Of course you can find many other games at http:www.cysbackyardsports.com.

10 Fun Outdoor Games for Kids

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The cooler days of fall are a great time for kids to head outside for parties. The following games from Penny Warner’s book, “Kids’ Outdoor Parties” (Meadowbrook Press), are great to get kids outdoors and having fun.

1. Big Foot Relay. Have the children bring two shoeboxes with them. Tape the lids onto the boxes, then cut a one-inch-wide and four-inch long slit in each top. Have the contestants slip their feet into the slits in the boxes and race.
2. Batty Bowling. Find a number of silly or odd items that can be knocked over by a ball, such as a plastic milk carton, a candlestick, a stand-up doll, a plastic vase of flowers, a pizza box, a tower of empty cans, an umbrella stand, an empty oatmeal container, and a book. Line them up like bowling pins and let the bowlers try to knock them over with volleyballs, tennis balls, or golf balls.
3. Name-It Ball. Have players form a circle. Give one player a rubber ball. That player selects a category, such as “candy bars.” He or she then bounces the ball to another player in the circle, who must catch the ball, state an item from the category, such as “Snickers,” and keep the ball moving to the next player. If the player can’t name an item, holds the ball too long, or repeats an item, he or she is out.
4. Frisbee Tower. Purchase a bunch of mini Frisbees and place them in a pile in the middle of the yard. Have the guests divide the Frisbees among themselves. The first player begins the activity by placing one of his or her Frisbees on the ground. Each of the following players places his or her Frisbee on top of the first Frisbee, and the action continues until someone causes the growing tower to topple.
5. Blind Walk. Create an obstacle path from one end of the yard to the other. Line up the contestants and let them have a good look at the path. One at a time, blindfold the children and have them walk the path without looking. Note each player’s time on the scoreboard.
6. Cross Step. Draw a ten-by-ten grid on the sidewalk or patio with chalk. Have each player stand on a different square. One at a time, each player must move to a new square after crossing out the square she or he was formerly standing in. The trick is that players cannot step into a square that is occupied or crossed out. If a player cannot move to a new square, he or she is out. The game continues until one player is left.
7. Pick Pocket Tag. Put a strip of cloth in each player’s back pocket. Have the players try to grab each other’s strips without having their own strip taken. The player with the most cloth strips wins the game.
8. Kill the Cockroach. Divide the players into two teams. Line them up, one in front of the other and set an odd object in front of the first players in line. They must kick the object across the yard and the across the finish line to win a point for their team. Kick things like a pillow, empty can, a sock, and so on.
9. Drag the Body. Divide the group into two teams. Give each team a blanket. Have one player from each team lie down on the blanket. The teams must drag the body on the blanket from one end of the yard to the other. Whoever crosses the finish line first, wins.
10. Blind Snakes. Set up a number of sprinklers in between a starting line and a finish line. Have the kids try to run from one end to the other without getting sprayed. Have one of the kids control the faucet, turning it on and off at random. Award ribbons to the kids who play the longest without getting wet.

None of these games require a purchase but my web site has other games for outdoor enjoyment.  Check it out. http://www.cysbackyardsports.com

Classic Games for Simple Outdoor Play

Image: Jonathan Liu

When I was a kid, we played outside with the other kids in the neighborhood with most of our free time. We also made the most of recess at school. We kept ourselves quite occupied without any of today’s modern technologies. Listed below are some no-tech games that you may have enjoyed as a kid. I sure did. Some can be done indoors. Some can be done by yourself or with just one friend. But most of them are best when done outside with a group of people. Also, most of these games can be changed or improved by making up your own rules. Use your imagination!

Image credit: Wikipedia

Hide and Seek: Everyone has played this one. Most parents have played with their kids, since hiding and finding is a common interest of small children. I’ve heard of all kinds of variations on this game. Sometimes you count to twenty, sometimes ten, sometimes one hundred. Sometimes there is a home base that you can run to and tag, becoming “safe,” sometimes you just wait to be found. The general idea is that one person is “it,” that person closes his or her eyes and counts to a certain number without looking and then he or she tries to find the others.
Number of Players: Ideally at least three.
Equipment: None.

