BolaBall

To reward the kids for getting excellent grades on their report cards, Mum and Dad gave them a BolaBall game to play at the cottage.

What's BolaBall?

Uhm... it's this:

The frames are set up in the grass about 20' apart. The object is to whip your balls-on-a-string and wrap them around the dowels: 3 points for the top dowel, 2 points for the middle, 1 point for the bottom. The first person to reach 21 points wins, however you have to get exactly 21 points. If you go over 21, you deduct the number of points earned from your score (i.e. you have 19. You hang your bola on the top rung giving you 22, instead of 22, you end up with 16 points)! Yikes!

But it would be dead easy to make this game yourself! All you'd need is four 2x2 boards, six 1/2" dowels, and some spray paint (optional). I've also heard about people who have made these out of PVC tubing. I've also heard that you can make your own BolaBalls by drilling into golf balls and threading rope through them, but that smacks of effort when you can just buy buy replacement packs of BolaBalls, $10 for a pack of 3 (you need 6 altogether). They're kinda like 2" indian rubber balls on strings.

You can play 2- or 4-player games.

 The kids love it and are wildly competitive.

You just have to be careful not to park your frame near a tree (or, I guess, a window) lest you lose your bola.