This probably has other names so let us know if you know it by something else, but we couldn’t help thinking of the song “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac while watching this activity being promoted by @kuvirkom_dance (https://www.instagram.com/p/C9g8sHhM8pL) This could be done in teams and see who can keep it going for the longest, but it is certainly a single group activity / challenge. And works better with largish groups. Kuvirkom_dance had 11 their example.
You’ll need a ball or something for throwing. A largish ball that is light in weight so it’s easy to throw and catch probably works best, but a small ball like a tennis ball will work if you want to work on ball throwing and catching skills. Just be aware the harder it is to catch the ball the greater the likelihood of it being dropped and the challenge more difficult to complete (dropped balls need retrieving and players will find in this activity they have little time for that)
The group stands in a circle, standing relatively far apart from each other (at least one body length from each other) and makes a note of where they were standing. Decide on the direction of movement either clockwise or anti-clockwise, but throwing the ball and the running is in the same direction. For the sake of description we’ll go clockwise in this case. One person in the circle starts by throwing the ball to the next person clockwise to them and also immediately starts to run around the circle clockwise on the outside with the aim of getting around the circle back to their original space. The second person now throws the ball to the next person to them clockwise and also starts to run clockwise around the circle behind the first player. Player 3 continues this by throwing the ball to player 4 and starting to run around the circle, etc.
The central idea is by running to outpace the ball being thrown around a circle.
So everybody who runs around the circle has to get back to their original space before the ball that is being thrown reaches their space. Once they are in place you can either decide they only need to catch from the last player and throw the ball onto the next player (who should be in place by then) or they continue by throwing and running again… and seeing how long this can continue. It’s why the song “The Chain” so much came to mind watching this 🙂
