FUNdoing - Activities for Team Builders
  • FUNdoing
  • About
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Books
  • Trainings
  • Ricochet
  • Contact
  • Store

Moonball Through Time

9/15/2012

5 Comments

 
Picture
This late summer Saturday I got the urge to look into one path of the historical evolution of the activity Moonball - one of my top 10 favorites, and most often used, team building activities I know. To limit my quest (and the length of this post) I chose to stay with three Karl Rohnke books from my shelf.

Moonball (Silver Bullets, 1984. Earliest version I had available.)
     Scatter your group around an open playing area. Use a "well inflated" beach ball as the object of play. The group's objective is to hit the ball aloft as many times as possible before the ball strikes the ground. Rules: 1) A player cannot hit the ball twice in succession, and 2) Count one point for each hit. That was it! Go for as many points possible before the ball hits the ground. Then, try to beat the established best score. Continue play as long as the motivation holds out. 


Moonball (The Bottomless Bag, 1988)
     In this book Karl adds to the basic rules, 3) Two points are allowed for a kick. He then goes on to share a few variations. After a couple rounds of basic play, ask the group to see how many times they can hit the ball in sequence through all the players without 1) letting the ball hit the ground, or 2) missing a sequenced player. Then there is: See how fast (timing attempts) the ball can travel from player to player in sequence - through the whole group, one time. Karl notes that the ball must be hit and not simply passed. Finally, there is this one: Set up a basic Moonball game and record the most number of ball strikes (not points), hands only, during a two minute time limit. Only count the hits that are not preceded by a ground bounce. The ball must touch each player sequentially [as I see it, this last rule sort of changes the "basic" rules of play - but, we do whatever works anyway]. These are ways to keep the group engaged in Moonball when motivation diminishes with one version. 


Moonball Space Warp (Bottomless Baggie, 1991. Variation shared by Steve Butler.)
     For a group of 15-20 people use a 20" beach ball and two or three hula hoops. The objective in this variation is to score as many beach ball strikes, for points, as possible. Here are the rules:
  • One point for each hand strike. 
  • Two points for each foot strike. 
  • The points for a hand or foot strike are doubled if the beach ball goes through a hoop after a strike. 
  • The beach ball can only go through a hoop in one direction - it cannot be hit back and forth through the hoop.
  • After the beach ball travels through a hoop, the hoop must be given to another player before the beach ball can travel through this particular hoop. 
  • Hoops cannot touch one another.
  • A beach ball cannot travel through more than one hoop after a strike. 
  • When the beach ball hits the ground that particular game is over - record the score and continue with another game if the group is up for it. 

Steve's main point of interest about adding the hoops is related to learning how to use a "new" piece of equipment and the group dynamics that surround this process. You're playing basic Moonball and then something new is added. How does the group manage this change? How do they manage the transition from one way of doing something to another? 

More Moonball variations? (I'm sure there are!) Share your ideas in the comments. 

All the best, 

Chris Cavert, Ed.D. 

5 Comments
bRian bRolin
9/23/2012 05:22:58 am

I purchased a "Float'R Ball" from Training-Wheels.com a few years ago to use with Kids Day events I run at a women's correctional facility. It's a 4', ultra light-weight, beachball-looking thing (available in cubes and diamond shapes too) and made of parachute material with no bladder. It holds air for about 15 minutes of play before starting to go too flat, but literally floats like a big balloon. I intended to use it for a Moonball variation with groups of 50 or more. The first time I tossed it out everyone was having so much fun just keeping it airborn (which is easy and slow-motion paced) that I never got around to setting up the initiative. Now I make a center line and announce we are going to play volleyball. The crowd moves onto two sides, giving the ball a little more direction. All ages are involved (littlest ones are usually held or shouldered to keepthem safe and in play reach) and even grandma gets off her chair to hit it at least once. I keep no score, and the "volleyball" image cues the crowd to the idea of keeping it up and moving toward the other team. I've used it with groups of 80 successfully. I play inside, and haven't tried outdoors yet as I suspect the open boundaries will cause problems. It's a great energizer in the Moonball tradition.