Kick the Can: This game is a variation of tag and hide & seek. One person or a team of people are designated as “it” and a can is placed in the middle of the playing area. The other people run off and hide while the “it” covers his or her eyes and counts to a certain number. “It” then tries to find everyone. If a person is tagged by “it”, they go into a holding pen for captured players. If one of the un-captured players manages to kick the can, the captured players are released. The game is over once all the non-”it” players are in the holding pen.
Number of Players: Ideally at least three.
Equipment: A metal can.

Capture the Flag: This game is most fun when played with a large group. Split the group into two teams, each team having a flag or other marker at the team’s base. The object of the game is to run into the other team’s territory, capture their flag and make it safely back to your own territory. You can tag “enemy” players in your territory, sending them to your jail. They can be sprung from jail by a member of their own team running into your territory, tagging them and running back, with one freed person allowed per jail break. It is sometimes played that all the people in jail could hold hands and make a chain back toward their own territory, making it easier for members of their team to tag them. We also played a similar game called Steal the Sticks. It had almost the same rules, but several sticks were used instead of one flag.
Number of Players: A large group.
Equipment: Two flags or other markers.

Parachute: Fun for kids of all ages, this game involves a large round parachute, preferably with handles, with people holding the parachute all around the edges. It helps if someone is in charge telling people what to do. Players can just ruffle the parachute up and down a little bit, they can go all the way up and all the way down, or all the way up and then run underneath, sitting on the edge of the parachute, which can create a bubble of air with everyone inside. Players can also place light objects such as wiffle balls or beanbags on top of the parachute, and make them jump by ruffling the parachute. Also, one person can sit in the middle of the parachute and everyone ruffles it near the ground. If there is a smooth floor and a light child, the child can sit in the middle on top of the parachute and everyone else can walk partway around still holding the parachute edge. Then everyone pulls backward, spinning the child. There are countless variations.
Number of Players: Depends on the size of the parachute, but usually eight to ten.
Equipment: A play parachute. These aren’t as hard to find as you would think.

Traffic Cop: This game works best on a street with little to no traffic, or in a large paved area of some kind. You need bikes, wagons, pedestrians, scooters or whatever is available. One person directs traffic to make sure kids don’t run into each other. It is more fun than it sounds, and helps kids learn about waiting to cross the street and about traffic safety.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: Bikes, wagons, scooters, anything on wheels.

Four Square: This ball game is played on a square court further divided into four smaller squares, numbered one through four. One player stands in each of the squares, with the highest ranked player in number one, lowest in number four. You bounce the ball among the players, bouncing once in the other person’s square before that person catches it. When I played this as a kid, we had countless additional rules to choose from. The person in square one got to choose the rules. Anyone who violates the rules will have to move down in the ranking, or be eliminated with another player rotating in to square four.
Number of Players: Four, unless you take turns.
Equipment: A four square court or sidewalk chalk, a playground ball.

Hopscotch: Use some sidewalk chalk and make a hopscotch grid. Number the squares from one to nine. Pick a rock that is good for tossing. Small ones can bounce too much, and larger ones are hard to throw. Start by tossing the rock onto Square 1. Hop over the rock and hop with a single foot or both feet (to follow the hopscotch pattern) all the way to the end. Turn around and come back, stopping on Square 2. Balancing on one foot, pick up the rock in Square 1 and hop over Square 1 to the start. Continue this pattern with Square 2. And so on. If you toss your rock and miss the correct square, your turn is over. This game can be played with any number of people, but only one person can go at a time. If it’s raining or dark or too cold, you can get indoor hopscotch mats or foam pieces, or just find a pattern on the floor to follow, perhaps using a beanbag instead of a rock.
Number of Players: One at a time.
Equipment: Hopscotch grid, rock or beanbag.

Jump-Rope and Double Dutch: One of the biggest ways I spent my recess time as a young girl was jumping rope. I got quite good at it for my age, both in speed and in skill. It was fun to jump by myself, but it was even more fun to have a long rope and jump with a couple of friends. That’s where jump-rope rhymes come in. They turn a simple exercise into a fun game, to compete against yourself and others. Then there’s double dutch. I was always in awe of the older girls who could do double dutch. The first time I tried it, I got tripped up almost immediately. However, once you understand how to do it, it isn’t as hard as it looks.
Number of Players: One for single jumping, three with a longer rope or for double dutch.
Equipment: One or two jump-ropes.

