Tabletop Games
With little more than a few household items, you can create a major league play area for your kids right on the kitchen table.
PAPER BALL SOCCER
Paper Ball SoccerLet your fingers do the kicking -- and passing and trapping -- in this tabletop version of the world's favorite game.

WHAT YOU NEED:
• 2 goals (see directions below)
• masking tape
• a sheet of paper

SETUP:
Place the goals at opposite ends of the table. Use the tape to mark the goal mouths, as shown. Crumple the paper into a ball.

HOW TO PLAY:
Starting at midfield, use your index finger and/or middle finger to kick the ball down the field. You can pass it from one hand to the other up to three times, and you can shoot at the goal at any point. Your opponent must stay within the goal mouth and can stop the ball using only his index and middle fingers. After a shot on goal, the defender gets the ball.

REF SAYS:
If the ball goes off the table during the match, the player who touched it last loses possession, and the other player starts from his own end.

TABLETOP GOAL
Thanks to some simple notches, this nifty box goal (our box was 12 by 9 by 5 inches) fastens to your table without tape. The angled backstop ensures that balls end up in the goal's collector rather than bouncing back onto the playing field.

    1. Measure the thickness of your table and cut 2 notches to that dimension, as shown.

    2. To create an angled backstop, bend the flap above the notches back inside the box.

    3. Use red tape to highlight the edges of the goal and add other decorative effects.

    4. Slip the box over the edge of the table and fire away!
  IN THIS ARTICLE: