As a child, you no doubt used to play a number of indoor games that you don’t see a great deal of nowadays. Since computer games have become so popular, there no longer really seems a place for many of the older games that used to keep kids entertained for hours on end.

Scalextric has largely been replaced by racing games and things like Subbuteo have been replaced by football games.

However, one indoor activity that is unlikely to disappear is the use of Lego. Kids still get a thrill out of building all sorts of things out of Lego as it continues to satisfy their natural inquisitiveness.

It’s surprising how quickly you can improve you pool game when you put in the hours. Simply arranging weekly matches of winner-stays-on at home with a few of your mates can greatly enhance your ability and stop you relying on fluky shots when you play at the pub.

Between you, you will pick up on how to better your stance and how you use your cue in order to pull off particular shots. Regularity is the most important thing when you practise as it will allow you to put new techniques you have learnt to immediate use.

If your mates aren’t around, try playing a game against yourself to hone your skills.

If you have a garage but you tend not to use it to keep your car in, it’s well worth converting it into a games room, especially if it is detached from the rest of the house. Garages can easily fit a pool table inside and have ample space for things like dartboards and poker tables.

Converting your garage into a games room gives you a place to hang out in a sociable atmosphere that is removed from the more comfortable surroundings of the rest of your house. It also means you’ve a place to chat well into the night without disturbing the rest of the household.

Make sure you put a decent stereo in there too. There’s nothing like a bit of good music, a few indoor games and good company.

If you have a dartboard, but you’re not really up to scratch for a proper game then you should try playing a beginners’ game called Around The Clock first.

The objective of Around The Clock is really simple. All each player has to do is try and hit each number in order from 1 to 20. Basically, a player starts off with three darts trying to hit number 1. If he hits 1 he moves onto 2 and so on until the three darts are gone and it’s the next player’s turn.

The winner is the first to 20. You can make things more interesting by bringing doubles and triples into play for the lower numbers allowing people to jump ahead. You can also stipulate that the winner has to hit the bull after 20 to make the game a touch harder.

It’s great to have a games room at home where you can pass the time if the weather’s bad. It’s also a really good way of helping to entertain people when they come over. You can share a few drinks, chat for a while and enjoy a few indoor sports.

The main indoor sports you can get going in your games room are things like darts, pool and table football. All these things require a bit of space, so don’t try and squeeze a games room into an area that’s too tight – remember you have to have extra room simply to hang out comfortably.

It can be great fun taking part in the office Olympics, especially if you are better at the events than your co-workers. We end our five part article with a sport that is based on a non-Olympic event but is engrained in the heartland of the British summertime – water butt cricket.

What are the rules of water butt cricket?

The office divides itself into two teams. Using an empty water butt from the water cooler as a cricket bat and a tightly screwed up document as a ball, the aim of the game is to be the team who scores the most runs.

Before the game starts the teams must decide on a fixed number of overs (6 balls per over) or a number of balls that each team member receives. A run is scored when the buttsman manages to hit the ball (bowled by an opposing team member) against one of the office walls (it’s in the office so no running allowed). The team member is out when they fail to hit the ball. It is important to note that each ball bowled should be able to be hit by the opposing team. Any ball that is too far away from the buttsman will have to be bowled again.

The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins.

The latest event at the office Olympics is called ‘speed coffee’. And the benefit of this office Olympic event is competitors have a cup of coffee to drink after the event.

The basic essence of the event is that competitors take turns to make a cup of coffee, but there are some provisos:

• The event is timed from the moment the competitor leaves his/her desk to the time they return and sit down.
• The kettle must be empty on starting the event. It needs to be filled by the competitor then boil and switch itself off before the hot water is poured into the mug.
• No coffee must be spilled from the time the competitor leaves the staff kitchen until they reach their desk.
• The mug used must contain a ‘full’ cup of coffee (we have had occasions when competitors have tried to flout the rules and only fill it a little to avoid spillage).

Speed, accuracy and determination, plus the ability not to feel burning pain are the pre-requisites to be a speed coffee champion.

We have already covered chair racing and pen throwing in our five part office Olympics article. Here we will discuss the dangerous art of office chair spinning.

Chair spinning

In this event the participants take turns in sitting in a suitable office chair at one end of the office. Two other entrants then spin the participant around for a pre-decided number of turns – the higher the number the higher the risk. When the chair stops, the participant races against the clock to reach the far end of the office. Much falling over and hence hilarity may ensue, as may projectile vomit. This game is not for the feint of heart.

All the entrants take a turn and the fastest entrant is the winner.

In our first article on office Olympics we featured the chair race. An exciting event that all too often ends in tragedy for the competitors, when the emphasis of the race turns from who wants to win into who wants to create the most devastation.

In part 2 of this article we are going to discuss the noble art of pen throwing.

Pen throwing

In the pen throwing event the participants first choose a suitable pen – preferably not one that leaks easily.

The aim of the event is to stand at one end of the office and try to throw their pen across the room to the far wall. The entrant who gets his or her pen closest to the wall without hitting the wall is the winner.

We know that office Olympics is not a registered sport but with the weather warming up we thought we would give you a list of sports that you can play in the office when you are feeling bored or when your boss has the day off. Part 1 of this five part article is the office chair race.

The Office Chair Race

For this event you need two or more willing employees with rollable office chairs. When the boss is out of the room you need to line up the competitors at one end of the office (the larger the office the better). A non-competing office member acts as a referee, usually the office swot. The competitors have to race to the other end of the office using only their feet as a method of propulsion whilst at the same time making sure that their buttocks are firmly planted to the chair seat.

There are no strict rules during the race but devious tactics are generally frowned upon, however the odd bump into your main rival is not seen as a rule infringement.