Four Square
TO PLAY, you need at least four people, and a bouncy, 8-12 inch rubber ball—a kick ball works well. Find a court on a local playground, or draw your own with sidewalk chalk, numbering each of the four squares one through four. The objective of the game is to work your way up from square number four to square number one by eliminating players in higher ranking squares.
Each player stands in a square (if there are more than four people who want to play, have the others line up behind square number one). The player in square number one serves the ball by bouncing it once and hitting it from underneath with both hands to another player in another square. The player in the receiving square keeps the ball in play by hitting it into yet another square. Play continues until a player becomes out through fouling the ball.
The out player leaves the game and the remaining players advance toward square number one. The new player enters the game at square number four. Players are not required to stay within their square (as long as they do not interfere with other players or step in another player’s square) unless they are serving, in which case they must have at least one foot in their square.
Any of the following constitutes a foul:
♦ Hitting the ball with any part of the body except the hands.
♦ Hitting the ball with only one hand, with fingers pointing up, or with a fist.
♦ Hitting the ball more than once. before it goes to another square.
♦ Hitting a line.
♦ Not hitting a ball that bounces in your square.
♦ Holding/catching/stopping the ball.
♦ Serving without having at least one foot in your square.
♦ Stepping into another player’s square.
A variation of the game is “King’s Corner.” In this case instead of numbered squares, the squares are “King,” “Queen,” “Prince,” and “Princess,” and the goal is to get to be King.
SPECIAL RULES
If the players agree beforehand, the game can be played with “server’s rules,” which means the player who serves can call special rules at the start of each round. Some of these include:
7-Up
Every player who hits the ball must shout out a number, starting with one, until the number seven is reached. The number 7, or any number ending in a 7, must be skipped, and if it isn’t, the player who doesn’t skip it is out.
Around the World
Anyone who has the ball may call “Around the World” at any time during the game. Once it’s called, the ball must be hit from square to square in numerical order until it reaches the player who originally started it. After that, the game play returns to normal.
Backboards (also called Treetops)
Hit the ball upward into the air (instead of bouncing it once on the ground) before hitting it into another player’s square.
Do Overs
A penalty-free chance to redo a play without a player becoming “out.”
Friendsies
When “Friendsies” is called, players can stay in the game even if they commit a foul.