- I haven't had the time to go through the list in detail, but there are severalthat are repeats of some on the main page, with slightly different rules. In time I hope to incorporate this list into the main page.
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THE INDEX (250+ games!)
A
- Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
- All on One Side
- The Ambush Game
- Auto Trip
- A What?
B
- Back to Back
- Backlash
- Balloon Battle
- Balloon Buns
- Banana
- Barnyard
- Baseball
- Basket-Soccer Ball
- Beat the Bunny
- Big Wind Blows
- Birds Have Feathers
- Blanket Stand
- Blanket Toss
- Blind Beach Volley-ball
- Blind Cow
- Blindman's Bluff
- Body Surfing
- Boiler Burst
- Bola
- Bombardment Pins
- Bop Bop
- Box the Leader
- British Bulldog
- Bump and Scoot
- Bumpety Bump Bump
- Buzz
C
- Cat and Mouse
- Catching the Dragon's Tail
- Capture the Flag
- Catch Don't Catch
- Chicken Picks
- Circle Run
- Circle Stride Ball
- Collective-Score Blanket/TowelBall
- Colored Eggs
- Colours
- Crab Grab
- Crab Walk Soccer
- Crows and Cranes
D
- Dancing Bear
- Dancing Statues
- Dho-Dho-Dho
- Dodge Ball
- Dice Count
- Donkey Dodgeball
- Do This, Do That
- Dracula
- Duck Duck Goose or Drip DripDrop
- Ducks that Fly
- Drop the Handkerchief
E
- Eco-Ball
- The Electric Fence
- Electricity
- Elephant, Giraffe, Palm Tree
- Elves, Giants, Wizards
- Escape From the Planet Of What
- Escape From the Monsters
F
- Farmer and the Crow
- Feeding Time
- Fight for My Attention
- Fire
- Fish In A
- Flinch
- Flipper Flopper
- Flying Duchman
- Foghorn Leghorn
- Footloose
- Fool Your Family
- Frozen Beanbag
- Fruitbowl
- Fruits and Vegetables
- Flying Fish
- Fox and the Rabbit
G
- Gates, Bridges and Tunnels
- George
- Ghost
- Good Morning Captain
- Go Tag
- Guard the Pin
- Guess Who
H
- Ha Ha Ha
- Hand Wave
- Hazoo
- Hit the Bat
- Hodge Podge
- Horse and Rider Ball
- Hot and Cold
- Hot Potato
- How do you Do?
- How do you Feel?
- How many Thumbs???
- Human Pinball
- Human Tramp
- Humming Game
I
- I Am The Captain
- Indy 500
- Islands
- I Spy
- In the River, On the Shore
J
- Jamaquack
- Jelly Roll
- Jeepers Creepers #JonCam Pon
- Juggling
K
- Keep it up
- Killer
- Kitty Wanna Cracker
- Knights, Horses and Cavaliers
- Knights of the Round Table
- Knots
L
- Ladders
- Last Detail
- Lap Sit
- Leader
- Lemonade
- Lions and Tigers
- Lip and Card Relay
- Lonely Little Ghost
- Loose Caboose
- Lumberjack
M
- Machines
- Match my Feet
- Minefield
- Missing Child
- Monkey Ball
- Mouse Trap
- Mr. Greenjean
- Murder Wink
- Musical Roper/Hoops
N
- Name Train
- Never Can Tell Club
- Black Magic
- Magic Sticks
- Numbers
- Peaches
- Silly Sally
- No See Em's
- Numbers Change
O
- Objectification
- Octopus
- Oh Deer
- Old Mother Witch
- Ooh-Ahh
- Order out of Chaos
P
- Pass the Ring!
- People to People
- Pina
- Pip, Squeek and Wilbur
- Pirate's Treasure
- Poison
- Pompadour
- Poor Kitty
- Pop Goes the Weasel
- Port and Starboard
- Prisoner's Base
- Pruie
- Psychic Shake
- Punch Ball
- Punctured Drum
Q
- Quack
- Quack Quack
- Quaker Meeting
- Queenie
- Quick Frozen Critters
- Quickity-Quick
R
- Rabid Nuggets
- Racoon Dinner Time
- Races
- Rainmakers
- Rattlesnake
- Red Handed
- Rattlers
- Red Light
- Red Lion
- Red Rover
- Relays
- Rock Paper Scissors
- Rocket Race to Mars
- Romeo and Juliet
- Roundabout
- Row Ball
- Run Sheep Run
- Running Bases
- Rutabaga Rutabaga!
S
- Samurai Warrior
- Sardines
- Sculpture
- Scavenger
- Sensory Overload
- Shadow Tracks
- Smaug's Jewels
- Shoe Twister
- Shoes
- Shoe Wrestling
- Siamese Soccer
- Sign Your Name if You Can
- Silent Statue
- Simon Says
- Skin the Snake
- Smugglers
- Snake in the Grass
- Snowblind
- Sounds Good To Me
- Spirals
- Spokes
- Spud
- Stand in a line
- Stay Sober
- Stealing Sticks
- Stickup
- Sticky Popcorn
- Stomp the Snake
- Stormy Sea
- Streets and Alleys
- Squirrel Tails
- Swat
T
- Taffy Pull
- TAG
- Tent Erection
- The Thicket Game
- Things
- Things Aren't What They Seem
- Thrill of a Lifetime
- Thumper
- Tiddly
- Toe Fencing
- Toeies
- Togeth-air Ball
- Toma Hawk Snatch
- Touch Blue
- True and False
- Trust Fall
- Tunnel Race
- Twelve feet off the Ground
U
- Ultimate Frisbee
- Ultimate Foxtail
- Uncle Sam
V
- Vampire
- Viking
W
- Wacky Walkers
- What's Missing?
- What Time is it Mr. Wolf
- Who am I?
- Will You Buy My Donkey?
- Wink
- Witch
X
Y
- Yankee Doodle Cracker
- Ying Yang Yoo
Z
- Zip Zap
- Zoom Schwartz Pifigliano
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THE LIST:
A
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves(passive) Group sits in a circle and chants Ali babaand the 40 thieves, while doing an action. The group leader on thenext beat changes the action and then on the next beat the person besidehim/her does that action. The action follows its way around the circleand the whole time the group is repeating the phrase. The group leadermust change the action after every beat, so that every person in the circleeventually ends up doing a different action. (This may be comparedto singing a song in a round).
All on One Side (cooperative)
Your whole teamstarts on one side of a volleyball net with no one on the other side. The object is to get your team to the other side of the net and back asmany times as possible. Using a balloon for a ball, each player volleysthe balloon to another player and then scoots under the net to the otherside. The last player to touch the balloon taps it over the net andscoots under. The receiving players try to keep the balloon in playand repeat the process.
The Ambush Game (coop)
The group splits up into two sub-groups whichwe will call A and B. Group A leaves 5 to 10 minutes before group B andmust leave clues behind ( footprints, marks, arrows, codes, pieces of paper,etc....). They must then camouflage and set up an ambush for groupB. Group B leaves and followsthe footprints and clues left by group A and tries to discover the ambushsite. During the ambush the groups face each other in mock combat(stealing of scarves, indian wrestling, etc...). The meeting of thetwo groups could also result in the yelling of, "AMBUSH" and a race backto home base again.
Auto Trip (circle/passive)
Players sit in a circle and are assigned thenames of auto parts. (ie. hood, wheel, door, etc.) The storytellertells a story of an auto trip. As the player tells the story, theparts mentioned get up and follow him/her. When the storyteller yells"Blowout" each player scramblers for a seat. The one left out becomesthe next storyteller.
A What? (passive/circle)
Equipment: 2 objects The leader of thegame starts by passing the first object to the person on their right andsaying, "This is a whit." The reply is, "A What?" The leaderwould then clarify, "A whit." This question sequence continuesaround the circle but the question "A what?" is passed all the way backto the beginning and back again. This game can be confused by addingan additional object called a Watt in the opposite direction.
VARIATION:
In this version, you have a circle of however many people, and thesame number of monosyllabic items. One person, the leader, startsby choosing one oblect, let's say it is a spoon. He/she hands thisobject to the person on his right, and says: This is a spoon. The person replies:
"A What?"
Leader: "A Spoon."
Person: "Oh, A spoon!"
the person then takes thespoon and hands it to the person on their right, now becoming the leader. At the same time, the original leader has picked up a new object, and haspassed it on. The second person now must carry on two conversationsat the same time, looking from one to the other. I have includeda diagram of what I mean:
Leader: Person#1 Person#2 Person #3
This is a spoon.
<A What?
A Spoon
<A What?
A Spoon
<Oh! A Spoon
This is a knife This is a spoon>
<A What? <A What?
A knife! A Spoon>
<A What? <A What?
A Knife! A Spoon!>
<Oh, a knife! <Oh, a spoon!
This is a Fork This is a knife> This is a spoon>
<A What? <A What? <A What?
A Fork! A Knife> A spoon!
<A What? <A What? <A What?
A Fork! A knife! A spoon!
<Oh, a fork! <Oh,a knife! <Oh, a spoon!
This game is really fun, and it tends to get louder and louder as themore people play the game. we did this with a group of about 35 once,and it is so much fun. It can be really frustrating to learn, butit really is a blast!
Contributed by Mark Stephens
B
Back to Back (active/backpocket game) Players stand about by pairs, except one playerwho is it. When it calls, "Back to back!" the players must back upto a partner. When it calls "Face to Face!" these partners must faceeach other and shake hands. On the next call "Back to back!" and each time here after, all players must change partners. It triesto get a partner during the change. The player left out becomes it.
Backlash (cooperative/active)
Equipment: 4 round balloons Divide the group into two teams, then divide each team into pairs. Thisis a relay race, and the racecourse can extend across a large field oraround a building. Mark a start and finish line. Teams of pairsspace themselves equally from one end of the racecourse to the other. Pairs stand back to back with elbows linked. Blow up 4 large balloonsand give two each to the first pair from each team. One balloon isheld in each hand of each player. When the leader says "Go", thefirst two pairs make their way to the next pair of linked players. The first pair transfers its balloons to the next pair. The firstteam to cross the finish line wins.
Balloon Battle (active)
Equipment: Balloons, string Inflatedballoons and string for each team member. Have two teams - tie balloonsto ankle and teams try to burst the others first. Team with the lastballoons wins. As your balloon is burst you withdraw from the game.
Balloon Buns (circle/passive)
Equipment: balloon with message inside The players sit in a circle. A balloon is passed around the circle.Each player has to sit on the balloon with all their weight for 3 seconds. If someone breaks the balloon, they must do what it says on the message.(ex, sing a song, bark like a dog, dance)
Banana (circle/passive)
Equipment: A rag or sock or a real banana Form a circle with all players sitting on the floor. It is important for the players to sit close together with their knees up andtheir hands tucked under their legs. The person in the middle hasto figure out where the banana is as the people in the circle are passingthe "banana" under their legs secretly. Bandit (circle/passive)
"It" stands in the middle of the circle. When he points at one of the players in the circle and says "Bandit!", that person must put both hands over his ears. The person to thebandit's right must put the hand nearest to the bandit over his own leftear, while the person on the bandit's left puts his nearest hand over hisown right ear. If any one of the three make a mistake by coveringthe wrong ear, or by using two hands when only one is to be used, or failingto react at all before the person who is "IT" counts to ten, he becomes"IT".
Barnyard (cooperative/active)
Each child is given the name of an animal withthree children having the same name. No one is allowed to tell anotherwhich animal he is. At the signal each child makes the noise of theanimal that he has been given. The first group of three animals tofind each other and sit down are the winners.
Baseball (petrified) (active)
Divide into two teams. The rules aresimilar to regular baseball except that the fielding team may not movetheir feet. The hitting team hits the volleyball with their hand,and crawls around the bases. To score a point, the batter must crawlall around the bases back to home before the fielding team gets the ballto the catcher at home. If the fielding team gets the ball aheadof the batter, he is out. After three people are out, the teams tradeplaces.
Basket-Soccer Ball (active/cooperative)
Equipment: balls Two teams are needed. The object of the game is to get both teams up and down the court as manytimes as possible in 15 minutes. Eg. Team 'A' and Team 'B' when atone end of the court, work together to pass the ball around pylons, thenkick or lift the ball up into the hands of one of the team members, whothen shoots at the basket. If the ball goes in, they can then goto the other end of the court and shoot for that hoop. Note: Only Team "A" can shoot at "A" basket and "B" shoots at "B" basket.
Beat the Bunny (circle/passive)
Equipment: Two balls of different size. The bunny (small ball) is started first and is passed from child to childaround the circle. When the bunny is about half way around, the farmer(large ball) is started in the same direction. Note: The farmercan change directions to try and catch the bunny, but the bunny can onlygo one way.
Big Wind Blows (circle/passive)
The group forms a large circle sitting at anarm's length apart. One person is chosen to be the "wind", and standsin the centre of the circle. The game begins when the person in themiddle acts like the wind ( by turning in a circle and waving their arms)and says "THE BIG WIND BLOWS" At this point they must specificallystate what the wind blows, a statement which must be true about themselves.ie "The Big Wind Blows everyone who has blue eyes." All of the kidswho have blue eyes including the wind must stand up and run through thecircle to a position that is now empty on the other side. Upon reachingthis spot, they sit down. One person will be left over, they arenow the wind and the game continues. There is no winner or loser,just a lot of fun.
Birds Have Feathers (moderate)
One player is leader. He and all theothers flap their arms like birds. He calls out names of somethingwith feathers. If a player flaps his wings on a calling thatdoesn't have feathers he's out. The leader flaps his wings on almostall things to confuse the group and calls as rapidly as possible. "Birds have feathers, bats have feathers, babies have feathers, etc."
Blanket Stand (cooperative)
Equipment: Blanket Spread out blanket;whole group must get on it so that no appendages are touching the groundoff the blanket. If the group completes the stand, have them getoff and fold blanket in half. Repeat the above process for as longas possible.
Blanket Toss (active/cooperative)
Equipment: Blanket and waterballoon Allplayers should be standing around the blanket holding an edge. Theleader of the game will launch (by catapult or throwing) waterballoonsinto the air. The object of the game is to catch the waterballoonsin the blanket.
