I just put the field elements together last night, now I plan on giving students (4) rules for this season…
Rule #1 - You are not a racehorse, DO NOT jump over the fence!
Rule #2 - You are not a racehorse, DO NOT jump over the fence!
Rule #3 - Do not throw stars at anyone.
Rule #4 - This is not a sleep-over, no pillow-cube fights!
I was soooo glad when NBN was over because I was tired of the kids throwing the balls at each other, me, pets, anything in general. I thought this year would be so mellow because there are no balls… but your post reminds me that there are plenty of other mischevious things to do with the field elements!
Ha! I know the feeling. The ball throwing was fairly benign, except for hurt feelings and/or a school admin walking by at just the wrong time.
This game isn’t too bad. My biggest worry is a student getting the idea in his head to get a running start and hurdle the fence, maybe end up catching his foot and breaking the field and hurting himself. Or maybe it’s just something that I would have done when I was 12 or 13. lol.
Middle schooler?
Who is this “anyone”, and why are your students not allowed to throw stars only at them?
See, this is the main advantage to being private. You can throw anything you want at each other and there’s no one to complain. That is, until you have to buy new things because you broke the old ones… but that hasn’t happened yet really, except for countless lost/broken rubber bands.
“Private” until you visit a “public” setting and you have all those nasty bad habits 
So far this season we had to explain to the other kids who don’t in vex in my class, that A. you can not “bend the stars until they break for fun” B. Vexnets can NOT be stress tested by “wiping them at the ground” and C. Vex nothing but net balls were not meant to be "fully submerged in elmers glue…
That’s actually kind of impressive that somebody managed to believe that that was a good idea.
Don’t forget how it was much worse in Toss Up when people threw buckyballs at each other
Think sack attack was the messiest…
I’m glad the stars aren’t made of hard plasic.
That game would end with a few broken cortexes.
The middle school students are who I’m worried about the most… I guess they should be fine.
http://midyorksportsreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/horse_004-1400x1040-1024x761.jpg
Yes, we want to keep “anyone” safe. He gets cranky when he spills his coffee because a 14", 270g star hits him in the face.
First meeting - let the pillow fights begin.
So glad wee do not have these problems at our meetings.
How? Please teach me your ways.
Two words: “Calm Homeschoolers”. But also, seriously, mainly the parents at the meetings. Also, I have noticed that when there are not many high caffeine food items, the meetings are even more calm.
Also, no shaking the stars back and forth by one point causing them to break.
Walking/stepping over the fence should be avoided if possible as well. Some cases it may not be avoided though.
The witty student may counter that rule 1 that fences are not generally jumped by racehorses, but are jumped by steeplechase horses and equestrian horses. Never underestimate the smart alec potential of a middle schooler! We have a local horse show going on this week. You can see all the categories of jumpers.
http://www.devonhorseshow.net/about/equestrian-disciplines-2/