Although I have never played croquet, I have always liked the idea of it. I think it stems from watching Alice in Wonderland when I was a child. I loved watching Alice hit those little rolled up hedgehogs (I think) through the folded over cards with her flamingo croquet stick (hmm, I must watch that again, I can use the children as an excuse).
Anyway, as I mentioned I have never actually played the game, nor do I own a croquet set (obviously) but I thought that I could use the concept to create a fun game in the garden with my children.
And that is where the pool noodles come in.
What you need:
• Pool Noodles (I used 6 but you can use as many or as few as you like)
• Some wooden skewers (2-4 per pool noodle. I used those ones that you buy to make sosaties)
• A few large soccer balls (or any balls that you can get your hands on)
To make your croquet field simply place 2 skewers per pool noodle into the ground (about 40-50cm apart). I ended up having to use a rubber mallet to get the skewers into the ground as it was so dry and hard, sob! Once you have found a way to get all the skewers into the ground, bend the pool noodle to create an arch and thread it over the skewers.
You can arrange them in any way that you like: they can be in a random pattern, a weaving pattern or even in a long straight line. I created a bit of a weaving pattern with my noodles so that the girls would have to work a bit harder to control the ball. You can of course adjust your noodles according to your little one’s age and skill level.
This activity was a lot of fun and I have to admit that my four year old’s ball skills gave me a bit of a run for my money!
One of the best parts of this activity is that once we were all hot and sweaty from running around, we could pull the pool noodles out of the ground and use them in the pool to cool down (it was still 35 degrees at 5pm this afternoon).
Somebody is not impressed by the dry, spiky grass!
Please just make sure that all the skewers are accounted for, you don’t want to forget about them and then stand on one at a later date.