Four square involved a large chalk-drawn square dissected into four smaller squares, a dodge ball or similar soft bouncy ball, and four players -- one in each square and several feet apart. The player in square #1 would serve the ball by bouncing it in his/her square and over to another square. The next player would tap the ball with an open-palm (or two) to the next square. If the ball didn't bounce in the "tapper's" square first, it was a foul. If the person receiving the tap missed the ball before it bounced in their own square, they were sent over to square #4 and everyone moved up a square. Square #1 was always the server's square and the ideal place to be. But if the server missed the ball upon its return to his/her square, then the server had to go to square #4 and the player in square #2 became the server is square #1.
As we got older, we quit playing the simple way. We started picking categories like "TV Shows," "Bee Gees songs" (hey, it was the 70's

), "Bodies of water," or what have you. Each time, you bounced the ball, you had to name something in that category without repeating a previously mentioned item and without stopping and holding the ball to think about it. If you stopped or bounced the ball and didn't have an answer as you bounced it and it got to the next person, you were out.