Blind Beach Volley-ball(active)
Equipment: Blanket and beach ball A blanketshould be draped over a volley-ball net. The game goes as usual exceptyou can not see when the ball is coming. Scary!!
Blind Cow (circle)
Equipment: bell and blindfolds All playerssit in a circle facing the centre. One person is blindfolded andis the "Blind Cow." The "blind cow" should be spun around and thenbrought to the centre of the circle. The bell should then be passedaround the circle and rung. The "blind cow" will then follow the soundof the bell. The game leader points at the person who should stopthe bell. The "blind cow" now has to guess who is holding the bell(by pointing). If the person is right, the chosen person becomesthe cow in the next round. If they are wrong, he has to go again(until he guesses right).
Blindman's Bluff (active)
Equipment: blindfold Blindfold one playerand spin them around 3 times. The blindfolded player tries to tagone of the other players, who may crouch low, sneak up behind the "blindman"and yell "Boo", or stand still and keep very quiet. Eventually though,someone will get careless and be tagged. That player is then blindfoldedfor the nest game.
Body Surfing (cooperative)
All the players lie face down, side by side,spaced about a body's width apart to form a long human breaker. Aplayer kneels at one end of the line of bodies and launches himself ontothe surface, belly down with his/her arms outstretched. The waveaction now begins. Those at the beginning of the line start rollingover continuously in the same direction. As the surfer moves ontonew players, they roll as well. When the surfer reaches the beachat the other end of the line he lies down and becomes part of the waveand the person at the head of the line gets to try her surfing skills.
Boiler Burst (active)
The goal is a line thirty feet long. The players form a semi-circle forty feet from the goal with their backsto it and facing in. IT stands at the centre of the circle and beginsto tell a story, either making it up or an old familiar one. At anypoint he chooses, the storyteller says "and the boiler burst" upon whichall the players run for the goal. IT runs after them attempting totouch one. The runners are safe when they reach the goal; the firstplayer tagged before reaching safety is IT.
Bola (active)
To make a Bola, stuff a rubber softballinto a long sock and tie a knot in the sock just above the ball. Now tie a rope to the sock. Lie down on your back and start spinningthe Bola, slowly letting out the rope. When you've got it rotatingat a full radius, everyone can begin jumping into the circle. Youmay increase the speed, or have two people join hands, and jump in partners. If you're nicked by the Bola, you may continue or sit out.
Bombardment Pins (active)
At either end of the playing space, set upin a row as many tenpins, or popbottles as there are players. Makea dividing line across the centre of the playing space. Divide playersinto two teams. Each team takes one side of the field and must notstep over into the other side. One team starts the game by throwinga volleyball or playball, trying to knock down the pins on the other side.The opponents protect their pins by catching or blocking the ball withtheir hands and bodies. If the ball hits outside the field and knocksa pin down on the rebound it still counts. Play for fifteen minuteswith the ball shooting back and forth rapidly. With a large numbertwo balls can be used. The winner is the team that knocks down allthe other teams pins.
Bop Bop (active/circle)
The players start sitting in a circle. The leader stands up and "bops" or dances around the inside of the circle. The players can help out by making their own music. The leader thentaps selected people on the head and says, "start bopping right now." These tapped people will join the leader in the middle. These bopperskeep dancing and tapping until they hear, "Bop Bop Over!" The playerswill then stop dancing and run back to their spots. The last onethere is the new leader.
Box the Leader (active)
The group should be split into 4 groups. Each group should form one side of the box that should be surrounding thegame leader. Each side has a name. These are: - NORTH("North is Aaaaa Oooookay!!!) - SOUTH ("South, Wooh!) - EAST ("East is the beast to beat") - WEST ("West is the best")The object of the game is to be the first team to be in the appropriateorder in a straight line in the right relation to the leader. Onceyour whole team has arrived, you should yell your team's chant (they arelisted above)
British Bulldog (active)
The players are at the ends of the field, with3 bulldogs standing in the middle. Whenever they are ready they willcall: "British Bulldog". The players must then run to the oppositeside of the field without being touched.
Bump and Scoot (active/cooperative)
Equipment: Volleyball net, ball Using a volleyball net, have the girls on one side and the boys on theother. Whenever a boy or girl hits the ball over the net, they "scoot"to the other side. the idea of the game is to completely switch theteams to the other side, but they all must work to together to succeed.
Bumpety Bump Bump (circle/active)
All players stand in a circle with someonein the centre. The person in the centre will choose someonein the circle to point at and will say, "Right, Bumpety Bump Bump Bump"or "Left, Bumptey Bump Bump Bump." The person who is pointed at hasto say the name of the person to their right or left (depending upon whatis asked by the person in the centre) before the phrase is finished. Ifthey fail to do this, they are out. The centre person is trying toeliminate all players.
Buzz (circle/passive/backpocket)
The players start counting substituting buzzfor the number seven and multiples of seven. If a player makes amistake he must drop out or the whole group must start again.
C
Cat and Mouse (active/circle) The players should stand in a circle. Two people are chosen, one to be the cat and the other to be the mouse. The object of the game is for the mouse to catch the cat on the insideof the circle. This can achieved because when the mouse runs in betweentwo people, they will join hands and the cat can not pass through. This game can be repeated with a new cat and mouse.
Catching the Dragon'sTail (active/cooperative)
A dragon is formed by grouping the playersinto a long line each with their hands on the shoulders of the one in frontof him. The first in the row is the dragon's head. The lastin the row is the dragon's tail, eager to lash to the right and left inorder to escape the head. Until the signal GO is given, the dragonmust be a straight line. Someone in the group counts "One, two, three,go!" On the signal GO the head runs around toward the tail and triesto catch it. The whole body must move with the head and remain unbroken. If the head succeeds in touching the tail, they may continue to be thehead. If the body breaks before he catches the tail the head becomesthe tail and the next in line is the head and so on until each has a chanceto be the head and the tail.
Capture the Flag (active)
See "Stealing Sticks"
Catch Don't Catch (circle/active)
This is similar to "flinch". The playersshould be standing in a circle with their arms crossed. The personin the centre will throw the ball to someone in the circle. Theywill either say, "Catch" or "Don't Catch". If they say "Catch", the player should not catch the ball and cannot flinch (move their arms). If they say "Don't Catch" , the player should catch the ball. Ifa player does the wrong thing or misses the ball, they are out. Caterpillar (active) The players must lie face down, side by side and very close to each other. Alternate small players and older players. Player at one end mustget to the other end by rolling on this corduroy road. When thisplayer reaches the other end, the rest player starts rolling on the carpet.
Chicken Picks (passive)
Equipment: rubber chicken
Players sit in a circle and one player goesinto the middle. A topic is chosen and the rubber chicken startsat one person and is passed around the circle. The person in the middlemust list as many things as they can from the topic, but they only havehowever long that the chicken makes it around the circle once. Whenthe chicken gets back to the starting point, the person must stop talking. A designated counter should be in the group to count how many objects theyare able to list. The person that is able to list the mostobjects is the winner. Topic example: Chocolate Bars (ie) hershey,crispy crunch, aero etc. etc. etc.
Circle Run (circle/active)
The players should start sitting in a circlenumbered 1-4 (this can be adjusted depending upon the size of the group). The game leader will call out a number and all players with that numberwill stand up and run clockwise around the circle. After one warm-uplap, the race begins. A runner is out if another runner passes themon the outside. The run continues until one person is left. The leader then continues to call numbers. A winners round mightbe a good way to end the game.
Circle Stride Ball (circle/moderate)
Equipment: Volley ball A circleis formed, feet apart and touching neighbours. The player insidethe circle with the ball tries to throw the ball out the circle betweenthe players legs. Players try to stop it by using their hands. If the ball goes through, then that person goes in the centre.
Collective-ScoreBlanket/Towel Ball (cooperative)
Equipment: Ball, blanket or towels or both. This game is basically group juggling with blankets and towels.
Colored Eggs
One player is chosen to be the Fox. One player is chosen to be the Hen. All the rest of the players are the colored eggs. The fox must standfar enough away from the hen and her eggs that he can't hear them. The hen assigns a color to each egg by whispering the color in their ear. The eggs line up facing the hen. The fox comes up behind the henand acts like he is knocking on a door. The hen responds, "Who isit?" The fox replys, "It's the fox." The hen says, "What do you want?"The fox says, "Colored eggs." The hen says, "I haven't got any."At this point all the players who are eggs laugh loudly. The fox says,"I hear them laughing." "O.K." says the hen. "What color do you want." The fox begins to guess colors. When he guesses a color that is assignedto an egg the egg begins to run. If the fox catches the egg a newfox and a new hen are picked. If the fox doesn't catch the egg before itgets back to the hen he must guess another color and try to catch the nextegg. However,before the fox can make his/her guess the fox must knock onthe door each time and the conversation between fox and hen must be repeatedeach time.
Contributed by Bizzie Vunderink
Colours (back pocket)
Chose a colour. You must stop someoneand touch part of their clothing which is of the chosen colour.
Crab Grab (active)
The players are split into 2 teams and theclassic crab position is assumed. This position is maintained supportedby at least 3 extremities, while each player tries to make the team membersof the opposite team touch their rear to the ground, at which point theywin.
Crab Walk Soccer (active)
Two teams sit on lines a short distance apart. Team members are numbered. Soccer ball sits in the centre. Official calls number. The member of that number from each team crabwalk and attempts to get the ball over the opponents goal line. Whena point is scored, the ball is returned to the centre and another numberis called. Team members may help but not score.
Crows and Cranes (active)
Divide the children into two equal teams. Name one of the teams crows and the other cranes. Line the two teamsup four or five feet apart facing each other. Flip a coin, and ifit comes up heads call crows. Upon calling crows, the crows mustturn in flight with the cranes after them. If any of the cranes makesit to the safety zone he is free. If he is touched he switches teams.
D
Dancing Bear (active)Equipment: rope Tie the rope to a tree. One person should be chosen to be the bear. They should hold the rope inone hand. The rest of the players need to run around in touchingdistance. With their free hand, the bear tries to touch the otherplayers. If touched, the player would hold hands with the bear and helpcatch people.
Dancing Statues (active)
Equipment: Yogurt cups (or something else, be creative) Each player is given an empty yogurt cup and they put it on their head.All of the players must start dancing. Whoever keeps the cup on theirhead the longest, wins
Dho-Dho-Dho (active)
You need a soft area that is divided into 2equal parts with a centre line. The players should be in two teamson either side of the centre line leaving a no-mans land in between them. One team chooses a player to go across the line, tag one or more playerson the other side, and return safely home. Clearly that could requireagility-but breath control? That's where the "dho-dho-dho" comesin. Before crossing the centre line, the player who is IT takes a deepbreath. Not only must he complete his mission in one breath, buthe must use that breath to repeat aloud in a steady flow, "Dho-Dho-Dho-Dho-Dho...." If members of the opposite team can catch and hold him in their territoryuntil they run out of breath, they've acquired a new team member. If he makes it back across the line with any part of their body , evena fingertip, all those he has tagged join their team.
Dice Count (circle/moderate)
Equipment: 1 die, a pair of oven mits, a chocolate bar or otherwrapped up treat, and a hat.
A chocolate bar is wrapped up in 5-6 layersof paper and placed in front of one of the players who are sitting in acircle. The person directly to the left of the person who has thechocolate bar starts rolling the die while the person with the chocolatebar starts to put on the hat and oven mits. Once the oven mits andhat are on the player starts to unwrap the chocolate bar. The unwrappingcontinues until the roller rolls a 6. When that happens, everythingis passed to the left, and a new person starts to roll the die, and theold roller starts to put on the mits and hat. The game continuesuntil the chocolate bar is eaten.
Dodge Ball (active/circle)
Divide the group evenly into two teams. Team A forms a circle around team B. Team A is given a large rubberball. At signal team A players throw ball at team B, attempting tohit them below the waist. Team B players may avoid being hit by movingor running aside or ducking. A player must leave the circle whenhit OR a player who is hit may join team A. Leader may time the eliminatingprocess to determine which team eliminated its opponents fastest
Donkey Dodgeball (circle/active)
Equipment: ball This game is played withthe same objectives as in all dodgeball games. In this game a circle isformed and 4 people are chosen to go into the middle. The 4 peoplehold on to each other at the waist, forming a chain. The front andmiddle protect the back of the donkey by using their bodies as a block. The players who form the circle try to hit the back end of the donkey,below the waist with the ball. If someone does hit the last personof the donkey, then the thrower will join the front of the donkey and theperson who was hit, joins the circle.
Do This, Do That (active)
see simon says
Dracula (active)
One player is chosen (secretly) by theleader to be dracula. When the game starts, everyone starts to minglewith their eyes closed. (Make sure that their are people watching to makesure no one gets hurt.) Dracula keeps their eyes open. Draculapicks their victim, goes up to them and screams. This caught person,opens their eyes and becomes a Dracula as well. The game continuesand the Draculas move around together. The game is over when allof the Draculas surround the last human. Watch the ears!
Duck Duck Gooseor Drip Drip Drop (active/circle)
The children form a small circle and all sit down. One personis it and he walks around the outside of the circle, touching the otherchildren's heads saying "duck, duck, duck," and when he comes to the personwhom he wants to chase him, he calls "goose". The goose chases theit around the circle and the one who reaches the space first sits downand the other one is it.
Ducks that Fly (active)
When the leader says, "Ducks fly", and flapshis/her arms, all the players must flap their arms. The leader goeson to say, "Cats Meow", with appropriate sounds or gestures, which mustbe imitated as above. He/she may continue, "hens cluck", "horsestrot", and so on with appropriate gestures and sounds. When he/shechooses, he/she may substitute a false statement and motion, such as, "cowsbark", "elephants fly", and so on. If the player imitates the falsemotion, he/she is penalized. If any player makes a false motion orsound at any time, he/she's out (can be given three chances).
