Dodgeball Alternative for PE Class: Hula Ball
Use this dodgeball alternative in your PE class! Hula ball is a great option for students with lots of energy but is safer than dodge ball.
I never play dodgeball in my PE classes. I see no point in it as it doesn’t teach any skill or get all the kids moving. It is also dangerous and can promote bullying behaviors.
However, my students still ask to play it on a regular basis so I like this fun and engaging alternative that I call Hula Ball.
Want to save this post?
Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox.
How to Play Hula Ball (Dodgeball Alternative)
This dodgeball alternative is super simple to play and doesn’t need a ton of equipment!
Equipment for Hula Ball:
- 18 hula hoops per team
- about 12 foam balls
- cones, multi-goals, and or buckets (about 3 per team)
The goal of the game is to have 3 “hula huts” standing.
Divide the students into 2 teams. Each team must stay on their side of the gym. On the dividing line place foam balls. A few feet behind the dividing line each team should have a few cones, buckets, or goals; or a mixture of these.
On my go signal, teams start by aiming foam balls at the opposite teams’ cones and buckets. Each cone hit equals one hula hoop. If you have something like a bucket that they can make a basket in, it is worth 2 hula hoops.
Once the team has 6 hula hoops they can begin building a hula hut. Hula huts are built by placing one hoop on the ground, balancing four hoops leaning in the center, and one hoop on the top holding it all together.
Opposite teams can also aim at the hula huts to keep them from getting three huts standing and winning the game.
Takeaways from Hula Ball
What I like: It is a crazy fun, face paced, and engaging game. Balls are being thrown at objects not people, so I had no injuries occur. It requires teamwork and strategy. There are multiple things going on: earning hula hoops, building the huts (this is not easy), guarding the built huts, knocking down the opposite team’s huts. Every person had a job and was involved.
What I didn’t like: For the most part, I like this game. But, it is tricky to keep the huts standing and I worried about the kids getting frustrated. We played for a solid 30 minutes with no winner, though, and I received no negative feedback from my students.
All in all this dodgeball alternative game is a definite keeper for PE class. My students had a great time with hula ball and left sweating!
