Prerequisites

It helps if the players have either read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies so they know the basic lingo used in Quidditch. "Other than that, you need the ability to run away from an opponent or to chase one and the ability to throw and catch -- that's it," says Palmer.

Materials Needed One foam soccer ball (quaffle); 4 to 8 solid-color foam balls, each about 8 inches in diameter (bludgers); 1 small super-bouncy ball (snitch); and 6 hula hoops (goals). The hoops need to hang about 6 feet off the ground from a soccer net crossbar, tree branch, or something similar (three at each end). Each team should wear same-color shirts.

Rules To begin the game, 8 to 10 players per team are assigned positions. If more kids want to join in the fun, additional players can easily be added. Here's what the positions do:

Chaser: Three to four per team. Chasers are offensive players similar to forwards in soccer. They try to throw the quaffle through one of the hoops to score 10 points.

Beater (or Tagger): Three to four per team. They use the bludger to tag out chasers and the seeker. The beaters are defensive players, like soccer fullbacks.

Seeker: One to two people per team (depending upon your team size), who, when the snitch is released, try to catch it to score 150 points.

Keeper: This person guards the goals and tries to block any attempt to score. Each team has one keeper.

Game Play The game begins with a chaser from each team standing in the center with the other teammates positioned around them (much like a basketball game tip-off). The beaters stand back some, protecting their goals. The quaffle is tossed into the air by the referee (that's you) and the center chasers try to tip the ball to another chaser on their team. Seekers and beaters don't touch the quaffle.