Three-Color Kin-Ball: A Game with Simplified Official Rules
A kin-ball game, a sport created in Quebec, Canada, in 1986, with three teams of four on the court at once. Students work on teamwork and reading the other teams' serves.
How to play
- Explain the basic rules: three color teams; the serving team shouts "Omnikin" and the color that must receive, and that team has to catch the ball before it touches the floor (4 min).
- Team serve practice: three players hold the ball, the fourth hits it and calls the color; everyone must be touching the ball at the moment of the serve (6 min).
- 6-minute games on two courts, with waiting teams rotating in at the end of each game (20 min).
- Debrief: which positioning helped you receive, and how did you choose which color to serve to? (5 min).
Rules
- The serving team shouts "Omnikin" and the receiving team's color before hitting.
- If the called team doesn't catch the ball before it touches the floor, the other two teams each score a point.
- The serve must go up or level, never straight into the floor, and sending it out of bounds is a fault.
- Hit with arms and open hands; no one dives on the floor.
Variations
Easier
The teacher directs the serve and the ball may bounce once before the catch.
Standard
Three teams, a called color, and a point for the other two teams on a miss.
Harder
The serving team must serve from the exact spot where it caught the ball, without moving with it.
Adaptations
- Students with visual impairments: are one of the three holding the ball on the serve and receive with help from teammates who call it out.
- Students who use wheelchairs: hold the ball on the serve from their chair and take the middle of the square when receiving.
- Students with an arm injury: receive with the body and legs and never hit on the serve.
Learning goals
- Learn and apply the basic kin-ball rules.
- Cooperate so the whole team serves and receives.
- Decide which team to serve to.
Equipment for a class of 25
- kin-balls: 2
- pinnies: 30
Teacher tip
Sort the pinnies by color before class to save time. With 30 students, 24 play and 6 rotate in each game. If you don't have a kin-ball, any inflatable giant ball over a meter across will do; a small exercise ball doesn't play the same.
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