Chinese Jump-Rope: This game requires three people, or just one or two people with really good chairs. It is easily done inside, assuming a sturdy floor. This game resembles regular jump rope in that you jump. A lot. But you jump in a pattern. Two people (or chairs) put their feet inside the rope and stretch them out, standing far enough apart for the third person to jump between them. The third person, or jumper, faces one of the people holding the rope and jumps in a pattern of left, right, inside, outside and on the ropes. What pattern you use is up to you, but all the players should use the same one. The game is started with the rope around the ankles. Once the jumper does the jump correctly, the rope is moved up to the calves. Then to the knees, then the thighs. Usually it doesn’t get any farther than that. Once you miss, it is someone else’s turn.
Number of Players: Preferably three, but it can be done with one or two.
Equipment: A stretchy-type rope or 5 to 6 meters of rubber bands tied together in a circle.

Jacks: This game can be played on any flat surface, indoors or out. The player scatters the jacks on the playing surface, often by just tossing them out of one hand, as if rolling dice. The ball is then tossed up, is allowed to bounce once, and is caught before the second bounce. The player tries to scoop up jacks and catch the ball with one hand before the ball’s second bounce. The number of jacks to be picked up goes in order. First you pick up one (”onesies”), then two (”twosies”), then three and so on. There are many variations to the rules of this game including things like “pigs in the pen” and “double bounces.” Jacks is one game I wish I had played as a girl, but it was much more common when my mom was a child.
Number of Players: Any, taking turns.
Equipment: A set of jacks and a small rubber ball.

Marbles: The general rules specify that you draw a circle in the sand or on the sidewalk, and then take turns trying to knock each other’s marbles out of the circle with your one large marble. As with the other games, there are countless variations. I haven’t played this game at length, though, because I always seem to hurt myself flicking the large marble into the ring! You can also use a marble mat which contains different point zones.
Number of Players: At least two.
Equipment: Chalk, large and small marbles.

Red Light, Green Light: With enough room, this game can easily be played inside. One person is the traffic light at one end, and the other players are at the other end. When the traffic light faces the group, he or she says, “Red light!” and everyone must freeze. The traffic light then turns his or her back and says, “Green light!” while the group tries to get as close to the traffic light as possible. The traffic light turns around quickly, again saying, “Red light!”, and if anyone is spotted moving, they have to go back to the starting place. The first person to tag the traffic light wins and gets to be the next traffic light.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: None.

Mother, May I: This game is set up in the same way as Red Light Green Light. One person in the group asks the person in the front, “Mother, may I take <insert number> steps forward?” The person at the front then says, “Yes, you may.” or “No, you may not.” You can vary your requests by including options such as taking baby steps, spinning steps, leaps or whatever strikes your fancy. Again, the first person to tag the person in the front wins and is the next person in the front.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: None.

Simon Says: This game can be played anywhere, even in a car or other small space. One person is Simon and starts by saying, “Simon says, ‘<insert action here>.’” Everyone must then do the action. However, if Simon makes an action request without saying, “Simon says” to begin the request, anyone who does that action is out. The last person still playing in the end will be Simon for the next round.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: None.

Tag: It seems that everyone knows how to play tag, but just in case it wasn’t in your childhood game playing repertoire, here is how you play. A group of kids decides who will start out as being “it.” That person chases the other people around, trying to tag one of them with their hand. The newly tagged person is now “it.” There is often the rule of “no tag-backs” where you can’t tag the person who just tagged you. The game ends when everyone is tired of playing.
Number of Players: Any size group.
Equipment: None.

Shadow Tag: In this fun version of Tag, you tag each other’s shadow with your feet instead of tagging their body. Thus, it must be played on a sunny day. The closer to noon, the greater the difficulty.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: None.

Freeze Tag: This is a variation of Tag where if the person who is “it” tags you, you have to freeze where you are. Another participant can tag you to unfreeze you.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: None.

TV Tag: A variation of Freeze Tag where the person unfreezing the frozen player has to call out a TV show title. That show then can’t be used again during that game.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: None.

Marco Polo: This variation of tag is played in a swimming pool. Whoever is “it” closes their eyes and yells “Marco!” The other players then yell “Polo!” The “it” person has to tag one of the others, and then that person is “it.” Be sure to play in a pool that is not too deep for any of the players.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: A swimming pool.

