Balloon Basketball (indoor game)

Players: 10 or more; 2 “Baskets”; referee
Materials: Chairs for all players except the referee; inflated balloons, the more the better

Set up the chairs in two rows, about 3 feet (1 m) apart, facing each other. Place two of the chairs at each end, between the rows.

Divide the players into two teams, and let each team choose a captain. Any team member may sit in any chair, but only a team’s captain may pick one of two “baskets”—actually, players who stand on the chairs at the end of the rows. These Basket players must make hoops hands. The hoops should be big enough for a balloon to pass through.

The referee tosses a balloon into the air in the middle of the rows. Each team swats at the balloon to get it in their own Basket, but no player may get up from a chair. The Basket can bend around on the chair and try to capture the balloon, as long as he doesn’t move his feet or unclasp his hands.

Each balloon batted through a Basket is worth 2 points. If the balloon goes out of bounds, the referee tosses in a fresh balloon where the other balloon went out. After a team scores, the referee starts the play going again by tossing the balloon over the middle of the row.
A score of 20 points wins the game, or play for a set period of time with the higher-scoring team declared the winners.

Collected from The Little Giant Book of Kids’ Games by Glen Vecchione