The bell rang for the school interval. Menuka and his friends ran happily to the ground after enjoying their meal of chickpeas and cowpea brought in their lunch boxes from home. 

“What are we playing today?” asked Raman. 

“Let’s play Breaking seven stones” answered Mohamed. 

“We don’t have a ball to play Breaking seven stones. So let’s play chase and catch.” suggested Menuka. “Fine, let’s count to find the catcher. 10, 20, 30, 40……,” counted Ravi keeping his friends in a circle. 

Menuka and his friends played till the interval was over. 

Can you remember such games that you play when you get together with your friends? You would have seen such games being played during the interval or at the sports meet. All these games help to keep our body active and in good shape. Relaxation for your mind after being engrossed in educational activities could be achieved by indulging in a game or sport. 

The benefits you gain by indulging in sports activities. 

Indulging in recreational games improves physical health, mental health and social well-being. 

Games you do during your leisure time for enjoyment and happiness by yourself or with friends are known as minor games. Adjusting the rules and regulations according to your wish is a special feature in minor games. 

Features of minor games 

• Ability to play with or without equipment. 

• Ability to organize the game to suit the available space. 

• Ability to make use of the resources easily taken from your environment. 

• Ability to adjust the rules and regulations. 

Some minor games that can be played by yourself 

1. Skipping with a skipping rope. 

2. Throwing and catching a ball. 

3. Marking a square of 30cm ×30cm on a wall and throwing the ball to the center of the square from a distance. 

Some minor games that can be played in pairs 

1. Hopscotch 

Prepare the squares as shown in the figure below. 

• Need a dry mango seed or a flat stone for the game. 

• Throw the stone into square No. 1 from the starting point, without trampling the line. 

• Then hop on to square No. 1 trampling the flat stone. 

• Standing single legged bend and pick the stone; hop along the squares at the end jump up and turn back and return in the same order till you are out of the court. 

• In the same way put the stone to all the squares sequentially and complete the game. 

• The stone, touching the line while throwing it, trampling the lines while jumping and keeping the free leg down through imbalance are reasons to be disqualified from the game. 

2.Who is the king? 

• As shown in Fig 4.5 both players should remain within the circles and try to push the opponent out of the circle. 

• The one, who gets pushed out of his/her circle, loses the game. The winner is the king. 

Some minor games which can be played with a few or groups of people 

1. Changing trees 

• Choose nearby trees or posts one less than the number in the group. 

• The remaining one after counting in the group, should stand in between the trees or posts and the rest should hold a tree or a post. 

• The ones who are holding the trees should try to cross over and change their trees. When the crossing takes place, the one standing in the middle should try to catch a vacant tree. The one who does not get a tree goes to the middle. 

2. Stepping on poison 

• Form a circle by holding hands and keep some sort of mark or a small branch of leaves in the middle, as shown in fig 4.7. It is called lump of poison. 

• Start pulling each other by their hands and make them step on the assumed lump of poison. 

• One who tramples the poison is the looser. 

3. Beat the ball 

• As shown in Figure 4.8 divide into two equal groups. Form a circle with one group and a line outside the circle with the other group. 

• The circle needs a ball and the line needs a 12 inch stick. 

• Give the ball to the leader of the circle and the stick to the leader of the line. 

• When a signal is made the leader of the circle starts passing the ball round the circle, while the leader with the stick starts running outside the circle. 

• The leader with the stick runs and hands over the stick to the next in line and retreats to the end of the line. 

• When the passing ball reaches the leader, he starts counting as “One”. 

• In the same manner till all the members in the line finish running, the completed number of ball passing should be counted. 

• Then the two groups should exchange their roles and start playing again. 

• The group which completes the most number of rounds with ball passing wins the game. 

Let us put it into practice 

Create three minor games which can be played alone, in pairs and with a few people without any equipment and play these games during leisure time. 

Leadup games are games used to develop the skills of organized games. More details about this will be taught in future grades. 

Unlike in minor games, organized games are played in accordance with approved rules and regulations.The common features that could be seen in an organized game: 

• Playgrounds with approved measurements 

• Sports equipment prepared according to standards 

• Determines the number of participants that should be present 

Games such as volleyball, netball, football, elle, cricket, basketball, badminton, table tennis are some examples of organized games. Leadup games are helpful to develop the skills of organized games. 

Volleyball 

Facilities necessary to conduct the game 

How to play the game 

Each team consists of six players and they stand in the court, on either side of the net. The players could hit the ball using any part of the body in order to send the ball over the net to the opposing team. Any mistake done by the team helps the opposing team to gain a point with the service. 