Blind Man’s Bluff: A favorite game in Tudor and Victorian England, this game is yet another variation on tag. The person who is “it” wears a blindfold and tries to tag the other players. Be sure to play this in an area safe from obstructions and other hazards.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: A blindfold.

Red Rover: Divide everyone into two teams, each forming a long line, holding hands, facing the other team. The two teams should be around 20 or so feet apart. The teams take turn calling out, “Red Rover, Red Rover, let <insert child’s name> come over!” That child leaves their team’s line, runs as fast as they can toward the other line and tries to break through the held hands. If they break through, they get to take someone back to their team. If they don’t, they join the new team. When a team only has one person left, that person tries to break through the other team. If they do not, then their team loses. If they do, they gain a player and play continues.
Number of Players: Any decent size group.
Equipment: None.

Spud: This outdoor game is a lot of fun. Every player gets a number and crowds around the person who is “it” for that round. “It” then tosses the ball straight up and the other players run away. As the ball reaches the top of its toss, “it” calls out the number of one of the other players and then runs away also. The player whose number was called must run back and catch the ball (or chase after it if it is bouncing around). Once that person has the ball, they yell, “Spud!” Then everyone else must freeze. The person with the ball must try to hit one of the players with the ball. If they do, that new person gets a letter (first S, then P, then U, then D) and is now “it.” If they miss, the person who threw the ball is “it” for the next round.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: Playground ball.

Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?: Played inside or outside, the group sits or stands in a circle and holds their hands together in front of them. One person takes the button and goes around the circle, pretending to put the button in someone else’s hands. They actually deposit the button in one person’s hands, but then continue the rest of the way around the circle, pretending to put it in everyone else’s hands. Then going around the circle, each player tries to guess who has the button now. Before each person’s guess, the group asks together, “Button, button, who’s got the button?” Then the player can state their guess. Once the player with the button is finally guessed, that person distributes the button during the next round. Because a button is used in this game, be sure that all the kids playing are old enough so as to not choke on the button. In another version of this game (and the one that I am more familiar with), one child stands in the middle of the circle, and the button gets passed around the backs of the rest of the group. Those without the button pretend to pass it. When the passing stops, the player in the middle has to guess as to who actually has the button.
Number of Players: Any size group.
Equipment: A button.

Hand-Clap Games: The first hand-clap game most people have played is Pat-a-Cake with their parents. Songs and patterns get much more complicated from there. Usually there are two people involved, doing a series of clap patterns on their own and each other’s hands while singing or chanting a rhythmic song. There are many rhymes listed online, but if you can learn from someone else or see it in a video, that is best, so that you can get the notes of the song and the rhythm of the clapping. From “Miss Mary Mack” to “Miss Susie” to “Say, Say, My Playmate,” there are countless hand clap games to learn.
Number of Players: Usually two, but creativity can allow for a third or fourth person.
Equipment: None.

Crack the Whip: Though often played on ice while wearing skates in the winter, this game is much safer, though possibly less fun, when played on grass. All the players hold hands in a line. The person at one end of the line skates or runs around, changing directions quickly. The tail of the “whip” of players tends to get moved around with a lot more force than players closer to the front. The longer the tail, the harder it is to hold on. If the players at the end fall off the end of the tail, they can attempt to get back on, perhaps in a position closer to the front.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: None.

Musical Chairs: In a circle, arrange chairs facing outward to total one fewer than the number of players. An additional player needs to be in charge of the music. When the music starts, the players walk around the chairs. When the music stops, players sit down in the nearest chair as soon as they can. The one player who does not have a chair is out. One of the chairs is then removed, and the game continues in this manner. The player that sits in the final chair is the winner. This game is traditionally played inside, but it can also be played outside with outdoor furniture and a portable music player.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: Music player or person making music, chairs.

Telephone: This game is one in which most people end up laughing quite a bit, so if you’re in the mood for silliness, give it a go. Players sit in a circle. One person thinks up a sentence or phrase and whispers it to the next person. That person repeats it to the person on their other side. This continues around the circle. When it finally reaches the last person, that person says the sentence out loud. Hilarity ensues. The ending sentence is usually quite changed from the beginning sentence, since errors tend to compound as they go around the circle.
Number of Players: A small group.
Equipment: None.