Reply
Windows 8 support link
8/22/2013 07:53:35 pm

The history of moon ball is very interesting to read and it is amazing this Moonball got this much history to tell. Thank you for sharing this interesting article and I appreciate your effort in collecting this data. Good luck.

Reply
JENNIFER STEINMETZ
10/7/2016 07:59:42 am

Chris, thanks for putting these together. It would make a nice sequence. I can see that the sequence would be perfect when yu have multiple days with same client. Something familiar, but with a twist. Wonder how it might play out in a full day event? Maybe start with Moon Ball, then play 2nd version after lunch, and Space Warp later in the day. PS I cant wait to play Space Warp version.

Reply
Neil Mercer link
3/28/2019 01:06:26 am

Hi everyone!
Just having a momentary Moonball muse, a thought just came into my mind about a possible Moonball variation. This honestly popped up about a minute and forty-six seconds ago so it is not fully baked (or even mixed) yet. But it could be a nice source for a little brainstorm collaboration for us all!

So... Moonball. A beach ball zipping over the heads of our hardy participants, bouncing from one to another (but not just between two!) in an attempt not to hit the floor. How's about merging it with a "Floating Basketball" element.

I'm envisioning two hoops also being introduced into the fray - the hoops can be moved around the group – if you are holding a hoop, you cannot move your legs. The hoop may only be held by someone for up to 10 seconds.

Two hoops of two different colours and 2 teams in our group. You get a point if the ball goes through your hoop. You lose a point if the ball hits the ground after it falls through the hoop.

Other thoughts for this primordial cognitive Moonsoup… each team member may only hold the hoop one time in one session of the game. Each session is 2 minutes long. Each time the ball is bounced, the whole group gets a point. Each time the ball hits the floor, ceiling, wall - bounce points are zeroed. Objective... get the most points in 2 minutes. All this while, each sub-group is trying to earn basketball points.

As I said, this is by no means a finished product but I'd be happy to collaborate with whoever wants to make something that's fun and worthwhile.

OK... that’s got the proverbial ball rolling. Let’s see if we can get a good new game out of this!
All the best ,
Neil

Reply
Chris
3/28/2019 07:35:25 pm

WOW! Neil, lots of great ideas here (and, nice to "see" you Neil - been a while). I've used a hoop before to "double" points - since we're counting points until the ball drops. A hand hit is one point, but if it travels through the hoop it's worth two. A knee bump is worth two points, but if it goes through the hoop it's four. You get the idea. I've only used one hoop at a time - I like the idea of more hoops. Now, more roles and responsibilities. After you try out your ideas, let us know what works for you.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    JOIN
    FUNdoing
    Fridays
    Team Building Activities sent to your email every two weeks! 
    Picture
    FREE Processing Activity just for signing up! 

    Picture
    Processing for Beginners
    FREE Mini-Course

    Click for Information

    Some Team Building Tools at the STORE! 
    Picture


    Details & Purchase
    Picture
    Details & Purchase
    Picture
    Details & Purchase

    Blog Author

    Dr. Chris Cavert is an internationally known author, speaker, and trainer in the area of adventure-based activity programming and its relation to community and pro-social behavior development.

    Blog Purpose

    This blog is a space for hands-on programable fun - energetic activities and ideas that can be used as a means to bring people together; activities and ideas we as educators can add to our social development curriculums. 

    Categories

    All
    Activities
    A Files
    A-Files
    Challenge Course
    Chiji Cards
    CUP Activities
    Ed Tech 4 Adv Ed
    Facilitation
    Fun Props
    Lessons
    Let's Talk About
    List Play
    Noodles
    On Pedagogy
    Print N Play
    Processing
    Programming
    Puzzles
    Read This
    Repurposed
    Resources
    Small Group Activities
    Tools For Team Builders
    Top 10 Activities
    Variations
    Videos
    Virtual
    What? & Why?

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly