Ticking timeball

You’ll need

Something to mark lines (for example, chalk, masking tape, or rope)
Whistles
A4 paper
Pens or pencils
Soft balls

Before you begin

Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
Make sure you’ll have enough helpers for each team to have one. You may need some parents and carers to help out if you’re short on helpers.
Divide your meeting place into four equal sections – usually the best way to do this is to make a big cross shape in the middle using masking tape or chalk.

Play the game

Split into four times of the same size. Each team should go to one of the four sections. This is their section to defend. Everyone should have a go at taking a leadership role in this game.
Each team should spread out across their section. Once the game starts, they won’t be able to move, so they should think about making sure they’re covering it all.
Everyone should choose whether they’re going to stand, sit on a chair, or sit on the floor. Once they’ve chosen, they can’t move from that spot.
The person leading the game should release the ball – the ticking time ball. Each team should defend their section from the ball by kicking or pushing it away from them into someone else’s section.
After some time, the person leading the game should blow the whistle (or make another sound, for example saying ‘stop!’). The team with the ticking time ball in their section gets a point (in this game, teams don’t want to collect points).

Teams should quickly decide how well their strategy is working, and whether anyone wants to move a little before the next round. They should also make time to say well done for any great moves or saves. The person leading the game should release the ticking time ball again, and everyone should repeat steps four and five.
After the final round, the team with the fewest points is the winner.

Reflection

This game needed you to be a team player. How did you work with your team? Did you communicate well about where the ball was and who needed to move? How did you decide where to position yourselves – did someone take the lead? Did you make sure you said ‘well done’ to your team? Would you do anything differently if you played again?

This game also needed you to persevere. Was it hard work staying focused on where the ball was in such a fast paced game? Did you always hit (or kick) the ball perfectly first time? Did your team get better as you went along? Did you give up, or did you get up and try again when things went wrong? How did you stay calm and focused on the goal?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Active games: The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.