Freeze Dance: Choose one person to be in charge of the music. When the music starts, everyone else dances, the crazier the better. When the music stops, the dancers must freeze in their position. Anyone caught moving after that is out. Play continues until there is one person left, the winner.
Number of Players: Any number.
Equipment: Music player or person making music.

So round up the kids and their friends, and play some unwired games. They are great fun, and most of them are great exercise. Enjoy what is left of the warm weather! Do you have favorites from your childhood that I didn’t list? Please include them in the comments.

I don’t have any of these games on my web site but you might like to check it out anyway.  http://www.cysbackyard sports.com

Backyard versions of six popular canine games.You throw the ball over and over again, and your dog happily retrieves it. But wouldn’t it be more fun to play with your dog in ways that brings out his special talents? Borrowing a few ideas from canine sports, use these tips to make backyard playtime more fun. Jumping. Make your own agility or flyball hurdle by placing a broom or PVC pipe across two plastic buckets. Hold a treat on one side, and encourage your dog to jump over. Jump, sit, stay. Create an agility pause table by placing a bench, ottoman, or piece of carpeted plywood on four cement blocks. Teach your dog to jump onto the low table, then sit or lie down for five seconds, then jump off. Ta-da! Backyard tunneling. Using a nylon pipe tunnel, coax your dog inside it with food. Run alongside the tunnel or sit at the other end to persuade him through. Reward your dog with toys or food at the end. Enthusiastic fetching. Flyball dogs are rapid fetchers. To build your dog’s excitement, throw the ball, hold him back for 10 seconds, and then let him sprint after it. Hide and seek. Teach tracking skills by showing your dog a toy and hiding it in an easy to find location. Once he gets the hang of the game, ask friends to walk away from your dog to a hiding place in the yard. Ready or not, here he comes. As your dog’s skills improve, have your dog sit with his back turned while everyone else hides. Simon says. In rally obedience, you instruct your dog to perform skills printed on directional signs. Make your own obedience signs, such as “right turn,” and place them around the yard to create a mini-course for you and your dog.

While you are always after your kid’s safety in their outdoor swingset, you should allow them to explore activities that you once enjoyed during your childhood. You have been a kid once and you know how it feels when your parents restricted you from doing “this” and from doing “that”. Maybe you may want the idea of giving more freedom to your kids while they think of other activities aside from playing on their outdoor swingset.

Outdoor games that can be played even if the outdoor swingset is present
The outdoor swingset may mark the start of each playtime for your children. It may also be utilized while they opt to rest from their outdoor games. Therefore, you may give your kids the idea to engage in the following activities:

1. Swing the Statue. This game is not just ideal for kids. Adults may also participate in the activity. While you are gathered around the outdoor swingset, you may play the game. The person who plays “it” takes charge of swinging his co-players. The “it” has the choice of who to swing. Once he swings his co-player, the latter should remain in a frozen position. Whoever moves from that position will be the next “it” for the game.

2. Kickball. With the remaining portion of your playground where you placed your outdoor swingset, your school children may play this very popular American game. This is like football or soccer where your kids will hit the ball through their feet. A playground ball of at least eight to 10-inch diameter is a wise investment for this outdoor activity. While kicking is typical to football, the game follows the rules of baseball where kids run in four bases.

3. Capture the Flag. Another fun activity that has been used for many years now is Capture the Flag. This game is popular to camping activities. You may do the same thing around your outdoor swingset area too. You need flags and flagpoles. If you do not have these items, you may just improvise one for the game. There are two teams with their respective territories. Basically, the team that takes more flags than others on guarded territory will win the game.

These are just a few fun games that your kids may enjoy even if the outdoor swingset is around. They may spend some time in these activities and be tired afterwards. After playing these more physical activities, they may turn over to their outdoor swingset for more relaxation. Placing these two wonderful outdoor events together is like hitting two birds with a single stone.

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com

 * 2v2 or 2v1 Games Any 2v2 and 2v1 drills or games will be extremely useful. The entire game can be broken down into 2v2 or 2v1 situations. The more skilled you are at these, the more success you will have in the larger game. Playing combination passes is key!

* Paired Tag Pair players up, giving each pair two balls. One player starts and is given a two-second lead to break away from his/her partner. The chaser (“it”) dribbles after the first player and tries to tag him/her with his/her hand. If tagged, the roles reverse and the player who was previously “it” has two seconds to break away before their partner tries to tag them. Players must always dribble their soccer ball during this activity.

