Good Old-Fashioned Playtime

How To: Play Four Square

• Draw a square at least four feet long per side and bisect it horizontally and vertically to make four identical squares (shown ).
• Have one player stand in each square and give a playground ball (a volleyball will do) to the player in square four. He must serve the ball by bouncing it into another player’s square, and that player must hit the ball into another square in order to stay in the game.
• If a player cannot bounce the ball into another square (or against another player’s hands), he or she is out, and all the players but the server must rotate squares. If the server is the player who erred, he’ll have to move along, too. The goal is to remain in the server’s position for as long as possible.

How To: Play Snail

• Draw a spiral shape that looks like, yep, a snail’s shell, and mark off 17 segments leading from the outside to the inside, with a circular “free space” in the center.
• The first player must hop once on each square, on one foot, all the way to the center, without hopping on any lines. In the center, the player can rest on both feet, then hop back out the way she came. If she succeeds, she can choose a square to mark as her own, and no other player can hop on that spot. She, however, can use it as a rest space from then on.
• The next player does the same, and the game continues until no one can reach the center. The player with the most claimed segments wins.