Drop the Handkerchief(active/circle)
The players form a circle. One playeris chosen to be IT. He walks around outside the circle with a handkerchiefin his hand. He drops it quietly behind one player and keeps walkingtrying to get around the circle before the player discovers the handkerchief. If IT gets all the way around the player becomes a dead fish and standsin the middle of the circle. If the player discovers it he chasesIT and catches him, they are not IT. If he doesn't catchIT, he becomes IT. A dead fish can rescue himself in two ways. He may snatch the handkerchief from behind some other player before thatplayer sees it, or a player behind whom the handkerchief has been droppedmay toss it into the circle behind a dead fish. The dead fish thenpicks up the handkerchief and chases IT.
E
Eco-Ball (active) Participants split up into as many teams asyou want or feel are necessary. The entire tournament site (includingplay, rest, food, and sanitation areas) is divided into a like number ofparts. The boundaries should be clearly described but not marked. Each team is given one portion of the field.
The Electric Fence (cooperative)
Equipment: Sturdy 8' pole, "wire"
Object: To transport a group over an"electrified" wire or fence using only themselves and a conductive beam.
Rules: If a participant touches the fence(rope) he is "dead" and must attempt the crossing again. Anyperson touching the individual as he touches the wire must also returnfor another crossing. If the conductive beam touches the wire allthose in contact with that beam are dead and must attempt another crossing. An electric field extends from the wire to the ground and cannot be penetrated. The trees or other supports which hold up the "wire" cannot be safely touchedand so cannot be of assistance in the problem.
Caution: Be careful not to let the moreenthusiastic people literally throw other participants 7'- 8' in the airover the rope.
Electricity (circle/passive)
The group sits in a circle holding hands whilesomeone sits in the center. The game commences with one person proclaimingthat they are going to send a charge to the person beside them and proceedsto squeeze the hand of their neighbour. The person in the middletries to figure out where the current is. If successful, he exchangesplaces with the immediate sender of thg charge. Elephant ball (moderate/circle)
All the players are in a circle with theirlegs spread apart and their feet touching the next person's feet. The ball must be punched around the circle until it goes through someone'slegs. That person is then out. This continues until thereis one person left, who would be the winner.
Elephant, Giraffe,Palm Tree (active/circle)
Form a circle with one person in the middle. The middle person will point to an individual and the person pointed toalong with the persons on each side will have to form what was called out.ELEPHANT- Middle person (one pointed to) will form an elephant trunk byputting arms straight in front of you crossed at the wrists. Personson each side will form the ears of the elephant by bending toward middleperson, cupping around the mouth with hands as if whispering to the middleperson. GIRAFFE- Person pointed to raise arms above head, arms extendedfingers closed. Side people will grab middle ones waist bending over.PALM TREE- Middle person raise arms above head in "Y" formation, fingersopen. Side people do the same but lean toward outside, away fromthe middle person. The object of the game is to try to keep changing allthe time. The game has to be played quickly. As soon as anobject is formed, the person in the middle of the circle has to point tosomeone else.
Elves, Giants, Wizards(active)
This game is based on the same concept as rock,paper, scissors. In this game; Elves beat Wizards (they can run throughtheir legs) Giants beat Elves (they stomp on their heads) Wizardsbeat Giants (because they are smarter) The group needs to be split into2 groups. Each group needs to choose one of these signs. Thetwo teams come face to face in parallel lines about 2 meters apart. Both groups will yell, "Elves, Giants, Wizards,.........."(chosen signgoes here). The side that won chases the other team back to theirhome and tries to tag them. The players that are touched must jointhe other team. The object is to get everyone on your team. The actions are; ELVES- swat low to the ground and put one finger to eitherside of your head like little pointed ears. GIANTS- stand up on your tip toes and stretch yourarms high over your head WIZARDS- turn body 90o to the left. Stretch rightarm out in front and put left hand by left shoulder. Wiggle your fingers like you are casting a spell.If both teams do the same sign, it is a tie. (go pick again!)
Escape From thePlanet Of "What" (active)
The game begins by giving each team a cluethat will lead them to their spaceship. These can be anywhere. Once at their spaceship, the team finds a message for them either in atape recorder or on a piece of paper explaining that their spaceship hasmalfunctioned and they have crashed on the Planet of "What". Theyhave 40 minutes to follow the clues that will lead them to a new spaceshipso that they will only be able to say "who", "what" and "where". Clues lead them from station to station where they have to perform a task(such as making up a national anthem for the planet, or crawling througha laser field). The final task is to build a spaceship outof any equipment available.
Escape From the Monsters(circle/active)
Equipment: bean bags, blindfolds, ropes and keys Four monsters are chosen and they are blindfolded and sat in the middleof a circle that is formed by the rest of the players. In front ofthese Monsters sits their treasure(keys). They have bean bags forammunition. The leaders chose one person to go through the circle and getthe treasure. This person gets 3 monster de- activators.(ropes tiedinto a circle) These will de-activate the monster if it is put overtheir head. The monster can stop trespasser by hitting them witha bean bag. The players in the circle can help the monsters by tellingthem where the trespasser is.
F
Farmer and the Crow (active)Equipment: six objects such as paper plates, beanbags, small boxes Divide the children into teams of equal number, each team behind a startingline, facing a wall or finish line about twenty feet away. The firstplayer on each team is a farmer, the second player is a crow, the thirda farmer, the fourth a crow, and so on. At a signal, the first farmeron each team takes the seeds (six beanbags) and places them at equal intervalsfrom the starting line to the finish line. He runs back and touches thesecond player, a crow. The crow must hop over each of the beanbags,touch the finish line, change to the other foot, hop back, pick up eachseed as he comes to it. He hands them to player number 3, a farmer,who goes out to plant them again, and so on. The team finishing firstwins. Play again letting each crow be a farmer.
Feeding Time (active)
Equipment: small pieces of paper, peanuts or candies. The group needs to be split into small groups of at least 4 people. Eachgroup needs to be a different animal and decide on the sound they willmake. A leader needs to be chosen for every group. The objectof the game is for each group to try and collect the most food. Onthe word "go", the players can start looking around the playing area forfood. The only people that can actually pick up the food are thegroup leaders but they can not pick up any food they want. The restof the team members look for the food and when they find it, they standon it or beside it and make their animal noise until their leader comes. Once the food is taken by the leader, the player would go and look forfood again. The team that collects the most wins.
Fight for My Attention(drama/passive)
Two people are challenged to come up to thefront of the room and the audience then chooses a topic. The twopeople must talk about that topic for one minute in front of the crowd,BUT they are both talking about the topic AT THE SAME TIME! The audiencemust then vote on which person held their attention for longer.
Fire (cooperative/active)
'Victims' must remain motionless and not aidthe rescuers until the victims are healthy again. Rescuers cannotlook at signs until victims are removed to safe area. All the groupexcept 3 people are unconscious in that burning building. The rescuersknow that the building will explode in 4 minutes. Save as many peopleas you can. Go!!
Fish In A Pond
Divide children into groups of two. Giveeach group a name of a fish. Then have one member of each pair form a circle(Pond) at one end of the playing area by holding hands, while the otherpartners do the same at the opposite end. Select one person to stand inthe space between the circles. This person calls the name of thefish and the two people who represent this fish rush to their partner'scircle to switch places. The person in the space attempts to catchone of the partners. If caught this "fish" calls a different nameand their position is taken by the person originally in that space. Position are marked by gaps in holding hands.
Flinch (circle/active)
Equipment: ball The players stand in acircle with their arms crossed. One person should be in thecentre. The person in the centre is trying to get everyone in thecentre out. The person in the centre will throw the ball at the peoplein the circle. If they miss the ball, they are out. The personin the centre can also pretend to throw the ball. If the people in thecircle "flinch" (move their arms from the crossed position), they are out.
Flipper Flopper (moderate)
Equipment: One penny per pair of campers, rubber chicken Players form a circle and stand beside their partners. The rubberchicken is in the middle of the circle. One player is the flipper(with the penny) and the other is the flopper. When the leader saysgo, the flipper must flip the penny on the ground. If it is headsthen the flopper takes two steps forward and if it is tails then the floppertakes one step backward. The first flopper to reach the chicken wins!!
Flying Duchman (circle/active)
The players stand in a circle with their handsjoined. The player who is it runs around the outside of the circleand slaps any two joining hands, the owners of which become flying dutchmen. They run in opposite directions around the outside of the circle . The player who was it steps into the circle. The last player backto the place in the circle is it.
Foghorn Leghorn (active)
Equipment: rubber chicken Groups are divided in half (no, not each of them in case you were wondering!). One group lines up in a line with the rubber chicken at the front of theline. The other group forms a tight bunch, as close in as possible,and elects a runner. The leader says "Go Foghorn!" The group in theline then passes the rubber chicken Under-Over style down the whole line. While this is going on, the runner runs around the bunch and keeps trackof the number of times they make it around. When the rubber chickenmakes it to the end of the line then the last person throws it as far aspossible and shouts "Go". The group that was in the bunch then runsto where the chicken landed and lines up behind it. They then dothe Under-Over thing. The other group forms a bunch and counts howmany times the runner makes it around. This keeps on going and thecount of runs is a cumulative count, so at the end of an allotted timeperiod the group with the most runs around is the winner.
Footloose (active/cooperative) ** For older campers
The object of this game is to transport everyonefrom one end of the playground to the other. To heighten the challengeand make the game more fun, suggest that players are fleeing a dreadeddisease and can only escape if they are carried by other players. The players may be carried by as many players as necessary. Whenthe carried player is delivered to the other side of the playground theothers must go back and carry each other. This continues until thelast player is carried by a single person. The last player, who wasnot carried gets carried back triumphantly on the shoulders of the entiregroup.
Fool Your Family (active/icebreaker)
Equipment: One slip of paper for every player. Papers shouldbe in groups of five, and each group represents a family, for example,the Smiths. So the first Smith paper would be Mr. Smith, the secondMrs. Smith, the third Brother Smith and so on. Each family shouldhave a different last name but the same characters (ie) one mom andone dad. Each player is given one slip of paper and they must walk around tradingpapers with everyone else on the room. They should try to make asmany exchanges as possible, and they should not be looking at which papersthey are receiving. The leader then calls out "Find your family". The players must find the other members in their family. When theyhave found them, they must sit in order from dad to baby in a line on thefloor. The last family to sit down may be eliminated if you chooseto do so. The leader may also give out specific instructions, forexample "Find your family without talking".
Frozen Beanbag (Help YourFriend) (active/cooperative)
Equipment: bean bags Players should bebalancing beanbags on their heads. On a signal, players move aroundthe area at their own pace. To change the pace or action, the leadercan ask the campers to hop or skip. If the bean bag falls off a camper'shead, that child is frozen. If the bean bag falls off a camper'shead, that child is frozen. Another camper (the friend) must pickup the beanbag and replace it on the first person's head without losinghis or her own bean bag. When the game is over, ask the players howmany times they helped their friends, or how many times their friends helpedthem.
Fruitbowl
You have a minimum of 5 players one person sits in the middle of acircle then each person picks a fruit name(short ones work best, Kiwi,pear, etc.) You then pick one person to start the game(excluding the middleplayer) s/he then calls their fruit name and someone elses, the personin the middle then tries to tag the second person before they call outtheir name and someone elses. For example if I was Kiwi and it was my turnI might say "Kiwi Grape" - the person who was Grape would need to say "Grape---" Before the middle person tagged that Grape person. You go like thatuntil someone on the outside gets tagged by the middle person, then theyswitch places. You do this until you get bored of it. I hope you use andlike this game.
Contributed by Keri
Fruits and Vegetables (active/circle)
Divide the children into two large groups. One group will take the names of vegetables, the other fruit. Ineach large group, two or three children take the same name of a fruit orvegetable. The children mix themselves up and form a seated circle. It, the leader to start, sits in the centre. It call out "Peas andapples change places". While they are doing so, it tries to get toone of the vacant seats. If he succeeds the ousted one becomes it.
Flying Fish (active)
Equipment: Construction paper cut outs of fish
Each team is given a folded magazine or newspaper. Players line up in a straight line. A plate is placed on the finishline. At the word "go" each player places their fish on the groundand fans it with the newspaper towards the plate. As soon as they havedone this, they would race back to their team and hands the newspaper tothe next player in the line.
Fox and the Rabbit (active)
The players are divided into groups of threesand are scattered into groups around the playground. Two of the threeform a 'home' by facing each other and joining hands. The third onewill be the rabbit and will simply stand in this house. In additionthe these groups of three, there should be two extra players, a homelessrabbit and a fox. The fox starts the game by chasing the homelessrabbit around and around in and out of the groups. When the rabbithas grown tired, he may go into one of the homes and at once the rabbitwho was already there must leave, and this rabbit is chased by the fox. When the fox catches the rabbit the two change places.
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Gates, Bridges and Tunnels(active/circle)Equipment: Rubber chicken Playersget into groups of three and form a circle so that they are standing besidethe people in their group. One person is the gate person, one isthe bridge person and one person is the tunnel person. The leadershould be standing in the middle holding the rubber chicken. WhenGates is called, the gate people leave their spot in the circle and runaround the outside of the circle. The two people from the group thenform a gate by putting their arms together. When the gates persongets all the way around they then run through their gate into the middleof the circle and try to grab the rubber chicken. The same thinghappens for the tunnel and the bridge people except their partnersform tunnels and bridges. The first person to grab the rubber chickenis the winner. (name your chicken, it is Fun, Fun, Fun!!!)
George
"George" can entertain groups for a while. To play this game everyone sits in a circle. Every one goes around thegroup and says their name. This allows everyone to learn everyonesname, in case they didn't already know. After the names are saidthe name stays with that seat/spot. George is "it". He canstarts it by saying a name of one person. Amy do you want to leave?Amy answers: no. George says, then who? Amy will take overand repeat it with another or the same name. Scott do you want toleave? Scott says: no. Amy says: then who? It continues untilsomeone messes up. When some one messes up the person to the rightof George gets up and the one who messed up goes in his place (the lastpostion) and everyone rotates up to where the person who messed up wassitting. Remember when everyone moves there name stays at that seat. It can get confusing to remember whose name goes with what seat.
A good way to memorize everyone in the groups name.