* Marbles Players are in pairs, each with a ball. One player plays out his ball and the partner passes his own ball in an attempt to strike the ball his partner played out. Players should keep track of how many times they hit their partner’s ball. This game should be fast-paced, because players take turns at trying to hit each other’s ball without ever stopping. If Players 2 misses Player 1′s ball, then Player 1 immediately runs to her own ball and tries to hit Player 2′s ball (Player 2 does not get to touch his ball after missing Player 1′s ball). After Player 1 has a chance, then Player 2 immediately tries to hit player 1′s ball right back. etc. This game is continuous and players should keep score. (Hint: If two balls are lose to each other, a player should kick his/her ball hard at the other ball so that when they hit it, it is more difficult for the other to hit their ball back).

* Soccer Tennis With a partner, set up two 10×10 grids that are separated by a net (or a line, couple of bags, string tied to bags – something serving as a net). Just as in tennis, players play the ball (though with their feet) into the other’s grid and the ball must bounce once in that grid. If the receiving player(s) allows the ball to drop twice, the server earns a point. Receiving players can play volleys. Limit your touch count to two- or three-touch.

* SLAM Get a partner or partners and play against a wall (or turn over a bench). Use one-touch to kick the ball against the wall. Turns alternate between partners. Players earn a letter if the ball goes over the bench or goes wide of the bench/wall until they spell “SLAM.” Once they spell “SLAM” they are out of the game.

(Mike Singleton is the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association’s Head State Coach and Director of Coaching. He is a Region I ODP Senior Staff Coach and a U.S. Soccer and US Youth Soccer National Staff Coach. This article first appeared in Mass Youth e-News.)

