Earthball. Earthball? Earthball!

Many are the times I’ve said very definitely that New Games are not about equipment, they’re about people interacting and having fun together. New Games DO NOT REQUIRE equipment. We can have a great time with little or no equipment. No balls, bats, hoops, or anything. This works well, especially with a group that is assembled for a purpose.

However, there are times when a piece of eye catching equipment can be very useful.

Enter the Earthball. When at a festival or exposition or some place where there is in no way a captive audience, something eye catching is needed. At these times, it becomes like pulling teeth to get people to stop and join a New Game that does not have props. The parachute can work well a lot of the time, and I use it often.

However, the Earthball works almost every time just because people are not used to seeing it. The ball is fairly irresistible. Even very distracted people notice it. Sometimes that’s because the Earthball is rolling right at them, by design or accident. Usually no special effort is needed to attract interest in the ball. People are drawn to it, well, if not like a magnet, almost.

The responses are varied, from delighted to shocked (if you turn to see a 6 foot ball rolling at you from close range, that is a common reaction – even though I’m always there to stop it from actually colliding with the person who doesn’t want a collision). In any case, it is hard to ignore.

Almost everyone notices the Earthball and most often they want to touch it, roll it, bounce into it, or crawl up on it. Which they can do, since the ball is accessible. It is not just for looking at like a sculpture in an art gallery. That has an amazing appeal, since so often people aren’t allowed to interact with spectacles, like giant balloons at a parade.

So in the end, though New Games does not need equipment, sometimes to attract a crowd to start things going something like the Earthball is needed. While buying one is possible, for a one-time event that is an expensive prospect. It is also possible to rent the Earthball for a more affordable price. To look into doing either, just click on the word Earthball.