Silent ball

Silent ball is a party game commonly played in a classroom, in which a ball is thrown from player to player while everyone tries to stay completely silent for as long as possible. A player is generally eliminated from the round for talking or making noise, for throwing the ball inaccurately or too aggressively, or for failing to catch a fair throw, and eliminated players typically sit down while continuing to watch the remaining players. Common variations let a seated player who catches a stray or badly thrown ball re-enter the game, forbid throwing the ball straight back to whoever just threw it, put a time limit on how long any one player may hold the ball before passing it on, or allow the supervising teacher to join in as an active player. The game is also known by the alternate names Silent desk ball and Mum ball. It is popular with teachers as a low-cost way to give a class a short structured break that still requires quiet, controlled behavior rather than free, noisy activity.