Wall Ball And Two-Ball: The Wall Games With Rules

A wall and a ball is a game. Half of every school playground in the country was one long queue for a stretch of brick.

Here are the rules for the main wall games, including the sequences everyone half remembers.

Wall ball

• Players stand in a line facing a wall. One throws the ball against it.
• The next player must catch it on the full or after one bounce, depending on the version agreed.
• Drop it, and you must run and touch the wall before another player can hit you with the ball. Succeed and you stay in; get hit and you take a letter.
• Letters spell a word, usually DONKEY or OUT. Spell it and you're eliminated.
• The softer school version: no throwing at people, just a letter for every drop.
• A tennis ball for the proper game, a sponge ball if a teacher is watching.

Two-ball

• One player, two balls, one wall. You keep both in the air against the wall continuously, one leaving your hand as the other returns.
• Start with the basic rhythm, then add moves between throws: a clap, a turn, a leg over, a bounce under the arm.
• Each move is repeated a set number of times before moving to the next - usually the sequence is called out as a rhyme.
• The classic rhymes: 'plainsy, clapsy, roll your hands to backsy' and 'over, under, in and out'.
• Drop a ball and you hand over to the next player, restarting from where you failed next turn.
• Three balls was the show-off version and about four children in each school could do it.

Sevens

• A solo sequence of seven rounds against a wall, each harder than the last.
• Seven straight throws and catches. Then six with a clap. Then five with a bounce first. Then four thrown under the leg. Then three with a turn. Then two with eyes closed. Then one behind the back.
• Any drop sends you back to the start of that round, or the start of the game in the strict version.
• Every playground had its own sequence. Write yours down before you forget it.
• Works as a genuinely good solo game for a child with ten minutes and a garden wall.

The other wall games

• Donkey: catch and pass in a circle against the wall, a letter for every drop, first to spell DONKEY loses.
• Headers and volleys: one in goal against the wall, everyone else volleying or heading. Score and you swap out; miss badly and you go in goal.
• Wallies, or slam: the ball must hit the ground before the wall, squash-style.
• Spot: a chalk target on the wall and a point for hitting it.
• Wall cricket, with a chalk wicket and a tennis ball.
• Kerby against a wall base when there's no facing kerb.

Shop cards

How to write it so it lands

• Tennis ball for the proper game, sponge if a teacher's watching.
• Write your school's sevens sequence down - nobody remembers it.
• Three balls was always showing off.

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• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What are the rules of wall ball?

Players take turns throwing a ball against a wall, and the next player must catch it. Anyone who drops it runs to touch the wall before being hit by the ball; failing that they take a letter, and spelling the word out eliminates them.

How do you play two-ball?

Keep two balls moving against a wall continuously, one leaving your hand as the other comes back. Add a move between throws - a clap, a turn, a leg over - repeating each a set number of times, usually called out as a rhyme.

What is sevens ball game?

A solo wall sequence of seven rounds: seven plain throws, six with a clap, five with a bounce, four under the leg, three with a turn, two with eyes closed and one behind the back. A drop sends you back to the start of the round.

What is donkey ball game?

Players pass a ball against a wall in a circle, and anyone who drops it takes a letter. The first person to spell out D-O-N-K-E-Y is out.

Do you sell games or play equipment?

No - we make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. Every game here needs a wall, a ball, a piece of chalk or nothing at all, and the only products on this page are our own cards.