Training the foot work in volleyball 

When playing volleyball, the ball coming from the opposing team does not come near you. Therefore, let us identify leg movement activities in order to hit the opposing ball from different places in the court. 

• Running forwards, backwards, left and right. 

• Galloping from side to side. 

• Doing the above activity with more speed. 

• Galloping forwards, backwards, left and right. 

• Make the students stand in a single line with 1m gap and the last student gallops between the students in a zigzag manner to the beginning of the line. 

Training the ball handling in volleyball 

It is necessary to practise handling the volleyball. This can be done by practising alone, in pairs or among a group of students. 

Activities that can be done alone 

• Throwing the ball up and catching with both hands. 

• Bouncing the ball and catching when coming up. 

• Throwing the ball up and catching the ball while running forward. 

• Twisting the ball around the body. 

Activities that can be done in pairs 

• Passing the ball between two by standing apart, short distance. 

• Passing the ball between two above the level of the head. 

• Standing back to back, with legs apart, receiving the ball above the head and passing it between the legs. 

• One person passing the ball in different directions for the other to catch. 

Activities to be done in a group 

• Forming a single line and passing the ball to the back over the head. Again passing the ball from the back to the front over the head. 

• Form two lines facing each other. The person in the front rolls the ball with his/her fingers along the ground and hands it over to the person in the front of the opposite row. The one who took the ball should go and sit at the back of the line. 

Netball 

Facilities needed to conduct the game 

• A 30.5m long x 15.25m wide rectangular court. 

• Two 3.05m high goal posts. 

How to play the game 

Two teams each consisting of 7 members play the game. Players engage in the game by passing the ball. A point can be scored by shooting the ball through the ring in the goal post. 

Let us train the foot work for netball 

Movements are important in netball to pass the ball all over the court. 

Activities to develop this skill 

• Walking freely. 

• Running on the spot. 

• Running forwards, sideways and backwards. 

• Running sideways to the left and right. 

• Running changing the directions. 

Let us train the ball handling in netball 

Activities to train the correct way of handling the ball could be done alone, in pairs or in groups. 

Activities that can be done alone 

• Passing the ball from hand to hand. 

• Throwing the ball up and catching it. 

• Bouncing the ball and catching it. 

Activities that can be done in pairs 

• Passing the ball between two by standing within a short distance. 

• In pairs standing back to back and twisting the ball around the waist and passing. 

• Bounce the ball between the two and catching it. 

Activities to be done as a group 

• Forming a single line as a group with equal distance and passing the ball to the back over the head. 

• Form a circle with equal distance facing each other and passing the ball sideways. 

Football 

Facilities needed to conduct the game 

• A rectangular play ground, which is 90m in length and 45m in width. 

• Two goal posts at either end of the ground. 

How to play the game 

It is played between two teams each consisting of 11 members. Players engage in the game by exchanging the ball with their feet and a goal is scored by kicking the ball through the opposing goal post. 

Training the foot work in football 

It is important to train one's feet to take the ball into the opposing goal by avoiding the opponents. 

Activities to develop these skills are: 

• Running forward by increasing and decreasing the speed. 

• Running while changing the directions. 

• Running sideways to the left and right. 

• While running, jumping up for a signal and continue running. 

• As shown below in fig. 4.24 arrange a row of cones with a gap of about 1m and run in between in a zigzag manner or sideways or forwards. 

Practising leg movements to handle the ball 

Activities to develop the skill of handling (kicking) the ball 

• By keeping the ball down and kicking it slowly with the front foot, outer foot, inner foot and heel. 

• Kicking the ball slowly and taking it forward. 

• Arrange a row of cones with a gap of equal distance and kick the ball slowly in between, controlling the ball to take it forward. 

• Passing the ball by hitting it with different angles of the foot and stopping it with the foot. 

Let us put it into practice 

Create a minor game, using three activities that you done to train ball handling of volleyball, netball and football. 

Now we know.... 

Sports activities could be used in order to enhance exercises for your body and gain happiness and enjoyment. 

Minor games have lenient rules and regulations. 

You can create minor games either to play alone, in pairs or in groups to enjoy your leisure. 

There are accepted rules and regulations for organized games. Volleyball, netball and football are played in schools as the main organized sports. You can develop your talents by practising these games. 

Let us test our knowledge 

1. What are the benefits you gain by playing with your friends? 

2. Mention the special features in the minor games that you have created for your enjoyment. 

3. Name four organized games. 

4. Mention three features of organized games.