1. Each player stands with one foot in his or her country.

2. One player takes the ball and observes all players’ country.

3. The player with the ball says, "I declare war on __________!" and shouts out the name of the country of another player while slamming the ball down in the center of the circle.

4. All players run and scatter as the person whose country was named retrieves the ball, steps on the middle circle, and hollers, "freeze!"

5. The player with the ball may take 10 giant steps from the circle toward any of the "frozen countries" and try to hit one of them with the ball.

6. If the ball hits a player, that player becomes "it" and keeps the ball. All other players are then unfrozen.*

7. All the unfrozen players must run back to their countries before the player with the ball tags them. If a player is tagged, they become "it" and declare war on a new country.

8. If the player with the ball doesn’t tag anyone, he continues to be "it."