Contributed by Amy Roberts
Ghost (passive)
Three or four players are chosen to be theghosts. The rest of the group needs to scatter across the playingspace and choose a spot to stand in. All players need to close theireyes. The ghosts will roam about the playing space. They willtry to kill the people by standing close behind the players for 10 secondswithout them knowing. If this happens, the ghost will tap themon their head and they will sit down quietly. If a person suspectsa person behind them, they would ask, "Is there a ghost behind me?" If they are right then they become a ghost. If they are wrong theyare out and should sit down. This is a great game is you want toquiet your camp down.
Good Morning Captain (passive)
The captain sits slightly apart from the groupand is blindfolded. The leader indicates a player who says "GoodMorning Captain!" The captain tries to name the speaker. Ifhe responds "I said good morning captain!" If the captain correctlyidentifies the speaker he retains his position. If not theplayer becomes the new captain. Players should try to disguise theirvoices.
Go Tag (active)
Everyone squats in a line, alternate playersfacing opposite directions. The person at one end of the line willbe the first runner. They may run around the line in either direction. The person at the other end will be the first chaser. They may startrunning either clockwise or counter-clockwise, but they may not switchdirections once they start. The object of the game is for the chaserto tag the runner. The chased person may change place with anyone in line. The chaser can only push out a new runner who is facing the appropriatedirection. When the chaser catches the chased, the person who taggedthem becomes the starting chaser for the next game
Guard the Pin (active)
Equipment: ball and pin
Everyone stands in the circle facing in. A pin is placed in the centre of the circle. A guard is chosen. The guard stands in the centre of the circle and guards the pin. The object of the game is for the players in the circle to try and knockdown the pin with the ball. All throws should be thrown underhand. The person who knocks down the pin gets to be the new guard.
Guess Who (moderate/icebreaker)
Equipment: pieces of paper with names on them, tape Each player needs a name taped to their back. The object of the gameis to figure out who you are. Everyone goes around and asks the otherplayers questions. The players can only answer yes or no. Thisgame is great when a theme is incorporated. (ex. cartoon characters, bookcharacters )
H
Ha Ha Ha (passive/cooperative) This is a contagious laughing game. Player#1 lies on their back and places their head on the belly of player #2 . Player #2 then places Their head on the belly of player #3,and so on. Players should end up lying in a zig zag formation. Now the first person shouts "ha!" and the next person answers with "haha!".... etc. Soon everyone loses control and starts laughing hysterically.
Hand Wave (circle/moderate)
Everyone starts in a circle, on their stomachs,with their heads towards the centre and their arms forward. The playersshould have their right hand over their neighbour to the right's hand andtheir left hand under the hand of their neighbour to the left. Armsshould cross at the wrist. The object of the game is to pass theslap. The person who starts slaps the ground and the next hand slaps(not the next person). Once you have the hang of it, add the optionof a double slap. This skips the next hand. When a hand is turnedon it's side, start slapping the opposite way.
Hazoo (passive)
Choose someone to be it and divide the groupinto 2 parallel lines. The person who is it has to walk down the columnwithout laughing or smiling. The rest of the people, try to makethe person laugh without touching them. This game can also be donein a circle and the person in the centre can be put in the hot seat. Specificquestions can be asked and if successful they become the Grand Pooba.
Hit the Bat (no gloves required)
This is played in the street (quiet and a not sobusy street) and requires having some what of a hill, not much though. One person is picked to be up (the hitter), stands at the bottom of thehill. The others stand scattered towards the hill. The personthat is up, hits a tennis ball (can be a grounder or fly ball) somewheretowards the top the hill. Whoever gets to the ball has a chance torun as close as they can to the hitter, the way the hitter controls howclose that person gets, is by putting the bat down whenever they choose. The person who has the ball then rolls it towards the bat. The ballususally bounces up when hits the bat. The hitter must catch theball after it hits the bat in order to remain the hitter, if not, the "catcher"now becomes the hitter. This is usually best played with at least5 or more people.
Contributed by Tanya Callen
Hodge Podge (circle/cooperative/moderate)
See "Knots".
Horse and Rider Ball (moderate)
Equipment: ball Half of the children arehorses and half are riders. The riders mount and they are given aball to pass between them. If they miss, either of the followingare done: 1) The rider that missed the ball runs and gets theball and when he gets it he hollers stop which means that horses who havedisplaced their riders and have been running come to a stand, and if therider throws and hits one of the horsed, the riders ride again, and ifhe misses the horses become riders. 2) Every time the ridermissed a ball, all the riders immediately become horses and the horsesriders, and every time the ball is missed all change.
Hot and Cold (passive)
One person is it and leaves the group. The rest choose an object in the room and when "it" returns they help himfind the object by singing a song and increasing the volume as he nearsthe object and decreasing when he becomes colder.
Hot Potato (circle/passive)
Equipment: Ball or something to pass The potato is passed from person to person until the leader gives a signal. The person left holding the potato is eliminated.
How do you Do? (active/circle)
Players form a circle. The hostess walks aroundthe outside of the circle and taps one player on the shoulder. Sheshakes her hand and asks: "How do you do?" the reply is: "Verywell thank you". Repeat three times. On the third "Very wellthank you" hostess and player leave in opposite directions. The playerwho is last to reach an available space becomes the hostess.
How do you Feel? (circle/passive)
Fill a few bags with varying items. (ie. chunk of bread, a piece of soap, a candle, a stick of gum, a sock, kleenex,wet paper....). Be sure to have things that are difficult to distinguish. Then, sit the group in a circle. Give the bags out and ask the person topick out an object without looking in the bag. If they pick out thewrong objects they must put it back. Then the bags are passed onto let someone else have a turn.
How many Thumbs??? (circle/passive)
Group should be divided so that they are insmall groups of about five or six people. The group lies on theirstomach and puts hands in the middle of the circle with fists closed. On the count of three, everyone either sticks one thumb up or two or none,while at the same time they are saying a number. The object of thegame is to predict how many thumbs are up!
Human Pinball (circle)
Equipment: Ball
All players except one stand in a circle, facingoutwards. Spread your legs as wide as comfortable until your feetare touching your neighbours on either side. Everyone bend down andswing your arms between your legs. (flippers) The one person leftover enters the circle as the moveable target. The flippers try tohit him by knocking a ball back and forth across the circle. If thetarget is hit, the person who hit him goes in the circle and becomes thenew target.
Human Tramp (cooperative)
Two parallel lines are formed and told to faceeach other. Each person joins hands with those of the person oppositehim. One person dives onto the arms of the two rows, and is passeddown the line by being thrown up in the air. It's a good idea tohave a safety spotter at the opposite end of the line.
Humming Game (passive)
You make a task for a person who has been askedto leave the room. When the person returns everyone hums. Whenthe person returns everyone hums, when the person gets closer to the areawhere the task is to be accomplished the humming becomes more intense andif she goes away humming becomes quieter.
I
I Am The Captain (circle/moderate)Equipment: ball The players are numberedin a circle with the captain standing in the centre. The captainsays, "I am the Captain and I have lost my hat, and I think thatnumber ? has it." The captain then throws the ball to that person. Assoon as the ball has been caught, they must say, "who sir/maam, not mesir/maam", before the Captain says, "Back to the end of the line." If the player does not say their line, then the player must go to the endof the number order and everyone gets bumped up a number. If theplayer does say "Who sir/maam, not me sir/maam" , before the captain cansay their line, then the captain will continue the conversation saying,"yes, you sir/maam." The player replies, "Oh not I sir/maam." The captain asks, " If not you sir/maam then who maam?" The playeranswers, "Number ? sir/maam" and throws theball to that player. This game could be simplified by using namesinstead of numbers.
Indy 500 (circle/active)
The group should be sitting in a circle andnumbered 1-4. Give each number a name of a car. (ex. 1's arePorches, 2's are Ferrari's... etc) The game leader calls acar name and those cars have to get up and run around the circle. The first person back to their spot wins. There is a twist to thisgame. The cars can have things wrong with them as the leader chooses. Some ideas are; FLAT TIRE (Hop around on one foot), RUN OUT OF GAS (CrabWalk), TURBO BOOST (run around), NO MUFFLER (noisy!)...etc.
Islands (active)
Equipment: hoops or small designated areas Several "islands" are placed on the ground. When the music stopsor the leader stops singing, everyone must be standing on a island withouttouching anyone else in the group. As the game continues, removeislands until only one is left.
I Spy (backpocket)
One person says " I spy with my little eye,something that is ....(colour)". Then others try to guess what theobject is and the one who guesses it takes the next turn.
In the River, On theShore (active)
All of the players should be standing on sideof a line on the ground. The leader will call out, "on the shore"and "in the river". The players follow the commands by jumping onthe side of the line that applies. The players get out if they arenot listening. The leader could call out, "in the shore" and "onthe river". The players move, they are out.
J
Jamaquack (active/circle) Jamaquacks are rare birds from Australia. Being from down under, they always stand bent over, with their hands graspingtheir calves or ankles and shuffle along backward. They are nocturnalby preference, and when they are out in daylight, they always try to wanderoff somewhere, only a third of the players can be jamaquacks at a time. The rest must form a jamaquack pen by holding hands in a circle facingthe center. Two players create a hole in the pen by dropping theirhands. The jamaquacks gather in the middle of the pen, heads togetherand begin quacking and moving backward with their eyes closed, trying tofind the way out. While the birds are trying to escape, those formingthe circle do their best to jam the quacks back inside the pen by GENTLYknee-bumping them. Once outside the circle the jamaquacks can finallystand upright and open their eyes but they should keep quacking to lettheir species mated locate the hole.
Jelly Roll (icebreaker)
This game is ideal for groups that either don'tfeel completely comfortable with one another, or are difficult to assemblequickly.
Divide the large group into smaller groups by means of colour of clothing,birthdays or counting to group them together. Have them get intothese groups, hold hands in one long line and then roll from one end tothe other into a "jelly roll" and sit down.
This can be used when you need to explain something , break them intogroups quickly etc. All you need to do is yell "jelly roll".
Jeepers Creepers (active)
Equipment: A roll of crepe paper. Dividethe group into teams of three. Each team receives a roll of crepepaper. Mark two parallel boundary lines about 10 yards apart. Each team lines up behind on of the boundaries. When the leader says"Go" , two player on each team get down on their hands and knees, one behindthe other. The rear player places his or her hands on the anklesof the front player. The third team member becomes the connectorand connects the two players by wrapping the crepe paper around the wristsand ankles of the players. After the players have been connected,they begin to creep toward the opposite boundary. If the crepe papertears, the two crawlers must stop while the third player repairs the connection. Once the two crawlers reach the boundary they switch so that everyone getsa chance to be the connector. The first team to cross the boundaryline after all three team members have been crawlers and connectors isthe winner.
Jon Cam Pon (active)
See "Rock Paper Scissors"
Juggling (Group) (cooperative/circle/moderate)
Players stand in a circle, hands in the air. The leader throws the ball to a player on the other side of the circle. The player throws the ball to a third and so on. When a player hascaught the ball once, he puts his arms down. The last player to catchthe ball throws it back to the leader and the game starts over again onlyfaster. A 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ball is added.
K
Keep it up (cooperative/circle/moderate) See "Juggling (group) Kick it Up (cooperative/circle)
Equipment: ball Players start in a circlewith their feet towards the middle. A ball is put in the canter andthe players have to keep the ball up in the air with their feet. If theball is dropped, it is a point against themselves.
Killer
Someone is chosen to be the picker all the other kids line up facingthe wall and should close their eyes.
The picker goes by and taps each of the kids. He taps each ofthem once but whomever he picks as the killer he is to tap twice. Once everyone is tapped they all turn around. (Sometimes the killeris given away here because of
smiling :)
Everyone begins shaking hands with one another one at a time in a normalshaking manner. If you are the killer when you shake hands with peopleyou bend your index finger in and sort of poke the palm of the person'shand your shaking. If you feel this when you shake someone's handthen you go and shake two more hands (normal shake) and then silently fallto the ground. Eventually the killer gets everyone and then the gamesover and a new killer gets picked.
Contributed by Julianne Brewer
[See also "Murder Wink"]
Kitty Wanna Cracker (moderate)
Campers sit ina circle with one person in the middle of the circle. The personin the middle goes up to different people and says "Kitty Wanna Cracker?". The players in the circle say "No, thankyou". While this is goingon, the people who the kitty has her/his back to try to catch each other'seye and change places. The kitty tries to steal the empty spots. If you are left without a spot then you become the kitty.
Knights, Horsesand Cavaliers (active/circle)
This game is similar to musical chairs in thatwhen the rhythm stops an action must be performed. In this game 2equal circles are formed, with one inside the other. The people ofthe inside circle will pair up with someone on the outside circle and remainwith that partner for the rest of the game. the inside circle willwalk clockwise clapping their hands and the outside circle, also clapping,will walk in the opposite direction. When the leader calls out Horses,the individuals stop clapping and run to find their partner. Once together, one partner will go on all fours, like a horse, and theother partner will straddle their back. The last partner group toform that position will be asked to act out a simple situation of theirchoice that makes use of a rider and a horse. Once this game continuesin the same fashion as before. If Knights is called, one partnerwill sit on the other partner's knee. The partner therefore has oneknee up to be sat on and the other on the ground for support. IfCavaliers is called, then one of the partners will lift their partner upinto their arms. However, one leg lifted by their partner is allowed.
Knights of the RoundTable (active/circle)
Equipment: hoola hoop and sword The playersshould be in a circle with one knight in the canter with the sword. The knight tries to touch a person in the circle with the sword, run tothe middle, put the sword on the table (hoola hoop) and get to their spotin the circle without being touched by the sword. The person touchedhas to chase the knight, get the sword from the table and touch them withit before they get to the spot or they are the new knight. If forsome reason the sword does not land on the table, the rest of the playersmust yell, "THE SWORD IS NOT ON THE TABLE!" This means the play iscancelled and the knight must try again.
Knots (moderate/circle/cooperative)
Groups of eight stand in a circle facing intothe canter. Shake hands with person directly across from you, thenjoin left hands with a different person in the group. Must untanglethe human knot without letting go of hands.