Other outdoor games can be found at http://www.cysbackyardsports.com

Cornhole game catches on

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 3:00 AM Jimmy Stowe, right, throws in the final matchup of Saturday’s Cornhole Toss Open at South Rowan High School’s stadium, held to raise money for Bible education at South Rowan. Andy Huffman, left, and teammate Richard Yates beat Stowe and his partner Johnny Hines to win the tournament. Huffman and Yates are also state cornhole toss champions. Ryan Honeycutt, left, watches as his competition, Tim Pate, throws a bean bag at a cornhole toss tournament on Saturday. Honeycutt and teammate Adam Jordan eventually beat Pate and his teammate, Jeff Royston, but then lost in the semifinal round against state cornhole toss champions Andy Huffman and Richard Yates. By Noelle Edwards nedwards@salisburypost.com If you had closed your eyes and walked into South Rowan High School’s stadium on Saturday morning, aside from falling down the stairs, you might have thought you were in the middle of a basketball or baseball game. Or at least a rousing round of tug-o-war. You would have been wrong. The stadium actually played host to a cornhole toss Saturday. Cornhole, as in that game they set up in a carnival midway that involves throwing bean bags at a board with a hole in it. Sixteen teams competed ferociously with one another for the $100 prize. Competitors cheered on their partners with phrases such as “Keep it up,” “Calm down,” and “We got ‘em right where we want ‘em.” They trash talked, making references to people’s mothers. They strategized and calculated, meticulously kept score and charted it with brackets, refreshed themselves with bottles of water and wiped sweat from their foreheads. Pretty intense for a lawn game. The competition was emblematic of a growing cornhole-playing population. A Google search turns up rules, competitions, associations, terminology pages and news. One Facebook group for cornhole — there are several — has more than 104,500 members, and another has nearly 80,000. Official cornhole rules determine that opposing boards must be 27 feet away from each other. Each bean bag that lands in the hole scores three points. Each one to land on the board scores one point. After a player from each team has tossed four bags, the teams — made of two players — count their own points and subtract the higher number from the lower, and that’s the point total of that round, going to the team with the higher points, of course. And it goes on like that until one team scores 21. Teams play for charity sometimes or just pool their money and award the winner the take. Saturday’s tournament raised money for the South Rowan Public School Bible Teaching Association — basically to fund a Bible history elective at South Rowan High School. Each team paid $20 to compete, plus concessions, of which they were strongly encouraged to partake. Bennett Hester, chairman of the association’s board, hoped the organization would walk away with a couple thousand dollars from the day. Pretty good, considering that only a few months prior most of the members of the board had never even heard of cornhole. The idea for the tournament was pastor and board member Steve Sprinkle’s. People in his church play, and he suggested it as a supplement to the organization’s annual golf tournament, held this year on Oct. 24. Pete Kluttz from the association made 10 boards, Sprinkle put them together and painted them a solid color, and his wife, Ann Sprinkle, painted logos of sports teams and the Bible Teaching Association. Just the painting took four or five hours per board, Ann Sprinkle said. Daisy Rodgers, the mother of the group’s treasurer, made the bags for the tournament and extra bags to sell. Hester said he hopes to see more people come if they hold the event again next year, but for the first year he was happy to have so many serious competitors. “It just kind of surprised me,” Hester said. “I’ve been around a long time and I never heard of it.” Tim Pate, who’s been playing about six years, heard of it from his boss, an Ohio native. He said he thinks it’s more of a Midwest game. “Now the Southerners own it,” said Jeff Royston, Pate’s teammate. Several competitors at Saturday’s event were veterans of the sport. Bubba Renken and Mugsy Helms, both of China Grove, came in third place in this year’s state cornhole championship and fourth the year before. “It’s good competition for 30-year-old men,” Renken said. “It’s something you can do in your backyard and your wife won’t fuss at you.” Renken and Helms were topped in state championship play by two other men competing on Saturday. Andy Huffman of China Grove and Richard Yates of Salisbury are the reigning state champions of cornhole, and have been for two years. Apparently they have a knack because they hadn’t really played much before. Yates was driving through Raleigh and heard an announcement on the radio about the state championship tournament and thought it would be fun. And it was. It didn’t hurt that he and Huffman walked away with custom cornhole sets, which sell for $200 or more, after beating 63 teams in 2008 and 95 teams this year.no cash prize for that contest. Saturday’s tournament made them each $50 richer though; they won their way through the bracket, beating the final team in a back-to-back matchup, and became that competition’s champion team as well. Don’t think it was an easy victory, though. A few teams, including the one that came in second place, were made of people from a cornhole troop, of sorts. The Kannapolis Regulators get together and travel the region — as close as their own houses and as far as South Carolina — playing cornhole. They hold tournaments for restaurants that want to drum up business. “We play every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, sometimes Wednesday,” said Don Mackling, who bills himself their president. “We do it for charity. Plus to help us win money,” said Jason Van Buren. The Kannapolis Regulators had eight people in Saturday’s tournament. They played Friday night until late and were hoping to finish in China Grove early enough to enter a tournament in Charlotte later on Saturday. (For the record, the China Grove contest went long into the afternoon, and the Regulators were fairly involved in the competition, not to mention the cheering and trash talking.) “Where else can you play a sport that you can do it with a beer in your hand?” said Van Buren. So it’s not the NFL. But between the sweating and the spitting, evaluating which boards to play on and which bags to toss — all the bags are a pound, but the players preferred larger and looser ones to those stuffed tightly — and the “ohhhh”-ing and color commentary from spectators, Saturday’s five-hour competition had the tense moments and frequent victories of more traditional sporting games. “You wouldn’t think there’d be this much drama,” Roxanne Johnson, South Rowan Bible teacher, said. “It gets worse when it’s not a church function,” Helms said. Several versions of this game can be found at:  http://tinyurl.com/l9u7ex

Open Bocce

Open Bocce is the most popular form of bocce by casual players.  The great thing about open bocce is that it can be played almost anywhere there is open space.  This includes grassy surfaces such as a front lawn or back yard, dirt surfaces, sandy surfaces such as the beach, and even paved surfaces like parking lots.  The places that you can play bocce are only limited to your imagination.  Try playing bocce on a surface with hills or slopes to add a new element of strategy to your game.

Bocce is played with eight large balls and one smaller ball (called the pallino).  The game can be played with 2, 4, or 8 players.  Divide the bocce balls evenly between the number of players.  You will notice that your bocce ball set has balls with several different colors or designs.  Ideally, each bocce player will use balls from the set that are unique in design or color from all the other balls in play. This is helpful in distinguishing your bocce balls from those of another player.

At random, choose a player to throw the pallino.  After the pallino is thrown, the same player will throw his first bocce ball.  The purpose of the game is to get your bocce balls as close as possible to the pallino.  After the first player has thrown his first bocce ball, he is considered “inside” because his ball is closer to the pallino than any of the competitors balls.  All other players are considered “outside.”  Whenever a player is considered “inside,” he will forfeit his turn throwing bocce balls.  All “outside” players will take turns throwing their bocce balls until they until one of theirs gets closer to the pallino than the “inside” player.

