Requirements
Some sort of ball or soft object to be thrown or kicked, preferably a kickball. Kick it high!
Objective
Description
My campers and I devised ‘Scramble’ as a solution to the physical advantage that older and taller kids have in the game ‘500’ (also known as ‘$5.00’).
In 500, a ball is thrown to a group of kids, with each catch earning the catcher a point value, until one of them reaches 500 points. In our version of Scramble, my players spread out on a baseball field (though any open space will work) and I kicked a large kickball high up in the sky towards them (kicking it high is a good way to pique their interest in the game!). Once the ball was kicked, the players ‘scrambled’ to get the ball. Whoever got to the ball first went after me and tried to throw the ball at me. I had to run within a designated space. If I was hit by the ball, the thrower then took my place as the kicker and was chased after kicking. If the thrower missed, I continued kicking.
The trick that makes ‘Scramble’ work is that kids wind up kicking the ball, instead of just one person throwing or kicking the ball every time, the ball can go any distance and in any direction, so that your chance at getting the ball is more random. Thus everyone has a pretty equal chance.
The bigger and faster kids may still get to the ball more often, but you can have them give it to the smaller kids or figure out some rule to make sure everyone gets a chance.
