Inside the Box – Target Practice & Scoring Game 🎾

Time: 4–8 minutes
Theme: Learning how to aim at the correct area, understand how points are constructed, and learn touch and control.

📖 Story Script:

“Do you know how tennis players score points? That’s right — by hitting the ball into the box on the other side of the court! Today, we’re going to practise doing just that. Can you aim carefully and hit your target like a real tennis pro?”

🧠 Purpose:

• Learn how tennis scoring works

• Practise aim and control (both forehand and backhand)

• Reinforce “target awareness” with simple visuals

• Create a fun 1-to-1 dynamic between child and parent

🏗 Set-Up:

• Coach shows the children how to draw a line with a drop-down line, dots, (or cones if nothing else). NB if you have enough big hoops, you can use them, but you are limited by how far they can move back, as the hoops are small.

• Coach demonstrates how a tennis point is scored (ball must land in the court/box)

• Each child pairs up with a parent/assistant

• Using drop-down lines, cones, hoops, or markers, each pair creates a target box in front of the parent (3–4 racket lengths wide is fine)

• The child stands opposite and attempts to hit/throw the ball/beanbag into the box. Coach demonstrates a maximum of three variants (depending on age: see feathers and progressions) with the assistant or a player, and then sends parents away to build a box and start practising

🎯 How to Play:

1. Parent and child find a space and draw their own box (based on the coach's demonstration)

2. The child hits forehands/ backhands/ throws (coach decides based on group and age: see feathers and progressions)

3. The parent stands ready to catch the ball after one bounce

• If the ball lands inside the box: The child takes one step back = Harder challenge

• If it misses the box: They stay where they are, and the child tries again

🏆 How far back can the child move back before the time is up?

🪶 Feathers (Simplified for Younger Children):

• Throw beanbags into the box (underarm)

• Throw and catch, toss a football, landing in the box

• Use hitting tees to hit in the box

• Use a larger box or hoop as a target

• Let the child drop-hit instead of hitting from a feed

• Use balloons or foam balls for easier control

• Allow the child to stand closer and roll or gently tap the ball

• Parent can “trap and roll” instead of catch if easier

⚡ Progressions (Older/Mixed Ages):

• Alternate between forehands and backhands

• Try hitting the left or right corners of the box

• Add a bonus point if the ball bounces inside the box and is caught cleanly

• Use scoring: 1 point per box hit, 5 hits = level up

• Try a serve variation: underarm serve into the box, then overarm or throw the ball to start a rally

• Use a mini-red ball, and rally with the parent/ child in the box.

• Play points where the ball has to bounce into the box once and two bounces on your side, then progress to just one bounce your side, then volleys with no bounces

🌈 Seasonal Variations:

• 🎄 Christmas: Draw a present 🎁 inside the box and say “deliver the gift!”🐣 Easter: Drop cones/eggs in the target box and say, “Can you crack the Easter egg?”

• 💝 Valentine’s: Use heart-shaped targets – “hit the love zone!”

• 🎃 Halloween: “Can you scare the ghost hiding in the box?”🌸 Mother’s Day / Father’s Day: “Deliver your ball into the Mum/Dad zone for a surprise hug!”