L
Ladders (active) Two lines are formed, facing each other. Sit down, legs straight out, feet just touching. Each pair is numberedor given a name. When a name or number is called, the two jump up,run over the legs of the other pairs in one direction, then run outsideuntil they get to the opposite end of the line and then continue to runover the legs of the other pairs until they get back to their originalplace in line. The first person back to their original position gets apoint for their team.
Last Detail (passive)
Choose a partner and sit in front of them. Take 3 minutes to study how your partner is dressed. Turn around. Now your partner will change 5 things on his clothes. Again the partnersface each other and the first partner tries to determine what is different.
Lap Sit (cooperative/circle)
Form a circle, shoulders close to people besideyou. Everyone turn 90 degrees to the left. Put hands on person'ships. Everyone sits down on knees of person behind them. Tryto sit, stand up, turn around and sit down again. Then try to walkwhile in lap sit.
Leader (circle)
The children all sit in a large circle. A person is picked to be it. He leaves the room or sits with his back tothe circle. The group then decides on a leader who is to start amotion in which all the children copy. The motion can be anythingat all, and the person who is it, comes in to find the leader of the motion. The leader changes the motion from time to time and the person who is ithas three guesses to determine who the leader is. If 'it' guessescorrectly then the leader becomes 'it'. If 'it' does not guesscorrectly a new games is started by choosing a new 'it'.
Lemonade (active/drama)
The group is divided into two teams. Team A: Actors, Team B: Guessers. Actors decide on a geographical locationand a related occupation. Dialogue between A and B:
A: Here we come. B: Where from? A: From New Airlines.B: What's your name? A: Lemonade. B: What's your trade?A: Goes like this.
At this point group A acts out their occupation. Group B is given 3 tries to guess. If the guess is correct, groupA must run to a safety line without being touched by a group B player. If all 3 guesses are wrong group B must run to a safety line without beingtouched. Any player touched must switch teams.
Lions and Tigers (circle/passive)
Players sit in a circle. Two childrenon the opposite sides of the circle, hold small objects, (stone ball etc.). One is called a lion, and the other a tiger. On a signal the playerspass the objects to the right as quickly as they can. The fun isin trying to get one animal to overtake the other. (see Beat theBunny)
Lip and Card Relay (cooperative/active)
Equipment: Card The group is divided into2 lines, boy-girl-boy-girl if possible. A card is then given to thefirst person in the line. He puts the card between his lip and hisnose and passes it down the line. The first line to pass the carddown first wins.
Lonely Little Ghost
A lonely ghost would love some company. He wants to make a ghostfriend.
His ghost friend won't be me.
One child is chosen to be the lonely little ghost. He sits ona chair in the haunted house. Indicate a certain area for that purpose. The other children speak the verse and sneak into the haunted house. They tease the ghost. Any child he catches or tags within the boundriesof his haunted house becomes a ghost and joins him to try to catch theremaining children, who return again and again to tease and try to avoidbeing caught by the ghosts. The last child caught is the winner andmay be the lonely little ghost the next time the game is played.
Contributed by Colleen Murphy
Loose Caboose (active)
Select a player to be the Loose Caboose. Divide the rest of the group into trains of three. Each player isin a train car and holds the waist of the person in front. The firstplayer in a train is the engine. The object is for the loose caboosethe try to attach to a train. When all are aboard, the trains chugaround the train yard (sound effects should be encouraged) Trying to dodgeand turn to keep away form the Caboose. When the Caboose attachesto a train, the engine of that train becomes the new loose caboose.
Lumberjack (active)
Two lumberjacks per team, - the rest are trees(people). The lumberjack must fill the trees transport them to thelumber yard (carry the people on his team), stack the lumber (pile thepeople on top of their team) and replant new trees ( carry the same peopleback and leave them standing upright).
M
Machines (cooperative/drama) Groups of 6-10 must create a moving machineby miming it all together, (each person is a part of the machine). Others must try to guess what the machine is. No talking or noisesare allowed.
Match my Feet (circle/moderate)
Form a circle of players. You stand inthe middle. Start the group off with a slow clapping rhythm, suchas 2 slow claps followed by 3 quick claps. Repeat this over and over. Walk around the inside of the circle to the clapping rhythm and stop infront of someone. Do a simple step with your feet in time to thebeat. the person you're standing in front of must try to repeat yourstep. If he doesn't, move around the circle and stop in front ofsomeone else. If he does, you take his place in the circle, and hebecomes the leader. He may change the rhythm and try to "outstep"another player.
Minefield (active/cooperative)
Split the group into 3 (not each of them). One group will be the mines. They will be stationary in the playingarea. One group will be the rowers trying to get across the playingfield. The trick is, they will have their eyes closed. The thirdgroup will be the assistants. They will be located on the other sideof the playing field and will direct the rowers safely across. Ifa rower bumps into a mine, they blow up. The groups should rotateso everyone gets to be everything.
Missing Child (passive)
One player stands blindfolded in the centreof the room. Have the other children stand in a circle or a line. Have the children switch places in the circle and take one person out ofthe room. Then unblindfold the child in the centre, and give himone minute to name the missing player. Let the person who was removednow be blindfolded.
Monkey Ball (active)
Equipment: ball
Two teams should be standing in lines sideto side, arms linked and numbered 1 and up. The ball will be placedin the centre of the playing space. The game leader will call outone number. The player from each team that has that number will runto the centre to get the ball. The rest of the team will act as themoving goalie. The players in the middle attempt to hit the ballwith their hand on the ground past the opposing team's goalie line. The goalie lines can only move side to side and must stay attached. The play is over if the ball goes out of bounds and when a shot is made. Mount / Dismount (active)
The players should be split into 2 groups. One group will form a circle and be the horses,. The second groupwill be the runners or the riders. There should be more riders thanhorses. The horses run around the outside of the circle until thegame leader calls out "Mount!". The riders then need to find a horseto mount. If a rider is horseless, they are out. When the leadercalls out, "Dismount" the riders jump off their horse go under their legsand run around the circle again ready to remount. Both teams shouldget a chance to be the riders.
Mouse Trap (circle/active)
The group needs to be split into 2 groups. One group is the trap and the other are mice. The trap stands ina circle holding hands in the air. The leader should not be facingthe group. The mice have to run through the trap. When theleader yells, "MOUSE TRAP", the trap lowers their arms. Whoever isinside the trap at this point is caught and becomes a part of the trap. The last mouse left is the winner. At this point the 2 groups should switchroles.
Mr. Greenjean (passive) **for older campers
This game starts with a leader and a camperin one room or area of the playground and another leader with the restof the campers in another room or area. Every camper is given a nameie. mama greenjean, baby greenjean, tall greenjean, short greenjean, greengreenjean etc... One camper at a time comes into the room that originallyhad only a leader and one camper and introduces himself. Everyone who isin the room repeats all of the actions of the new person for a few secondsup to a few minutes. The amount of time is very dependent on howthe camper responds to this type of attention. Some campers willdo the funniest things when they know everyone is going to repeat it.
Murder Wink (circle/passive)
Killer winks at his victim. The victimwaits 5 seconds and then falls. The victim chooses his own way of falling. If a player thinks he can identify the killer, he points and says "I accuseyou". If he is wrong, both players are dead.
[See Also "Killer"]
Musical Roper/Hoops
Equipment: music This game is similar to musical chairs, but does not eliminate anybody. Scatter a numberof hoops and ropes around the area in which you are playing the game Thenumber of ropes or hoops will vary with the number of people playing. Play music loud enough for everyone to hear and instruct them to move around(hop, skip, backwards, run etc.) When the music is stopped, the group mustbe holding onto one of the ropes or hoops. Each time the music stopsyou remove one hoop or rope until everyone is holding onto or standinginside one.
N
Name Train (moderate/circle/icebreaker) The players form one circle. The leaderbegins to meet people by shuffling like a train across the circle, stoppingwhen he or she comes face to face with a player. The leader willsay to the player for example, "Hi, my name is Al". The person facingthe leader returns with, "Hi Al, my name is John." The leader raisesone arm and then the other saying "John,...John,...John, John, John,John, John." The leader turns and John now holds on to the back ofAl and both shuffle out across the circle. Keep repeating until everyonehas joined the circle.
Never Can Tell Club (passive) Bang Bang (circle / passive)
Get the campers in a circle. The leader shoots (not really - pretend)the campers around the circle. They then ask "who did I shoot?" The first person that talks is the one that was shot.
Black Magic (circle / passive)
The leader needs a helper who understands how the trick works. The helper leaves the circle. While they are gone, the group decideson an object. The helper then comes back to the group, their taskis to guess what the object is. The leader asks questions like, "Isit the swings?" or "Is it the bench". The helper replies no. The trick is that the object will be the first one after a black object.
Magic Sticks (circle / passive)
The leader starts with 2 sticks. They hold the sticks crossedor uncrossed and says "These sticks are crossed" or "these sticks are uncrossed". The leader then passes the sticks around and each camper tries to figureit out. The trick is that the sticks are crossed if their legs arecrossed and if they aren't crossed either are the sticks.
Numbers (circle / passive)
The leader has a bunch of sticks. The leader then throws downthe sticks and asks, "How many sticks are there?" This number dependson the number of fingers the leader shows not the number of sticks.
Peaches (circle / passive)
The leader begins by saying, "repeat after me". Then the leaderclears their throat and says: "peaches, peaches very fine peaches, thevery best peaches in town." The leader tries to get the campers torepeat. The poem is not correct until the throat is cleared. Phantom (circle / passive) The leaderbegins by walking around a circle of campers saying "The phantom walksand walks and walks and walks..... The leader then stops behind a camperand says "Where's the Phantom?" The campers will guess whoever theleader is standing behind. This is the incorrect guess. Tellthe campers who the Phantom really is. Repeat the above process. The correct location of the Phantom is behind the camper who speaks first. Keep the trick a secret. If the campers figure out, don't tell orchange the secret.
Silly Sally (passive)
Have the campers in a circle. The leader explains that Silly Sallyhas a really cool club. The only way that the campers can join isif they can figure out what Sally likes and doesn't like. Sally onlylikes things that have double letters in them. Sally likes soccer but shedoesn't like golf. Sally likes bananas but she doesn't like beans.etc
No See Em's (icebreaker)
Equipment: tarp and blanket Group is dividedin half (no, not each of them!). Leaders hold up a tarp so that thetwo groups are unable to see each other (hence the name no see em's). One person from each group crawls up to the tarp and puts their nose upto it. The leaders drop the tarp and the two people must shout outthe other person's name. The person who says the correct name firsttakes the other person to their team.
Numbers Change (moderate/circle)
The players are numbered 1,2,3,4 etc. The leader calls out two numbers. These players must change seatsquickly, while the leader tries to secure a seat. He continues untilhe succeeds. The one left out becomes the leader.
O
Objectification (drama) Give them the names of objects that they mustact out. Each person in the group must be a part of the object andthey cannot act as a person. So for example, if the object was alawn mower. 2 people might work together to be the mower and thoseleft over could be the grass. No one would be a person pushing thelawn mower. The groups then present them and the other groups mustguess what the objects are.
Octopus (active)
Players (fish) are at one end of the hall,inside defined limits. The octopus lives in the ocean inside thelimits. The octopus tells the fish that the can cross the ocean bysaying "Fish , fish come swim in the ocean". At this signal the fishtry to cross over to the other side. Players who try to cross overto the other limit. Player who are touched by the octopus must stop movingand become tentacles of the octopus
Oh Deer (active/nature)
A game where a herd of deer seeks food, waterand shelter to survive. The group should be spilt into 2 even groupsand they should be at either end of the playing space facing opposite directions. One group will be the environment and the other will be the deer. The environment and the deer will pick one of three signs; WATER (handover mouth), FOOD (hands on stomach) or SHELTER (hands in a peak over head). On the go signal from the leader, both groups will turn around and maketheir symbol. The deer will run towards the environment that is thesame as their sign. If they get an environment, both players becomedeer. If the deer can not find the appropriate symbol, they willdie and become part of the environment. Fluctuations in the deerpopulation due to different causes can be shown in different rounds.
Old Mother Witch (active)
One child chosen as the witch walks along infront of the other players who poke, pull, and tease her in every way possible. As they follow after her they call, "Old mother witch, fell in the ditch,picked up a penny, and thought she was rich!" The witch turns aroundand yells, "Whose children are you?" any name may be given and thewitch carries on, but when they say " yours " the witch chases them. The first child caught takes her place.
Ooh-Ahh (circle/passive)
Start with everyonein a circle holding hands. Now one of you gives a quick squeeze tothe hand of the person on the right. This gets passed along to thenext person and around the circle. Once the squeeze is being passedsmoothly, speed up and add sound. Say "Ooh" while going to the rightand "Aah" when going to the left. A player gets zapped whenthey squeeze the wrong hand. Both sounds can travel in opposite directionsand you can play tag.
Order out of Chaos (cooperative)
The group is blindfolded. Each memberis assigned a number. Once the members are distributed in a definedarea, the members must line up in a proper numerical order without verbalcommunication. Another task would be to assign each member the nameof an animal. Nonverbally, the members arrange themselves in orderof size, form largest to smallest.
P
Pass the Ring! (circle/passive) Players lie in a circle with their hands inthe middle. One person is out of the circle. Players in thecircle must pass the ring around the circle without the person guessingwhere it is.
People to People (moderate)
This is a good way to divide campers into groupsin an interesting way. The campers should mingle while snapping and saying,"people to people". The leader will call out commands like,"back to back" or "knee to knee". The leader can also throw in groupcommands like, "a group that uses the same toothpaste" or "same coloureyes". Be creative!
Pina (circle/passive)
Everyone is in a circle. One person takesa deep breath and begins walking around the circle tapping everyone onthe head and saying "Pina." The idea is to get back to your placebefore taking another breath. Your success in this game will dependas much on the size of the circle as it does on the size of the circleas it does on the size of your lungs.
