The GaGa ball pit game is becoming more and more ubiquitous as each summer camp season passes by. It’s an incredibly fun and simple game. It is like dodgeball in a pit where you hit the ball with your hands and you get out if the ball hits you on the legs or feet. Here are some variations from the common rules that you can choose to add…
I have discovered that there are some fun variations to the game. And even the “house rules” of each group who plays can vary from group to group. Here are some of the variations I’ve come across over the years:
- Knees and below versus legs and below: This is a rule that dictates how you get out. Some kids like to play where the ball must hit the knees or below for the player to be out. Other groups might play where a hit anywhere on the leg (waist down) is an out. You could even do shins and below (meaning that a hit on the knee means you’re still in). Whichever route you go, make sure it is clear and everyone agrees to the same rule at the beginning of play.
- Getting back in the game: This is a fun variation that says that if you’re out but you catch the ball “clean” (meaning it doesn’t hit the ground outside the pit), then you’re back in the game and the person who last touched the ball in the pit goes out. A word of warning: I saw a group once play where whoever retrieves the ball outside the pit (whether it hits the ground or not) can get back in the game. It was a disaster because the kids chased after the ball and wrestled for it in hopes to get back in the game. Someone could easily get hurt in a situation like that. So I like to say it needs to be a “clean” catch outside the pit (and you cannot reach in past the pit wall to try to catch it).
- Double Ball GaGa: I have provided a video example of this variation. You play the game with two balls at once and all the same rules apply. It’s like when you had two balls going at once in the old pinball machine. Just make sure you always look behind you!
What variations of GaGa ball have you seen or played?
