Pinball

1. Mark a 20 by 20 metre square. Every player stands a tall cone or a skittle somewhere in it, at least 4 metres from the next one. Up to ten players to a square; with more, set up a second one.
2. The coach rolls in two balls, or three with nine or ten players.
3. Guard your own cone and knock over anyone else's with a pass or a shot. Feet only, and nobody holds a cone or stands right over it.
4. Knock a cone over and you score a point. Its owner stands it back up straight away and plays on: nobody is ever out.
5. A ball that leaves the square is brought back in by the player whose cone is nearest. Play rounds of two to three minutes; between rounds, everyone moves their cone to a new spot of their own choosing.

Two balls, eight cones, and every child has two jobs at once. So the look comes first: where are the balls, whose cone is unguarded because its owner has gone hunting, and is anyone heading for mine? Leaving your cone to chase a ball gives you a chance to score and leaves your own open; staying home keeps it safe and scores nothing. With the ball, the choice is a long shot at an empty cone now, or a few more touches to get closer while someone closes you down. The best target is often the cone of the player chasing you, because to chase you they had to leave it. A cone that falls costs a point, not a place in the game, so the brave shot is always worth trying.