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BALL GAMES frequently consist of variations on a basic theme of football (i.e. soccer on this side of the Atlantic) with a ball being kicked through makeshift goals (usually piles of jumpers or jackets) or against a target chalked on a convenient wall. Otherwise, simple cricket games are played in the street or playground, with sides of unlimited size and using any available style of bat and "wickets" which may be the bottom of a lamp-post, an upturned box or more unusually someone may even have a set of proper cricket stumps.

Other ball games involve formal rules of play and require no other equipment other than a suitable ball - usually smaller than a football - and plenty of space to play in.

Old favourites such as Donkey and Pig-in-the-middle are for small numbers of children : in the first, two children throw the ball back and forth between them; each time the ball is dropped, the child who drops it gains a letter of the word "donkey" and the loser is the one who spells out "donkey" first. Pig-in-the middle is for three, two who pass the ball between them and the third, "piggy," who has to try and intercept it, changing places with the thrower whose pass he manages to intercept.

Ball Tig or "Dodge Ball" is a variation on the chase game, where instead of actually catching the others, the child who is "It" has to throw a ball to hit them, usually below the knee, in order to catch them; "It" cannot run with the ball but once s/he has succeeded in hitting one of the others, they both become "It" and can pass the ball between them, thus speeding up the game. It is perfectly in order - indeed expected - to dodge, jump over or deflect the ball if aimed at you, but not to throw it, that is only allowed for those who are "It."

One ball game which is most fun with a large group of children rejoices in the name of "Eggety Budge." All but one of the children choose secret names which must form a "set" ( or no-one will be able to remember what they all are!) - colours, months, towns and cities, numbers, football players - it doesn't matter what, and they also add a name for the child left in charge of the ball. One child is nominated to recite the list and the child with the ball hurls it as high as s/he can vertically, at the same time shouting out one of the list of names. The rest of the children scatter and the one whose name is chosen has to try to catch it - if it is caught cleanly then s/he hurls it up again and calls out another name. More often it is not caught but has to be chased; as soon as the child whose name was called has possession of the ball, s/he shouts "Eggety Budge" and everyone else has to stop. The child with the ball then has to try to hit one of the other children (usually the nearest) by throwing the ball at them, often after a pre-arranged number of steps are taken (which may be "giant steps," "fairy steps," or "barrels," or a combination.