After all players have thrown their bocce balls, the player that is “inside” will be awarded points.  One point will be awarded to this player for every ball that is closer to the pallino than his closest competitor’s ball.  After the points are awarded, the frame is completed.  Start a new frame by electing a new person to throw the pallino and to throw the first bocce ball.  A game is won when a player reaches 13 points.  Play as many frames as necessary until a player reaches this point level. Of course, this point level can be be decreased or increased depending on time constraints between players.

To purchase the game go to

http://tinyurl.com/kj3uds

BRUCE MCLAREN: The fine art of pitching horseshoes

Around this part of the country the game of horseshoes often refers to pitching washers. Some folks refer to it as Texas, Polish or redneck horseshoes.

There are other contests where the object “pitched” is referred to as a dried “cow-pie.” In the words of the famous colonel from “MASH,” Sherman T. Potter, all of these were probably lumped into his category called “horse-hockey.”

I’m not exactly sure what he actually meant, but so as not to sound disparaging towards either washer horseshoes or cow-pie pitching, I’ll leave these two events to ebb and flow within themselves and stick to a game played between two people or two teams of two people using four metal objects called horseshoes and two metal stakes.

The horseshoes are not really shoes used on horses, but ones designed for tossing at one of the two stakes in the ground. Points are scored on the basis of the position of the thrown shoe to one of the two stakes. Now these stakes are placed 40 feet apart, thus making the throwing of the horseshoe a challenging experience for even the most able of players; but more on that later.

Not unlike other sporting competitions, this game is governed by rules established by the National Horseshoe Pitching Association of America. This organization regulates such things as the height of the stake above the ground, the shape of the horseshoe, various point-scoring rules and events held to determine national championships.

In case you are wondering, this game has not made it up to Olympic level as yet, however its history goes as far back as the American Revolutionary War. To find out more about the game, how to lay out a court and other finer details of how it is played, go to http://www.horseshoepitching.com. You will get a wealth of information that I cannot hope to include in this column.

Why then, you ask, have I chosen to spend my 750 words on something you could just as easily learn about off of the Internet? To be frank, my interest is not so much in the game as it is in the people who enjoy it as a non contact, family-oriented game.

Let’s look at this Fourth of July we just celebrated as a place to start, and harken back to that holiday a few years ago when folks gathered to celebrate Independence Day, not in contests to see who could remain standing after consuming large quantities of frothy beverages or playing a major league-wannabe softball game with its injuries, sprains and the aroma of eau-de liniment.

Rather, many families gathered around for the importance of the holiday and a chance for fellowship, friendship, food, homemade ice cream and a “friendly” game of horseshoes.

Once the outdoor experience of roasted corn, lemonade and all those other goodies was finished, for a while, a game of horseshoes brought folks together for a little friendly competition. Tame by today’s super-competitive, all-or-nothing activities, folks used this as a time to relax and work off some of the homemade meal without physically throwing too much out of whack.

Pitching a horseshoe that 40 feet to hopefully hear it make that resonating “clang” against the metal stake might be considered heated competition as the game wore on, but played without many disagreements, harsh words or modern-day brawls.

While other outdoor games such as croquet were almost as popular, horseshoes brought a spirit of competition that almost always ended with handshakes by winners and losers. Another unique aspect was that it permitted members of the family to play together, not pitted against each other, providing a unique bond unlike present-day competitive relationships. These moments provided them the opportunity to share a unique connection of sportsmanship and camaraderie.

Look back at those times, not really so long ago, when families got together in parks and backyards with friends and neighbors. Contests, games and special kinds of fun were tied to those get-togethers, often seen lacking in our present-day needs of speed, daring-do or one-upsmanship. Horseshoes may not have been the glue that held those times together, but they did instill a certain truism in the saying that “a family that plays together, stays together.”

Ready to try returning to more wholesome family gatherings? Lose your competitive edge and buy a set of horseshoes. Give it a try and have some fun.

San Angeloan Bruce McLaren is a member of the Standard-Times editorial board.

If you would like to purchase a set of horseshoes go to:

http://tinyurl.com/l344qn