Silent Ball at the Museum

  1. Indoor Game

  • Any Size

  • Grades 1-2

  • Dodgeballs

Development Goal

To develop non-verbal communication, eye-hand coordination, listening to directions, and social comfort

Before You Start

  • The leader chooses one player to be the “Night Guard” or “Janitor”
  • To start, count down “5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Frozen!”

Set Up

Classroom/other indoor space or outdoor area with clearly defined boundaries

How to Play

  • As the name indicates, this game is a combination of Night at the Museum/Janitor and Silent Ball
  • Elements from both games apply:
    • Silent Ball: players must remain completely silent while passing a ball around the room.
    • Night at the Museum/Janitor: when the Night Guard/Janitor is looking at you, you must remain frozen.  When their back is turned, you are free to move around.
  • Ways for players to get out: moving while the Night Guard is looking at them, making any kind of noise, making a bad pass or dropping the ball.
  • If the ball is thrown from a student who is behind the Night Guard’s back to a player in front of the Night Guard, that player may move to catch the ball without being called out.  However, once they have caught the ball they must remain frozen until the Night Guard looks away from them.

 

Variations

  • Add more balls (increase complexity, challenge players more)
  • Add more night guards (greatly increase complexity, challenge students a lot more)
  • Make it a challenge to see how many passes players can complete without anyone getting out.