Pip, Squeek and Wilbur (active)
Equipment: bean bags
Arrange the children in groups of three. Oneperson in each group is Pip, one Wilbur, and one Squeek. These groupsare arranged in one big circle. The leader calls out one of the threenames; this person runs around the outside of this big circle until hegets back to his group. Then he runs under the arch that the othertwo have made and into the centre of the circle and tries to grab one ofthe bean bags in the middle and return to his group. There shouldbe two less bean bags than there is groups. If the runner gets abean bag, his group scores a point. The group with the most pointsat the end of the game wins.
Pirate's Treasure (circle/moderate-passive)
see SMAUG's JEWELS
Poison (moderate)
A pot or kettle is placed on the ground. Five or more players join hands, forming a circle around the pot. One player is the leader. He tries to push or pull the other playersso that one of them knocks his foot against the pot. As soon as anyplayer touches the pot, he is 'poison' and all the other players run awayfrom him. The player who is poison chases them until he catches someone. The that player becomes the leader. And another game is started.
** N.B. EXTREME CAUTION MUST BE TAKEN WITH THIS GAME.
Pompadour (cooperative/icebreaker)
Equipment: Name tags Players must findanother player with at least four letters in their name that are the same. Join hands. Idea is for the entire group to be joined at the endof the game.
Poor Kitty (circle/passive)
The children are arranged in a circle, sittingdown. The one child is the "poor kitty" and he goes up to another childpurring and meowing. The person approached must pat the kitty onthe head and say, "Poor Poor kitty". If the child laughs, then hemust become the kitty and try to make others laugh.
Pop Goes the Weasel (active)
Choose one child to be the weasel. Havethe rest of the children divided into even groups. In each groupnumber the children off 1,2,3, and so on The weasel stands in thecentre as the groups dance around him in their own circles singing "popgoes the weasel". When a number is called all the children of thatnumber and the weasel join in a circle in the middle dancing and singing"pop goes the weasel" while the other children remain in their own group'scircle around the outside. When 'pop goes the weasel' is reached all thosechildren run to find an empty circle, the other groups have formed on theoutside. The remaining child is the weasel.
Port and Starboard (active)
The children imagine themselves on a ship. The Captain gives out orders to his mates on board. The mates respondwith physical actions as follows:
1. Captain's coming - salute 2. Stand at ease - hands behind back 3.All hands on deck - kneeling position 4. Hit the deck - lying flat on thefloor 5. Submarine - lying on back one leg up in the air. 6. Port - runto the left side 7. Starboard - run to the right side
These are only a few examples of movements. Feel free to add yourown. Children are eliminated from the game after each order given by theCaptain. The last to obey are counted as out.
Prisoner's Base (active)
There are 2 teams, each with its own home base. Also mark out a prison - both teams will use it. The members of eachteam links hands, stretching out from their home bases. The lastperson in the chain (the one farthest from the base) breaks away and runsinto the field. Then the last link on the opposite team's chain breaksaway and chases them. While that chase goes on., the players continueto break from their team's chain and pair off with a member of the oppositeteam. In this way, each chaser has a particular player they musttag. When a player is tagged, they go to prison and their captorstands on guard. The prisoner can be released only if a member oftheir own team runs through the prison and tags any would-be rescuer. If several players of the same team are in prison, they may call out "ELECTRICITY!"and join hands, stretching a chain out and away from the prison boundaries. A teammate may touch the last person in the chain and release all the prisoners. The game is finished when all the members of the first team are captured.
OR
Each game began with one person, usually the youngest and smallest playerfrom each team, being a prisoner. The object was for each team tofree its captured members. There were three lines drawn across thevacant lot: a centre line and each team's end line. The "prisons"were on opposite corners of the lot. Team A's prison line was inthe south east corner of the lot; Team B's prison line was in the northwest corner of the lot. The prisoner had to have one foot on theopposing team's endline. He/she would stand at right angles to thecaptor's prison line with his/her legs spread apart and arm extended. As the team members ran across the centre line to touch their team member'shand to free their captured team member, the opposing team would try tocatch them. The centre line was the safety line. You were safeonly if you were on your side of the vacant lot. If a player wastagged by a member of the opposite team while he/she was across the centreline, he/she also became a prisoner and was taken to the corner of thelot and put in prison. The most recently captured team member hadto go to the back of the prisoner line with his/her foot on the captors'end line and the previously captured prisoners would move up closer tothe centre line. A player could only free one prisoner at a time. After a prisoner was freed, the liberator and the freed prisoner had torun all the way to the other end of the vacant lot, without being re-captured,and cross the end line before they could go and free a new prisoner.
Contributed by Fred Reekie
Pruie (moderate)
Everyone walks around with their eyes closedin a small space. When you bump into someone say "pruie?" Ifthey say "pruie?" back to you then they are not the person you arelooking for and you continue looking amongst the crowd. The refereehas whispered to one person, telling him that he is the "Pruie". The pruiedoes not have to close their eyes and if someone bumps into them and asks"pruie?" they do not respond. This is your clue to join onto theirhand and open your eyes. The fun comes when there is only one personleft to find the Pruie!
Psychic Shake (moderate)
Each player chooses a number (1,2,or 3). Each player seeks out fellow players by shaking hands right and left. The hand is squeezed the number of times which corresponds to the numberthe player has chosen. It is a secret code; all must be done in silence. The "spirits" should see to it that the group divides into three separategroups.
Punch Ball (moderate/circle)
See "Elephant Ball"
Punctured Drum (cooperative)
Equipment: bucket with holes, water,pot Object: The group must attempt to fill the drum to overflowing.Rules: Only portions of the participants' anatomies may be used toplug holes. Considerations: The number of holes must necessarilyvary with the size of the group. Puncture 120 holes (large nail size)in the bucket which duplicates the number of fingers in a 12 man group.
Q
Quack (icebreaker) This game is played in the same formation asjamaquacks. The group forms a circle and about six players are chosento go into the middle of the circle, where they bend over and grab theirankles, and walk around backwards. If they bump another player thenthey must introduce themselves by sticking their head between their legsand shaking the other player's hand.
Quack Quack (moderate)
One player is blind folded and is given a caneor stick. The other players march around him in a circle. Assoon as he taps his cane loudly, everyone stops. The blindfoldedplayer points his cane at someone and that person must say "quack quack". The blindfolded player tries to guess who it is. If he guessescorrectly the first time, he trades places with that player. If thechild does not guess correctly he just continues until he does guess right.
Quaker Meeting (circle/passive)
Nobody can keep a straight face in this game! Players sit in a circle, fairly close together. the leader solemnlytaps the knee of the person to his right, and each player in turn doesthe same. When that action gets back around to the leader, he thentaps the cheek of the player to his right. And so on, with the nose,ear, eye, mouth, or until a player dissolves into laughter.
Queenie (moderate)
Equipment: ball One player is chosento be queenie and he stands with his back towards the other players. Queenie throws the ball over his head and one of the players catches it. Then the players stand with their hands behind their backs and Queenieturns around. The players say "Queenie, queenie, who's hot the ball?" Then queenie has three guesses to decide who's got the ball. If heguesses incorrectly the player with the ball becomes queenie. Otherwisehe remains.
Quick Frozen Critters (active/nature)
Equipment: tails, food, hoola-hoops Theplayers will be split into 2 teams. One team are rabbits and theother team are foxes. The object of the game is for the rabbits tocross the open playing field retrieve food and bring it back to their home. The rabbits can not be killed when they are frozen. The foxes aretrying to take the rabbit's tail when they are moving. If this happens,the rabbit is dead. Both teams should get a change to be both animals.
Quickity-Quick
What will I take, oh, what will I pick?
Guess it, then catch me, Quickity-Quick.
The children all sit in a circle, one child is chosen to be Quickity-Quick.The leader shows all of the children three small objects. She thenplaces the three objects behind three different children who are seatedin the circle.
Quickity-Quick recites the verse above while walking behind the children. He pretends to take the different objects to fool the children, who mustnot look behing them. While he is pretending, he does actuallytake one object. Whenever one of the three children think their objecthas been taken, they immediately try to catch Quickity-Quick before hereaches a safety goal which has been previously established. If Quickity-Quickis caught with the obbject that was behind the child who chased him, theyexchange places.
The game is then repeated with the new Quickity-Quick. However,if the child catches Quickity-Quick with an object that was not his object,he is disqualified. Quickity-Quick may try again. Also, ifQuickity-Quick is not caught at all, he has another turn until he is caught.
Contributed by Colleen Murphy
R
Rabid Nuggets (active)Equipment: One crate of tennis balls (approximately 30) An enclosedarea ( difficult to play on the grass)
Tennis balls are strewn around the room onthe ground. The leader yells "RAPID NUGGETS" and the object of thegame is to keep the tennis balls moving. They may only use theirfeet. If the leader spots a tennis ball lying still, she/he shouts"DEAD NUGGET...3,2......",. If a player has not made the ball movingby the time that the leader says 1, the group has one strike against them. The leader may time how long the group keeps the nuggets moving beforethey get three strikes against them.
Racoon Dinner Time (active)
Equipment: clams, crayfish and paper
This is a game for a small group. Theleader designates a stream area, then scatters clams and crayfish in thestream. The leader stay at the far end. The leader is a fox. The rest of the group are raccoons. When the fox calls "raccoons',the raccoons move up the stream slowly and pick up the food as they go. When the fox calls "dinnertime" the raccoons must freeze. If thefox calls "paws in the air" the raccoons must put up their paws (hands)up in the air and they are not allowed to use their thumbs. The gameends when the raccoons reach the fox but the winner is the racoon withthe most clams and / or crayfish. That person then becomes the fox.
Races (very active)
Cartwheel races - self explanatory
Consecutive Jumps - everyone jumps inpredetermined fashion.
Newspaper Race - Two newspaper sheets requiredper player. Each player must race to the turning point and back,stepping only on his newspapers. He steps on one, lays the other in frontof him steps on it, moves the first forward, and steps on it and so on.
No hand get up - Players run to turning point,stop, lie down on their backs, fold hands across chest and get up withoutmoving their arms, and run back to finish line.
Skip and Through - Children stand inpartners i a double circle. The partners skip around the circle. On signal, inside person stops, folds arms and puts legs apart. Theoutside person runs around the circle, goes through partner's tunnel andsits cross-legged on the inside of the circle.
Spider Race - Team formation, Players #1 standfacing the goal. Player #2 stands beside him, with his back to thegoal. The two players link elbows and on the signal, the pair runto the goal and back. One person runs backward each time. Therest of the players repeat the same action until every person has a turn.
Toe and heel (circle) - Runneradvances by placing one foot in front of the other so that the heel ofthe advancing foot touches the toes of the hind foot. Great for smallplaces
Wheel Barrow Race - Partners assume the Wheelbarrow and pusher position and on the signal advance to the turning pointwhere they change positions and return to the starting line.
Rainmakers (circle/passive/coop)
All of the participants need to sit in a circle. This activity will create a rain storm at your camp without actual rain. Each action that is to be done will start with the leader. As the action comes to each player, they will join in. You can notstart the action until it is your turn. The action sequence is; -Rubbing hands together - Snapping - Clapping - Slap thighs - Stomp feetThen reverse the whole process. This will sound like a rain stormstarting and then slowing down again.
Rattlesnake
First you find lots of kids. Then everyone hold hands one personon one end stands and holds onto something like a wall. The personon the other end will start the game by singing the song and going underthe arm of the person that's on the wall after everyone is under the personshould have their arms crossed. Then keep singing the song and repeatthe motion going under the second persons arm. Keep doing this untileveryone is twisted. Then the people at the ends hold hands finally everyoneis joined and they jump up and down singing the song one more time.
Song: r-a-t-t-t-l-e-e-s-and--a-k- spell rattlesnake limbo(repeat'till over)
Contributed by B.J. Funnybunny
Red Handed (passive/circle)
Everyone forms a circle and one person is chosenas IT stands in the centre of the circle. While IT closes their eyes,the other players pass a small object (like a marble or a stone) from personto person. The sneakiest method of passing is to hold the marblein one fist, palm down, and drop in into the palm-up hand of the next person. Then they pass it from one fist to the other and on. With a littlepractice, you'll be able to accomplish a quick and sneaky pass withouteven looking. IT signals and opens their eyes. Who among all theseinnocent looking people has the marble? If they detect a suspiciouslook on someone's face, she walks up and taps one of his fists. Ifthey are empty handed, she moves on. Meanwhile everyone has beenpassing the marble around, virtually under IT's nose. (Fake passes,as decoys, by people who don't have the marble are an integral part ofthe game.)
Rattlers (active/cooperative/circle)
Everyone forms a circle around two players. They are both blindfolded and given a rattle. One is trying to tagthe other. The rattlers enter the snake pit, and the game begins. To get a fix on each others positions, either rattler may shake his rattleat anytime and the other must immediately respond by shaking hers. However, the pursuer is allowed to initiate only 5 shakes to locate hisquarry while the pursued can rattle away as much as she dares. Therest of the people in the circle move around, changing the size and shapeof the snake pit. Once the person has got the snake or the personhas used 5 shakes, switch snakes.
Red Light (active)
Players stand in a straight line about 50 ft.from IT. IT turns his back and says "green light", counts to ten,and says "red light" and then turns around. Meanwhile the players havemoved as far forward as possible. Whomever he sees moving must returnto the starting place. The first person to pass IT wins.
Red Lion (active)
One lion and one gate keeper need to be chosenat the beginning of this game. The lion should stand in a small markedoff area. The lion keeper should have their arm out, keeping thelion inside the den. The rest of the players should be standing asclose to the lion as possible and should chant, "RED LION, RED LION, COMEOUT OF YOUR DEN...WHOEVER YOU CATCH WILL BE ONE OF YOUR MEN....." The players should continue to chant until the lion keeper lets the liongo. Anyone who is caught, becomes a lion. The game continues untileveryone is caught.
Red Rover (active)
There are two teams both of which form linesand grasp hands together. One team starts by saying "Red Rover, Red Rover,will come over". The name called can be anyone from theopposite team.. That person called runs over and tries to break throughthe line. If he does get through, then he can take someone back overto his own team with him. If he doesn't break through he stays withthe opposite team. Then the other team takes a turn at calling someoneover. ** N.B. EXTREME CAUTION MUST BE TAKEN TO PREVENTINJURY WITH THIS GAME.
