Snow Dodgeball

Get ready to be caught in a backyard blizzard…of snowballs! The snow really flies in Snow Dodgeball, a fast-paced and friendly game that's a flurry of wintertime fun.

What You'll Need

• A group of players
• A snow-covered space with some room to run
• Snowballs
• Warm winter clothing, including boots, hats, and gloves

Get Ready…

1. Decide on a playspace that's covered in snow.

2. Use your foot or a stick to create two long, parallel lines in the snow, about 12 feet apart from each other. These are the lines where your teams will stand to throw their snowballs.

3. Draw one more long line in the snow that runs straight down the center of the other lines. This is where you'll pile your snowballs.

Get Set…

1. Start making snowballs—lots and lots of them! Look for snow that's just wet enough to stick to itself, and pack it loosely to form a soft, throwable ball. Make as many as you like, then pile them all on the center line, reaching from one end to the other.

2. Divide your players into two teams.

3. Spread both teams out behind each of the long lines, facing each other and the piles of snowballs on the center line.

4. Review the rules with all your players:

• You can throw snowballs at the other team—aiming below the shoulders—only from behind your own line.
• If you're hit by a snowball, you're out.
• If you catch a snowball, the thrower is out.
• The team with the most players left standing, or the only player left standing, wins!

*For younger players: Move your lines closer together to make throwing easier, or only allow snowballs to be thrown underhand.

Go!

1. Yell "Ready... Set… Snow!" to start the game.

2. On "Snow!" all players dash to the center line.

3. Grab a snowball in each hand and scramble back behind your team's line. Then...

4. Let those snowballs fly! When your hands are empty, try to avoid the flying snowballs while you run back to the center line and grab more.

5. If you're hit, run back behind your team's line and sit down until the game is over. (Watch out for incoming snowballs that miss their mark!)

6. Keep playing until only one team, or one player, is left standing…or until you need to call a timeout to make more snowballs.

What's the best snow for making soft, fluffy snowballs? Snow that's been warmed by the sun! For an endless supply of perfectly packable snow, play Snow Dodgeball on a brighter day. Those rays of sunshine will give your snowballs, and you, a wintertime boost!