Mat Ball is a fun game for all ages. All you need are four heavy duty bases, a dodgeball, and two teams of players, consisting of at least 10 players each. The object of the game is to round each base 2 times in order to score a run. You can have as many people on the bases as you want and you can pass up other runners. This game is similar to kickball but with a twist. I usually play 3 outs to an inning or 5 outs whichever comes first so that one team is not dominating another. Some other rules include: If the ball hits the ceiling or the lights, batter is out, you can catch the ball off the gym walls for an out, 3 fouls and the batter is out, you can throw the ball at each other for an out, but if the runner catches the ball he or she is safe. Now that you know a bit about Mat Ball, get out there and have some fun playing.
I always enjoy hearing other games pe teachers play with their students. What type of ball do you use for this game? Do you use a playground ball, or a Gator Skin ball? My students really enjoy playing kickball, and would love to play this variation. Although for my classes, I have eliminated pegging other players with the ball. It is just a personal preference.
ReplyDeleteDo you play this game with a large group of students?
Gordon:
ReplyDeleteIts great to hear what other teachers do during PE classes and its important to be creative when equipment is scarce and /or the class size is very large. This would be a good game, but in reality its a tough game to play when trying to keep the majority active most of the time. I see it as too much standing around. In our school we do not play it anymore because its really a waste of time and the kids thinks its boring. Maybe thats the Middle School level speaking, but we do a game called Cardio-Flag which is literally a non-stop capture the flag type game.
We also play a game called all run kickball at my school. We play this outdoors, and use it as a fitness activity as well. We have 2 teams, and the kicking team kicks the ball, and all of the players run the bases. The objective of the kicking team is to get as many people from their team all the way around the bases. The team in the field must field the ball and throw the ball to 1 of 4 players standing in a hoop. The hoop players must then pass the ball to each other. Once the last hoop player has caught the ball, the players from the kicking team stop running. The kicking team's score is the amount of people who make it all of the way around before the last hoop player catches the ball.
ReplyDeletewe do a variation on your game using six bases and everyone gets a turn to kick and they can run the bases as long as they don't get thrown out, assuming they kick it and it is not caught in the air or they are thrown out going to 1st base. i like your idea though and am going to use it soon
ReplyDeleteFor sometime, I have been thinking about implementing a purely fitness-based pe curriculum with fitness games and fitness activities to separate workouts. The skill differences are quite large at my school, with more and more students choosing to not take part in much of any physical activity outside of class. I have taken the steps to have students have to be active outside of class and complete exercise logs as part of their pe grade in an effort to get more students active (hopefully). Also, most people are not going to stay active as their age by playing football, hockey, or to a lesser extent, basketball and volleyball. I understand the importance of motor development, put I just feel as though I can do more for what's better for my students by going more towards a more fitness-based curriculum.
ReplyDeleteIn response to some on the posts that I have been getting about Mat Ball it seems that most of you play this game with your students or play it a little differently. I only play this game when a class earns their "free day." I realize that it does involve much physical activity but the kids love it. On average they get to play it once a month. I typically use a gator skin or the cheapest dodgeball that I can find in any sports catalog. Thanks for the comments.
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