Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Playing Along - Swing Ball - It's a Hit!

The girls and I are playing along with everyone over at Childhood 101 We Play today.

A big racquet for a little girl

I really don't know what the real name of this game is. I always wanted one of those swinging tennis games when I was a kid - the ones tied to a long string on a pole. We always knew other kids who owned them so we had a great time using theirs when we were over for play dates.

An easy idea that is quite similar is to put a tennis ball inside a stocking, with a knot at the top of the ball and hang the stocking from the clothes line or a support beam. Ours hangs from our very old Hills Hoyst clothes line which is a perfect spot for it. Just find a racquet (in our case it's Daddy's old squash racquet) and have a go at hitting the ball as it swings around.

I'm still keen to own one of the real swinging ball sets and they are well within budget coming in at under $20 for all that crazy fun. For now though, we will enjoy our swinging stocking ball which still provides my girls with the opportunity to practise using a raquet and aiming for a ball. It's a great hand/ eye co-ordination activity.

You know I think I might keep giving it a hit too. As the story goes, my brother and I used to take tennis lessons on a Saturday morning when we were quite young. Mum and Dad came to watch us one particular morning and were so embarrassed by our efforts that they took us out of lessons. This always gives me a good giggle. Now art or craft classes I may have been able to handle! ; ) And my brother, well, he is a keen basket ball player.

We Play


"Come and play at the Childhood 101 We Play Link Up"

9 comments:

Let the Children Play said...

Totem tennis I think it was called. We had one when we were growing up and it was great fun.

Kelly said...

We have one. I think I use it more than the kids... lol I love it.

The Sunshine Crew said...

So cute! Looks like she loved swing ball. Such fun!
Happy Tuesday!
Colleen:)

amandab said...

Totem tennis is what it's called. My grandparents had one and we loved it (more than the dreaded tennis lessons, that's for sure!)

I think Princess would only know this as "Swirly tennis" from Charlie and Lola, but maybe, one day, when we have a garden, we might have somewhere to put one of these too! :)

Brooke said...

Thank you for this tip. I've been wanting to buy a few things for outdoor games but this way I can save a few dollars and use what we already have. Sadly though I will need to buy a bat at least...hehe.

Marita said...

I like that a simple solution to the game, balling stocking :)

My brother got a totem tennis set for his red heeler puppy for Christmas. The puppy LOVED chasing the ball around in circles :grin:

Busy Brissy Mum said...

Thanks for stopping by Busy Brissy Mum everyone!

@ Brooke - a rolled up newspaper taped up with masking tape could do the trick as well. I guess just as you'd have to with any racquet, the space would need to be cleared before anyone takes a swing. I'm keeping my eye on the Op Shops for some Totem Tennis bats.

Thanks everyone for letting me know the name of the game. Now I can stop calling it Swing Ball.

Catherine said...

I love that swinging tennis game, it is on my list of things for Santa to bring this year.

Busy Brissy Mum said...

Yeah, I'm thinking about it for a Christmas gift too.

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