Relays
Animal Relay - The playersform two lines with equal numbers on each team. The first animalon each team is an animal, the second a different animal. On the word"go",the first person acts like the animal they represent, run, hop or crawlto a given place and back. The next person then acts like their animalsand so on until one team is finished and sitting down. Use animalssuch as kangaroos, bunnies, dogs, cats etc...
Bean Bag Relays - Walk/run/hopwith bag on head/between knees/between feet.
Ball of String Relay- Theplayers should be in two teams standing in two circles with a ball of string. The captain holds one end, while the ball is passed rapidly from hand tohand until it is unwound. It is then passed back and rewound.
Car Relay - Have teams lineup and each person in the team has a certain action to do ie. First personin each group is a flat tire and hops on one foot. Second personis a broken steering wheel and runs zig-zag. The third personis a rusty transmission and takes three steps forward and two backwards. Fourth person is stuck in reverse and runs backwards. Fifthand sixth people are a car with a trailer one runs behind the other grabbingon.
Corner Spry Relay - Teamsarrange themselves in lines at the four corners of the playing space. Each team has a captain. The four captains stand in the centre, facingtheir teams. Each team has one beanbag, ball, or even an apple. The Captain throws the bean bag to each player on is team in turn. The players toss it back. As the captain throws to the last he calls"corner spry" and runs to the head of the line. The last player inthe line rushes to the centre and begins to throw the bean bag. Thiscontinues until the captain is back in the centre with the bean bag.
Jumpball Relay - Teamsline up with team members behind their team captains in file formation. At a distance of about 10 yards are placed play balls. One for each oneon another straight line. On the word GO, the first member of eachteam runs to his team's ball and places it between his ankles. Thenext person then runs back to the far line, places the ball between hisfeet and hops back. If the ball is dropped, the player must returnto the line and start over. the first team finished and sitting downis the winner.
Leap Frog - Well......You know.
Obstacle Relay - Playersrun the course from the head of the team to the turning point and backto the head of the tam performing along the course of the run three ormore stunts, with or without apparatus. The use of hoops, skippingropes, Indian clubs, mats, low vaulting boxes, basketball hoops, or what-have-youoffer an almost endless selection of obstacles.
Over and Under - Teamassumes astride position and all bend over and place their hands on theirknees. The rear man of the team is runner No. 1. He must leapfrog the first man in front of him, crawl under the legs of the second,leap the third and so on the front of the team.
Paul Revere Relay - Divide children into teams of 6 -12. Place teams in column 20 feetor more apart, the back man being the latest and the most active on theteam. On the work "go" he dashes forward and jumps pick-a-back onnumber 2, who dashes forward to #3 and the transfer of the light ridermust be made. The rider must not touch the ground. First team tohave their rider reach the beginning of the line wins.
Stunt Relay - In stunt relays,the runners advance to the turning point, stop, perform a stunt and returnto tag the next runner on their team. There is hardly and end tothe number of stunts which can be performed.
Tunnel Relay - Allmembers in the team stand astride. Runners must first crawl underthe legs of all players in the team, run forward to the turning point andreturn to tag the next man of the team who does the same.
Wiggle Worm Relay-Form relay lines. Everyone in each line puts their left hand betweentheir legs and the person behind, then signals to grab them from behindwith their right hand. Then they run at a given signal to the otherend of the playing area and back. The first team to return 'intact'wins!
Rock Paper Scissors (moderate-active depending on how it is adapted)
Two equal groups. Paper covers rock,scissors cut paper, rock breaks scissors. Groups that throws winningfigure runs to tag other group before they get behind their safe line.
Rocket Race to Mars (passive)
Same principal as pin the tail on the donkey. Instead of a donkey, you make a map. All you need is a large pieceof plain paper about a metre square. A double page from a newspaperwill do in a pinch. Attach the paper to a tree with tape or lay iton the ground. The paper represents a space map of the universe. The with a heavy red crayon draw a solid colour disc about 3" in diameteron the space map. This red ball will be Mars. Next draw onseveral other planets. Each player gets to make a spaceship. Blindfold each player, spin him around and see if he can land his shipon mars. Make sure each ship has the child's name on it so you cantell who is the closest.
Romeo and Juliet (active)
First, everyone chooses a partner, If someoneis left over he or she can be your partner. One member goes to aninside circle and the other stands beside that person on the outside circle. The circles rotate in opposite directions. The leader yells out either"Romeo and Juliet", "Wheelbarrow" or "Siamese Twins". The last coupleto perform the action is out. The game continues until there is oneremaining couple. The partners remain with the same partner throughoutthe entire game.
Romeo and Juliet - One partner sits on the other's knee Wheelbarrow- One holds the other's legs upright Siamese Twins - Back to Back and bentover, hands held between their legs.
Roundabout (active)
Players stand in a circle facing each otherfront to back. When the leader says "Go" everyone begins runningaround the circle. Always passing on the outside, each player triesto pass the person ahead. Players try and tag players as they pass. Tagged players are out. When the leader calls "Switch", the playersmust reverse direction. This turns the tables on the fast runnerwho is just about to overtake another player.
Row Ball (active)
Equipment: ball The players should besplit into 2 groups. Each team should sit with their legs extendedin a row. The teams should be facing opposite directions and shouldbe about a meter apart. The object of the game is to hit the ballout the end of the row in the direction that your team is facing. The players can only use their inside arm and the ball should be on theground at all times.
Run Sheep Run (active)
Group is divided in half (no not each of them). One group is the sheep and the other group is the foxes. The sheepare the hiding group and the foxes are the hunting group. A homebase and boundaries must be designated before the game begins. Thesheep elect a group leader. The whole group then goes and hides,as a group, they must stay together. The foxes may not look whilethe sheep are hiding. The group leader from the sheep goes back tothe foxes and tells them that the group is ready. The foxes thenhunt for the sheep, as a group, they must stay together. The groupleader from the sheep stays with the foxes and when the foxes are not nearthe sheep OR the home base, the leader shouts out "Run sheep Run!!" The object of the game is for the sheep to make it back to the home basebefore the foxes do. If they succeed then they get to be the sheepagain.
Running bases
There are two "bases" which could be anything including just two squareson the sidewalk. Three people minimum, probably 5 max but there couldbe more than one game going on at once....basically two people had mitsand are basemen they throw the ball back and forth and the "runner" runsback and forth daring the catchers to tag them out. This went onindefinitely until the runner got tagged out three times and had to becomea thrower. The person who tagged the third time became the runner.
Contributed by Kristel
Rutabaga Rutabaga! (circle/passive)
Each player is given the name of a veggie. The main rule of this game is that you are not allowed to show your teethat all. Your gums must always be covering them. You then mustsay the name of your vegetable and the name of another person's vegetable. That person then must say the same thing. If you make a mistake orshow your teeth in any way at all then you are out.
S
Samurai Warrior (active/circle)Equipment: Sword Warriors are ina circle with Samurai in the middle. Samurai salutes in his own way. Samurai then goes around inside the circle. If the Samurai passesthe sword over the heads of the warriors they must duck if he passes thesword near the ground they must jump. Any sounds made by the playersshould be encouraged. (ie. war scream for warrior etc...)
Sardines (active) ***Note: need 100% supervision to play
One player hides, all the rest of the playerscount to 100. Then they set out to find the hidden player. When one of the players finds the hidden player he secretly joins him,hiding from the rest of the group. This continues until al the playersare hidden like a pack of little sardines. When the last hunter discoversthe spot the game is over.
Sculpture (passive)
Equipment: Blindfolds. Three people arerequired with one person blindfolded and another person takes some shapeand stays like that. The person who is blindfolded must feel theperson who is a shape, and must sculpture the third person into that shape.
Scavenger Hunt
Equipment: pencils, lists, paper bags
This is a great activity. Make sure tosend campers in groups. You might want them holding onto a rope toensure that they stay together and everyone is participating. Makeyour hunt challenging. Ask for a mouthful of water, something fuzzy- BE CREATIVE !!!
Sensory Overload (passive/circle)
Spilt campers into 2 circles. Layingon their backs and heads toward the centre. An object will be passedin one direction and then the other in both circles. No more than3 objects but other instructions can be called, ie: calling names out inorder or clapping hands. Neutral game leader calls instructions for2-5 minutes. Each drop or mistake costs the circle a point. Circle with the least amount of points wins.
Shadow Tracks (passive)
Equipment: A box of chalk and a clock. Players must become private eyes as they follow the mysterious movementsof the "Shadow." The shadow has been accused of slowly travellingup and down the sides of the buildings and creeping across playgroundsand yards. Collection substantial evidence requires an all-day stakeoutand should be planned as a supplement to other investigations. Forthis project you will need the sun, a shadow to trace - such as that ofa tree, flagpole, or building- and a paved surface on which to draw withchalk. Give each play a piece of chalk. Start the investigationfirst thing in the morning. At first, shadows will be stretched outand long. Have players trace whatever shadow is cast on the pavement. Allegedly, shadows get shorter because the sun gets higher in the sky. Private eyes will have to check this out every hour by tracing the shadowand checking the sun's position. As detectives keep tabs on the sun'sroute, they might notice the shadows shrinking to almost nothing by middayand the reversing their position to grow again.
Smaug's Jewels (passive/circle)
One person is chosen as Smaug stands guardover their jewel's (a beanbag, handkerchief etc). Everyone else formsa circle around him and tries to steal the treasure without being tagged. If you are touched by the Smaug, you are instantly frozen in place untilthe end of the game. The snatcher becomes the Smaug.
Shoe Twister (cooperative/circle/moderate)
Everyone takes off one shoe and puts it inthe centre of the circle. Everyone joins hands. On "Go", everyonegets a shoe from centre and finds the person who owns it, and puts it backon that person without letting go of hands of people beside them.
Shoes (active)
The group is split up into four teams and eachtam lines up behind a mat. On a signal one member from each teamruns to get one shoe and put it on his mat at which the text team membermay go to get another shoe. The object is to get 3 shoes on the teammat. Shoes may be taken from other team mats and those teams maynot resist. When a team has 3 shoes they yell "SHOES!"
Shoe Wrestling (active/circle)
The players should be sitting in a circle. The leader should choose 2 players to shoe wrestle. These playersshould be of similar age and size. The object of the game is to takeoff the shoes of your opponent. The first one to do so is the winner. Players should stay on the ground, NO STANDING. Be careful!
Siamese Soccer (active/coop)
Set up for a regular game of soccer. The only modification is that two people are tied together by the ankles. For more variety add two balls so everyone is active.
Sign Your Name if You Can (passive)
Fasten a sheet of paper to a wall. Playerstake turns. With a pencil in hand, standing in front of the paper,he starts to swing his left leg in a circle. Doing this, he tries to writehis name on the paper. And tries and tries ...
Silent Statue
A group of ten or more boys starts by running of to an arranged pointto see who will be the silent statue.The rest will form a tight corridoron which the silent statue is supposed to pass. When the statue goesin he must say out loud:
I am the silent statue andI'm coming in...
I don't want any teeth,I don't want any moves.
Everybody must keep as quiet and still as possible and never show theirteeth, but when the statue is not looking they can hit them in the shouldersor the back.
The game ends when the statue finds out that someone is smiling orhas moved...
Contributed by Lums Espada (from Portugal)
Simon Says (moderate)
Players form a line facing the leader, whoperforms any action saying Simon says do this. If He doesn't say" Simon says" before an action then anyone who imitates the action is outof the game. Continue until one person is left.
Skin the Snake (cooperative)
The group is in a straight line. Eachplayer puts their right hand forward as if they were shaking a person'shand. Put left hand through own legs behind to shake hands with personbehind you. Last person in the line lies down, everyone else backsup to be able to lie down also. When whole group is lying down, firstperson stands up, and walks forward over all the other people until "Snake"has skinned itself.
Smugglers (active)
The players should be split into 2 teams. One team is the "ins" and the other is the "outs". The Inshave a den while the Outs plan their strategy in the field. One memberof the Outs has the "jewel" (stone etc). The identity of the playerwho carries the jewel must remain a closely guarded secret among teammates. The Ins count to 50 while the Outs move farther and farther away. After the count is finished, the Ins yell, "SMUGGLERS!" , and the chaseis on. As each member of the Out team is tagged, he must open hishands to show whether or not he has the jewel. Of course, the jewelshould be passed around among teammates as quickly and as inconspicuouslyas possible. There are lots of opportunities for playing the decoyin this game. When the holder of the jewel is tagged, the game isover and the sides change.
Snake in the Grass (active)
One person is the snake, who lies on the groundon his stomach. Everyone else gathers fearlessly around to touchhim. When the referee shouts "snake-in-the- grass" everyone runs,staying within the bounds of the snake area, while the snake, moving onhis belly, tries to tag as many as he can. Those touched become snakes.The last person caught is the snake starter in the next game. Makethe safe area fairly small.
Snowblind (active)
Equipment: boffer Establish boundariesand choose one person as the snowman. He arms himself with a bofferand must keep his eyes closed. The rest of the players crouch onthe ground, eyes open, and wait for the snowman to start the action bychanting: "Snowman, snowman, all in white, blinding everyone in sight!" While they chant, the other players run around in the predetermined boundaries;but must return to a stationary crouching position by the time the chantends. Now the snowman moves around while the other players remainin their positions. Still snowblind, the snowman tries to tag oneof the players with the bopper. When he succeeds, the tagged playerbecomes snowblind, too, and he/she must join forces with the snowman, whogives the bopper to her/him and stands behind her/him with theirhands on his/her hips. They both close their eyes and say the chantwhile the rest run for safety again. The game continues until thelast person is tagged.
Sounds Good To Me (passive/circle)
The person who is "it" sits in the middle ofthe circle and is blindfolded. When the leader points to someonein the circle, that person makes a noise. If "it" guesses right,the person who made the noise is now it. *Keep all noises different*
Spirals (circle)
Everyone joins hands in a circle. Thenone person releases the hand of their neighbour and pulling the giant humanrope behind, begins to walk around the outside of the circle. Theother people who broke hands remains in position on the end person. The chain of people spirals around and around the stationary person, drawingpeople tighter and tighter in a coil until all the people - still holdinghands are wrapped around each other. The best way to unfold the spiralis from the centre. Still holding hands, the person in the middle ducksdown, and the rope of people follows.
