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Ball Games

12 Fun Ball Games for You to Play With Your Girl Scout Troop

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Time to read 6 min

Do you ever need to fill time in either before or after a meeting? These ball games will help fill in the gaps and girls will love playing them.  Just have a few different types of balls on hand. 

Girl Scout motto: BE PREPARED

Ping Pong Ball Battle

This is an indoor ball game. Tape two cups on opposite ends of the table. Each player gets a ball and a pencil.  The object is to get your own ball into your cup while preventing the other player from doing the same.

(DO THIS), NOT (DO THAT) GAME

This game is a great way for girls to develop their listening skills, concentration, and hand-eye coordination. Each participant has their own ball to work with. The game begins with a chosen leader standing at the front of the group. The leader will perform a specific action utilizing the ball and verbally command the group to "Do this". The girls are then required to mimic the leader's action with their own ball in their designated space.


The leader is free to continuously change the action, keeping the game interesting and challenging. The actions can vary from bouncing the ball, catching and throwing, or even maneuvering the ball around their bodies. Additionally, they can incorporate movements such as jumping, as long as they maintain control of their ball.


However, if the leader performs an action while shouting "Do that", the girls are not supposed to copy this action and must continue with the previous one. This rule demands the players' attention and sharpens their ability to respond quickly and accurately to commands.


To keep the game dynamic and give everyone a chance to lead, the role of the "caller" or leader can be rotated among the girls. This encourages leadership skills and boosts confidence, making this game not just a physical activity but a holistic learning experience.

Crab Soccer

It is like soccer but playing while crawling like a crab.  It's an all-out, crawling-like-a-crab battle for ball control. 

Maze Craze

Challenge your girls by asking them to move a ping-pong ball through a maze by blowing it with a straw. Tell them they cannot use their hands at all. 


For the maze give them play dough and tell them to roll it into a snake and create a intricate labyrinth.


Once maze is made,  the only rule here is to use a straw and no hands to blow the ball through the maze.

Silent Ball

All you need is one medium size ball 


Here's how to play: the leader starts the game with a countdown, “3, 2, 1, silent” and passes the ball to another person within the play area. This can be either a throw or a swift pass. A player has to sit down if they drop the ball, make a bad pass (like throwing over someone's head or making an uncatchable pass), or if they talk or make noise.


The game continues until only one person remains standing. The winner gets to throw the ball first in the next round. Players who are sitting are allowed to return to the game at the start of a new round.


If the game is moving too slow, add a challenge by limiting the time to throw, spreading the players out, or asking everyone to keep one hand behind their back at all times, etc.


There are also some variations to this game. For younger, beginning players; have them sit or stand in a circle and see if they can pass the ball around the circle without anyone laughing or talking. Add more balls to the circle to increase the challenge.


Another variant is 'Silent Trees!' - start with players sitting on the ground, when a player makes a mistake, they stand up and become a tree. Trees must remain planted and cannot move their feet. A 'tree' can re-enter the game by deflecting or intercepting a pass. The player who was unsuccessful at making a pass becomes a tree.

Battle Ball

Divide into two teams, and each girl will receive a soft throwing ball. Once that is done, place a large exercise ball right in the middle of the room. The objective of this game is to work together as a team and move the exercise ball over a marked scoring line that belongs to the opposing team. It sounds like a fun and exciting challenge that requires coordination and strategy. I can already imagine the girls strategizing and communicating with each other, trying to figure out the best way to push that exercise ball past the other team's line. It's a wonderful activity that promotes teamwork, physical activity, and friendly competition. I'm sure the girls will have a great time playing this game!

Wall Ball

Have girls lay down next to each other around the outside wall with their legs up against the wall. Take the exercise ball and start it down the line and girls  have to pass it using the wall and their feet. Once the ball has passed them, they can get up and run to the end of the line, lay down and wait for the ball to come again. The objective is to get all the way around the room the fastest. For older scouts make it interesting by having them lay one arms-length apart

7 Up and Down

Have girls stand in a circle and toss the ball around the circle. If a girl drops the ball, they have to go down on one knee. However, if they manage to catch the ball on the next attempt, they can stand up. But if they drop it again, they have to go down on two knees, then one elbow, two elbows, one chin and finally out. The girl has to throw and catch the ball in their new position.

Clap Ball

All you need is a ball, either a softball or a ball around that size. The girls are split into two teams and they form a line on opposite sides, looking directly at each other.

How to play: The ball is thrown back and forth repeatedly, moving from one side of the line to the other. Any girl can catch the ball, regardless of their team. However, it's crucial for them not to cross the line that separates the two teams. When the ball is caught, everyone claps their hands and stomps their feet simultaneously, creating a unified burst of noise. The girls race to see how fast they can move the ball and clap and stomp.

Head & Catch

Girls stand in a circle. The leader stands in the middle with a ball. The leader then throws the ball to each girl in turn saying either “head” or “catch”. If you give the command catch, the girl's task is to catch the ball. Similarly, if you say Head, she must use her head to hit the ball.

Single Bounce and Catch

The girls bounce the ball to each other with a single bounce. Make sure they stand the right distance apart from each other for success.

Popcorn Questions and Answers

You will need a beach ball You will divide girls into two teams lined up facing each other. 


How to play: Start with the beach ball on one side of the line. A girl on the first side asks a question related to Girl Scouts. The questions being asked can cover a wide range of Girl Scout-related topics, such as badges, camping skills, leadership training, and community service. Then throws the ball to a girl on the other side. The receiving girl must answer the question or throw the ball to another girl for the answer. Once the question is answered, the girl throws the ball back to the other side for another question.

If you still can’t find a game you like after reviewing all these ideas maybe you need the Great Big Book of Children games. It comes with over 450 indoor and outdoor games. It is broke down in categories so if you have a ball checkout all the ball games, looking for relay games there are pages and pages of ideas for that as well. It is so worth the money and you can have the resource on hand at every meeting if you run out of things to do or need to break up your meeting during badge work.


Enjoy every minute being a leader and continue to inspire your girls!

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