Play Dragon Dodgeball

You’ll need

Soft balls

Before you begin

Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.

Planning this activity

Make sure that you have enough balls. Each player should have at least one.

Play the game

Three players should make a ‘dragon’ by standing in a line. The second and the third players should hold the waist or shoulders of the player in front. The third player is the dragon’s tail.
Everyone else should form a large circle around the dragon. Each player in the circle should have one or two sponge balls.
The players in the circle should take it in turns to throw their ball at the dragon – they should aim for the dragon’s tail.
The dragon players should work together to stop the tail being hit. They should weave, duck, and dodge – but they shouldn’t let go of each other.
When someone hits the dragon’s tail, they should join the front of the dragon and become the head. The player who was the tail should take their place in the circle.
Everyone should keep playing until each player has had a turn as part of the dragon.

Reflection

This was a fast, physical game, that tested the speed and teamwork of the players. The three players in the ‘dragon’ had to move well together to dodge the balls. Was it easy for the players to decide where to move next when they were connected to two others? How did the players in the circle throw their balls – did they throw hard to make the ball harder to dodge or did they take their time and throw with more accuracy? How did the throwers and the dragons work together to get the better of the other? What could everyone do better next time?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Active games: The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.
Contact games and activities: Make sure everyone understands what contact is acceptable, and monitor contact throughout the activity.

Make it accessible

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.