nd ball acts as a baton and prevents players from cheating and leaving too early. Instead of using a 2nd ball as a baton, our easy grip batons could be used.
Fireman’s Brigade Place Four: (team game)
Goal:
Place balls on the target such that 4 balls are connected in a line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal). The first team to get 4 in a row wins the game.
Set-Up:
Place all the pink balls and green balls in separate containers. Divide your players into two teams with about the same number of players and ability. Have each team spread out in a long line starting at the Toss Four Target and extending back as far as required. Each player should be positioned away from their nearest teammates to a point where their fingertips just touch. Position the containers of balls at the feet of the players furthest away from the target.
How to Play:
In this game, balls must be placed on the bottom row of a column before they can be placed on the next row up. Similarly there must always be a ball in the row and column below where a ball is being placed. Thus this game will play identically to traditional 4 in a Line games. Teams can place their balls on the target as fast as possible and don’t have to alternate turns! At a start signal, the players closest to the bucket can reach down and pick up one ball from their container. They then hand that ball to their closest teammate. The ball is passed from teammate to teammate until it reaches the person closest to the target, who can then place that ball on the target. Each person on the team must handle and pass each ball before it is placed on the target. The players getting the balls from the container can get another ball as soon as they hand off the previous ball. Similarly no player can have more than one ball in their hands at any time during the game. Players are allowed to slide a little back and forth between teammates when receiving and handing off the balls, but they cannot switch their order in the line of players on their team. The ball must be passed and cannot be tossed. If a ball is dropped during the game, it should remain on the ground and is out of the game.
Variations:
- One Hand – Before the start of a game, players must determine which hand they want to use and place their other hand behind their back for the entire game.
- Rotate – After placing a ball on the target, that player must race back to the container and pick up a ball. While all his/her teammates slide away from the container and toward the target. In this way, players are moving from the front of the line to the back each time a ball is placed on the target. In this variation, only one ball should be in play for each team at a time. The next ball cannot be picked up from the container until the previous ball has been placed on the target.
- Blind Folded – Blindfold 2 or more players on each team. Move the blindfolded players closer together, so that they can easily reach one another without having to move their feet to receive or hand off the balls as they are passing them. Obviously the player’s reaching into the container to grab the balls and placing the balls on the target should not be blindfolded. Use blindfolds or something similar.
Fireman’s Tossing Brigade:
Similar to the previous game except the players are now positioned 5 to 10 feet away from one another. Ideally each player starting spot will be marked with a spot marker or something similar. The player should keep at least one foot touching the spot marker during the entire game, but is allowed to pivot around the marker as needed. Here players must toss the ball to their teammate instead of handing it to them. If they drop a ball, that ball is out of play for the game. More than one ball can be traveling down a team’s line, but a single player may only have one ball in their hands at any point in time.
What Happens If….
- Ball Sticks to Two Patches – Stop the game and reposition the ball to the higher of the two patches.
- Two Balls on One Patch – Stop the game and remove the 2nd ball. The 2nd ball sticking to that patch counts as a miss and is not re-thrown.
Leave a Reply