For participants to get their ball through each "gate" and back to the starting cone first.
Other Skills:
Coordination

Please see the attached document for an example of the set up.
Place one cone at the start and then set up gates around the area. The size of the gate depends on the skill level of the participants. Depending on the size of the gym or field, set up more than one croquet course.
Divide participants into groups of 4-5 participants.
Each participant will have their own "croquet mallet" (ruler, metre stick, hockey stick etc...) and their own ball (wiffle ball, tennis ball, beanbag). It'll be best if the balls participants use are different colours.

1. Each participant will begin at the starting cone.
2. Decide the order in which the participants will go. Create an order using colours of the balls, or ages, or alphabetically with first names etc...
3. Please see the attached document for an example of the set up.
4. The first participant will place their ball right in front of the starting cone.
5. At the beginning of each turn, a participant gets one hit.
6. They will hit the ball with their "croquet mallet" and try to get it through the first gate, and maybe even the second gate.
7. Every time a participant gets a ball through a gate, they get to hit again. So, if the participant gets it through just the first gate, they get to hit again. If they get it through both gates on one hit, they get two extra hits.
8. Once a participant has no more hits, then it is the next participant's turn.
9. When the ball goes through the cones, it cannot go higher than the top of a cone. If it does, the participant hits again from where they were.
10. The participants have to hit the ball through the gates in the correct order (please see the attached document for an example of the set up and path).
11. When participants get to the midway point, they have to hit the ball through the two gates and then hit the midway cone. When they hit the cone, they get another hit.
12. Then they hit the ball back through the two gates and then go onto the next gate.
13. The first participant to hit the finish cone (which is the same as the starting cone), wins.
14. Additional rules:
- If a participant's ball hits another participant's ball, then the participant that hit it has a couple options. They can either take an extra hit from where their ball landed, or move the ball they hit one ruler length in any direction.
- If a participant misses the gate and goes past it, they can hit the ball back through the gate if they wish, however it won't count until they get it through the gate going the correct way.

Allow participants two hits per turn.
If a participant's ball hits another participant's ball, nothing happens.
Set up the gates differently and have more or less gates. Make the gates bigger or smaller.
Play in groups of 2-3, and they take turns doing the gates.
Use real croquet mallets, balls and wickets if you have them, as real croquet rules too!
For a classroom version, use bottle caps as the ball, pens or pencils as the mallets and coins or erasers as the gates.