No.78
Four-Square Ball (Tendai Chusho)
Japanese name: 天大中小
You can scroll an enlarged diagram from side to side. Press again to return to its original size.
Diagram key
- A
- Ten: highest rank
- B
- Dai: second rank
- C
- Chu: third rank
- D
- Sho: fourth rank
- E
- Wait your turn.
- F
- Let the ball bounce once.
- G
- Hit it into another section.
Materials
- One soft, bouncy ball
- A square court divided into four equal sections
How to play
- Mark four sections in a 2 × 2 square, ranked Ten, Dai, Chu and Sho. Four players take the sections; others queue outside Sho.
- The Ten player starts by bouncing the ball once in their own section, then sending it to another section with an open hand.
- After one bounce in their section, the receiver hits it into another section. Do not hold it, strike hard toward faces or send it outside the boundary.
- A player who allows two bounces or hits out swaps with the player one rank below. A mistake in Sho means swapping with the first waiting player.
- Pause after about 5 minutes, rotate everyone’s positions and restart. Add courts if the queue is long.
Ways to adapt
Younger primary school children: catch and send. Older primary school children: return after one bounce.