Comets

1. In advance, fill a bunch of knee-high stockings with old tennis balls, one per person in your group.
2. Gather group outside in very wide, open playing space.
3. Distribute one ‘comet’ to each person.
4. Involving a volunteer, demonstrate the unique release and catch of a comet ball.
5. Invite your group to spread throughout the space, to practice the release and catch of their own comet ball.
6. After several minutes, invite pairs to form.
7. Challenge each pair to toss their comets at the same time and catch the comet of their partner.
8. As skills develop, encourage partners to walk further away from each other to increase the challenge.
9. Continue play for 5 to 10 minutes and/or try a variation.

Now, I’m not saying you should raid your mother’s wardrobe, but you do need stockings for this activity – lots of them. The knee-high kind, and preferably the neon-colour style.

Fill the toe-end of each stocking with an old tennis ball, and swing it around a few times to really push that sucker to the end. Multiply this effort by as many people in your group, and you are now ready to go.

Asking your group to back-up a little, demonstrate the unique comet ball swing, by holding the ‘tail’ of the comet (open end of stocking) in one hand, and then twirling the ball centrifugally around your hand perpendicular to the ground.

Huh? Not sure you got a picture of what I mean? Look at the illustration for clues.

Now, this is the tricky part. By way of demonstration, your goal is to time your release so that the comet launches into the air, and not sail squarely into the ground, or worse, into your group!

If successful, you will notice that as it flies, it does look a bit like a comet soaring through the night sky, ie ball of fire with a flapping tail. Ultimately, you want to catch the comet by its tail just milliseconds before it hits the ground.

OK. Time to turn it over to your group.

Start with one comet per person, and challenge them to catch their own comet. Then, invite two people to join and simultaneously toss and catch their partner’s comet.

After several minutes, encourage pairs to walk further away from one another to increase the challenge.

Ideal as an activity in its own right, or as an ‘arrival’ activity to occupy and reward those folks who turn up on time. Either way, you will quickly discover how contagious comets are. So many variations, check out a few ideas in the Variations tab.

Flesh-coloured stocking do work, they’re just not as exciting as neon-coloured knee-high ones.

Speak to your local tennis club and ask if you could have their old tennis balls for free, as they are often thrown away! Also, go direct to a local stocking manufacturer and ask for a bulk discount – again, they are often quite obliging.

There are any number of commercial versions of Comets in toy stores, but none come close to the original. Not only do their commercial counterparts often come at an exorbitant price, but they rarely provide the same elasticity and thrust as a knee-high stocking gives when you swing a tennis ball from its end.

Note: comets are like a magnet to trees. That fine stocking mesh is guaranteed to get trapped in the branches of a tree if you choose to toss and catch anywhere near them.

You could integrate Comets as part of a well-designed SEL program to develop your group’s ability to make caring and constructive choices about personal behaviour and social interactions.

Specifically, this activity offers opportunities to explore and practice the following social & interpersonal skills:

Self-Management

• Demonstrating Self-Discipline & Self-Motivation

Social Awareness

• Demonstrating Empathy & Compassion
• Recognising Strengths In Others

Relationship Skills

• Communicate & Listen Effectively
• Seeking and/or Offering Support
• Build Positive Relationships
• Work Collaboratively

Responsible Decision-Making

• Making Reasoned Judgements
• Anticipating & Evaluating the Consequences of One’s Actions
• Promoting Personal & Collective Well-Being

You can learn more about SEL and how it can support character education here.

There is no specific health & wellness perspective to this activity other than promoting the benefits of a short burst of physical activity and interaction.

In a small way, you could argue that the effort and focus required to successfully (and safely) play Comets may offer opportunities to reflect on group behavioural norms such as cooperation and responsible decision-making.

If you can think of more explicit ways in which Comets could be purposefully integrated into a health and wellness program, please leave a comment at the base of this page.

• Tail Catch: Challenge people to catch their comet only by the very end of their tail (it’s easier to catch by the ball.)
• Non-Dominant Use: Invite everyone to use their non-dominant arm/hand to release and catch their comets.
• Tip Of My Tongue: Attempt to catch a comet by its tail between one’s teeth. In theory, it would seem possible, but I’ve never seen it. Good luck!
• Team Comets 1: Invite two pairs to form a team of four people. Their goal, to release and catch as many of their four comets at the same time. When ready, ramp-up the challenge and combine two groups of four to make eight.
• Team Comets 2: Split your group into half, and supply only one ‘team’ with comets. Separate each team about 30 metres (100’) apart from the other. On an agreed signal, all of the comets are launched at the same time, and the other team aims to catch as many as possible. Keep score, repeat several times. Note, place as much emphasis on the release as the catch. The two sides need to work together to achieve the highest tally of catches as possible.
• Comet Horseshoes: Place a hula-hoop (or other receptacle) at two ends of your playing space, about 10 to 20 metres (33 – 65’) apart. Armed with a bunch of comets, divide your group into two, with each half standing behind one of the hoops. Each ‘team’ aims to bounce as many comets (not just the tail) inside the opposing hoop (the one furthest away) in 5 to 10 minutes.

Have you had the experience of seeing a comet light up the night sky? Halley’s Comet was one of the most recent comets to grace our skies. If you can imagine the basic form of a comet, the ball of fire at the front and the tail of flames running behind it, you’re be ready for our next activity…

There are many catching exercises which can help you practice the fine motor skills of grasping all sorts of objects in your hands. Some are simple to catch, while others are much harder. I’m about to introduce to you a rather innovative resource which will provide you with many degrees of challenge…

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Coupled with one or more reflection strategies, here are some sample questions you could use to process your group’s experience after playing this very active energiser:

• What skill took the most practice to perfect – releasing or catching? Both?
• In what ways did you challenge yourself to catch a comet?
• In small groups, what helped you catch as many comets as possible?
• What was the most fun? Tossing or catching?