Spokes (active)
The group needs to divide into at least 4 equalgroups. Each group needs to sit in a single file facing the centreof the circle. (The lines should look like spokes on a wheel) The leader can start by walking on the outside of the spokes. Theleader will touch the head of the last person in that line. Thatwhole line would have to get up and run around. The last person tosit down is "it" and then must walk around and pick a new group.
Spud (active)
Equipment: Ball Throw the ball up in theair and call a number. Ask number 1 is called, if he catches theball he calls another number. (Each player has been given his own number.) If he doesn't catch the ball he calls "FREEZE" and takes three giant stepsand tries to hit a person with the ball below the waist. If he hitsthe person then they get a point against them and get to call a new number. If the player misses the person he is trying to hit then he gets a pointagainst him and has to throw the ball up.
Stand in a line (moderate)
Players are divided into teams. Theyclose their eyes or cannot speak. They form lines according to height,dates of birth, or alphabetically according to their first names.
Stay Sober (moderate) Children form 2 teams and stand facing each other. The children onthe first team are given one minute to make anyone on the other team laugh. They make faces, gestures, funny or teasing remarks, but they cannot touchthe other players. Then the action is reversed, and members of thesecond team try to make the other team laugh. Any child that doeslaugh must leave the line. The team with the most remaining playersafter several times is the winner.
Stealing Sticks (active)
Equipment: sticks: could be paint brushes.
The field is divided into two parts by a welldefined line. At the centre end of each side, five or more sticksare placed in a pile. A prison is marked off about 4 feet squarein one corner. The players are in two teams, each scattered overits own side. The object of the game is to steal the opponents stickswithout being caught. As soon as the player crosses the centre linehe may be caught and put in prison. A player may be release from prisonif one of his teammates can touch his hand. He may then come backto his own side without being tagged. The team that gets all theopponent's sticks and has all its members safely out of prison wins thegame.
Stickup also known as Sticky Fingers(active)
Select one player to be Sticky fingers. Start the game by saying " This is a stick up!" as players scatteraround the playground. When Sticky fingers tags a player, the taggedplayer must place a hand on the place touched while still continuing torun. As more and more players become stuck on themselves, stickyfingers has a better chance to totally immobilize one player. Usuallywhen both hands of a player are stuck, the third touch stick him or herwith being the next Sticky Fingers.
Sticky Popcorn (active) The children begin by " popping " around the gym as pieces of sticky popcorn,searching for other pieces of popcorn. When two pieces of popcornmeet, they stick together. Once stuck together, they continue topop around together, sticking to even more pieces, until they end up ina big popcorn ball.
Stomp the Snake (active)
Equipment: ropes Four people should bechosen to be snakes ( this can be adjusted according to the size of thegroup). These snakes will get a piece of rope. When the leadersays "go", the snakes will run holding the rope with 2 fingers behind themas they run. The rest of the players try to stomp on the snake byjumping on the piece of rope. If someone gets the rope from the snake,they are the new snake and get to run.
Stormy Sea (active)
Players get into groups of 2 and are givennames of fish (eg. perch, cat, salmon) One team is called the "whales". The whales run around the "safe area". The whales yell the namesof the fish at random. When a team's name is called, they run afterthe whales. When the whales yell "stormy sea" the teams must dashfor the "safe area". The team left out becomes the whales.
Streets and Alleys (active)
This game is played with a lot of children. One child is the mouse and one is the cat. The rest of the groupline up in rows with arms joined and all facing the same way.. The catchases the mouse up and down the streets until the leader yells alleys.Then all the streets change direction. When the cat catches the mousethe game is over, or pick a new mouse and cat.
Squirrel Tails (active)
Equipment: tails Players are divided into2 or more teams. Each player has a strip of cloth tucked in his belt. When the signal is given, all players rush to a central point where thereis a treasure (eg. peanuts). Players try to get some the treasureand return to their home base. A player may be killed by anotherby treasure and return to their home base. A player may be killedby another by having their tail pulled off. This puts the playerout of the game and voids any treasure they have captured on that particularraid. At the end of the game, each peanut counts as 1 pointand each tail counts as 5 points. The team with the most points wins.
Swat (active/circle)
Equipment: frisbee, sword. Players forma circle. In the centre of the circle a sword is placed on top ofa frisbee. Player A grabs the sword and swats a player from the circle."A" replaces the sword on top of the frisbee. "B" runs behind "A"to pick up the sword after it has been placed upon the frisbee. He tries to hit "A" before he goes back to his own place in the circle. If he doesn't make it he (B) becomes the new "hitter".
T
Taffy Pull (active) The players are divided evenly into 2 teams,the taffy team and the taffy pulling machine team. The taffy's allsit down and link hands, arms and legs in a tangled mass of sweet humanity. They might want to decide what flavour they are and chant an appropriateconfectionary cheer, like "Butterscotch, Butterscotch..." The taffy pullingmachine team tries to pull the taffy mass into human sized bits. Firmly(but gently) tug at the pieces until they come lose. Be VERY carefulwith this game. If you have violent campers, do not play this game.
TAG (active)
Arch Tag Thechildren are in a circle. One couple forms an arch. Circlerotates through the arch. On signal, circle stops and arch trapssomeone. The person trapped goes in centre and waits for anotherperson to be caught. Then they form a second arch. The lastperson caught is the winner.
Ball Tag Equipment: Ball Like simple tag, but you run with ball, and must throw it at the personand hit them below the waist to tag them. If a person is hit thenhe becomes IT.
Catch one Catch all One player is chosen as IT. When IT tags another player that otherplayer also becomes IT. ITS must keep an arm raised overhead so thatthey may be identified.
Colour Tag Scatter- Leader calls a colour. If you are wearing that colour you are Itand proceed to tag other children. If a child is tagged he must walkin a crab walk until a new colour is called.
Elbow Tag (circle) Partners stand scattered over play area, inside arms linked, outside handon hip. Runner reaches safety by hooking on to an arm, thus securinga partner. The other partner must drop off to be chased. If caughtbefore reaching safety, then the runner becomes IT. If the runneris constantly evading the chaser, the supervisor can call "Switch!" whichmeans that now the runner is the chaser.
This game can also be played in a more confinedcircular area with a very large group. The IT is in the middle ofthe circle along with the person being chased. In order for the personto avoid being caught he may link elbows with someone forming the circle. The runner is now on the other side of the person with whom the old runnerlinked elbows. Epidemic Tag See "Sticky Fingers"
Follow Tag Askall players to find a partner. One person in each pair is the "leader" and the other is the "follower". The follower must follow as closelyas possible (without touching) the leader. The instructor may controlthe form of locomotion by asking them to skip, walk, run, hop, etc. orthe leader may be given the option of choosing or changing the form oflocomotion as he chooses with the follower being obligated to do the sameas the leader. The leader tries to make it difficult for the followerto follow. And it's always fun to stop abruptly.
Frozen Tag Childrenscatter in a designated area of the park. Two children are IT. When the others are touched by IT, they freeze. A frozen person maybecome unfrozen by one of the other children crawling through his legs. The object is to try to unfreeze people as fast as they are frozen. If you are frozen 3 times then you also become an IT.
Follow Tag Askall players to find a partner. One person in each pair is the "leader"and the other is the "follower". The follower must follow as closelyas possible (without Touching) the leader. The instructor may controlthe form of locomotion by asking them to skip, walk, run, hop, etc. orthe leader may be given the option of choosing or changing the form oflocomotion he chooses with the follower being obligated to do the sameas the leader. The leader tries to make it difficult for the followerto follow. And its always fun to stop abruptly!
Hip One playeris IT. Any player that IT tags becomes IT's helper. The Helpersmust try to catch those not yet caught and hold them until IT can cometo tag them. They signal to IT that they are holding someone by calling"HIP! HIP!"
Hug Tag A playeris safe from being tagged only when they are hugging another player. For more hugging, propose that only three children hugging are safe, thenfour, then five.....
Imitation Tag Simple tag but with the manner of locomotion set by the chaser. Thechaser may change his manner of running to hopping, skipping, crawling,crab walking etc. and all players must imitate his style.
Immunity Tag There is a number of variations of this game, however the general structureis as follows: Play is the same as simple tag except that those thatare being chased can make themselves immune by doing some predeterminedactivity which gives them immunity. Beginner gymnasts for examplemay be able to make themselves immune by balancing on one foot. Formore advanced gymnasts it may be doing a handstand. IT is not permittedto guard the immune person , for example waiting until the person comesdown from the handstand. NB. you can only be immune 3 times thenyou are IT.
Jump The Shot One person in the centre swings a long rope in a circle while holding itlow, this person may vary the speed he swings it. Everyone must jumpover it to stay in the game. When touched by the rope that personmust drop out of the circle.
Line Tag Thisis played on a gym floor or similar area on which lines are marked. The game continues as simple tag with the restriction that chaser and chasedmust run on the lines. To go off the line means you become an IT.
Mount Tag A manto be safe must be mounted on the back of another player. Then bothhorse and rider are safe. Partner Tag Divide the group into pairs. Partners decide who will be it and who will be the runner. When theleader says "Go", partners begin to run around, then its trying to tagthe runners. When a partner tags the other, they switch roles.
Serpent Tag
Four players link their arms together forminga chain, these people are the serpent. The serpent runs around andtries to catch as many players at one time as it can by forming a circlearound them. As soon as one or more of the players is circled bythe serpent, they must link arms with the others in the serpent and helpcapture the remaining players.
Shadow Tag
One player is chosen to be it. The objectof the game is for the person who is it to try and tag another player bystepping on his or her shadow. Define boundaries. When theperson who is it steps on someone's shadow, he or she shouts "Sun Tag!". The player whose shadow was tagged becomes the next person to be IT, butthat player must stand still for three counts before chasing the shadows.
Spoke Tag
A bicycle wheel picture is drawn or taped tothe floor, the players are not allowed to move off of the spokes, and theIT must also move on the spokes. When a player is tagged, they become IT. There is also a ball that may be thrown around amongst the players, whena player has the ball, they are safe from IT. Triangle Tag The group needs to be splitinto groups of four. Three people hold hands. One player inthe triangle is chosen to be chased. The person who is not in thecircle is "it" and chases the person. The other two people are thechased person's shield. Keep changing roles.
Piggyback Tag Play is same as simple tag but players are in pairs with one mounted onthe other's back.
Simple Tag Playersare free to run anywhere they wish. One player (or more if desired)chases the other players. If he succeeds in tagging a player the taggedplayer becomes the chaser and the game continues without interruption. Rhythm Tag While the music plays (or theleader sings), campers walk around the area. When the music stops,the players should stop moving. Without taking a step, the playersmust try to tag another player. Two people can not tag each other,therefore the first tag counts. All the players that were taggedmust make another movement when the music starts again. (hopping, crawlingetc) Each time the music stops, those previously tagged try to tagthose who have not been tagged. Walkers may also try to tag eachother. The winner is the last walker remaining untagged.
Tent Erection (cooperative)
Equipment: tents, blindfolds Object: To erect a tent within a given time period to house all members of thegroup. Rules: All members buttwo are blindfolded. Seeing people may not move, nor may they callpeople by their proper names. Considerations: Tent must be large enough to house all members of the group. Differenttypes of tents within the same bag makes for added confusion and laughs. Setting: "A new type of bomb has been dropped blinding all the peoplein the world except for 2 - you and you - unfortunately these 2 peopleare paralyzed. You can all regain your sight and movement by gettinginto these super special tents within a short time. Once inside don'ttouch the walls! Time is short and of essence! Go!!
The Thicket Game (active)
You obviously need a thicket or a forest forthis game. Blindfold one person to be the predator. The predatorcounts to 15 slowly while the others hide. The hiding players must be ableto see the predator at all times. The predator can not move locationbut can swat and turn. The object of the game is for the playersto try and get as close to the predator as possible without being seen.
Things (passive/backpocket)
Decide on 4 letters of the alphabet, then dividethe group into 4 groups and they must write down, all the objects in theroom starting with that letter.
Things Aren't WhatThey Seem (passive)
Equipment: Several household articles - cutlery, hair pins, plasticjewellery etc. Each child must choose anobject, study and make up a story about it. The story must not betypical of the object, but must be a new and different use for it. Example, (Hairbrush) this may look like a hairbrush but what it reallyis a toothbrush for a giant. Since there are no giants left in theworld and haven't been for some time, there are very few of these toothbrushesremaining.
Thrill of a Lifetime (cooperative/passive)
This is a fantasy game that makes the wholegroup work together to achieve a common role. Each person is askedto write down their "thrill of a lifetime" on a piece of paper and placeit in a bowl or a hat. Draw one or more of these papers (dependingon time) and challenge the group to create this "thrill of a lifetime"within a certain time limit. This activity also uses the creativetime limit.
Thumper (circle/passive)
The players sit in a circle. The leaderinstructs everyone to select a different Indian sign. Examples: - Rain in the face (hand held above brow, fingers twiddling) - Bowand arrow ( arms extended as if holding bow and shooting arrow) - Drums (hands tapping on an imaginary drum) -How! (hand upheld, palm forward)- Teepee ( formed with hands, fingertips touching) - Feathers (twofingers held up behind head) - Swimming ( swimming motion) etc..... One player starts by telling what he is and suits the action to the words. For instance, "I'm drums" and pretends to beat. Going around thecircle each player tells what he is. Then all start clapping handson knees in a rhythmic beat. Leader (in rhythm):What's the name of the game? Players: Thumper! Leader: How do you play it? Players: Youthump! The leader gives his own signal and follows it with someone else'ssign. Each successive person does his own and then another one action.
Tiddly - Button Golf (moderate)
Equipment: 9 small cat food/tuna fish cans. Take thelabel off the can and put a number on it from one to nine. Largebutton and a small button for each player. Buttons must be flat. Set out the cans like the 9 holes of a golf course. Keep 2 or 3 feetbetween the cans. Try to shoot the small button into the cans bypressing on the edge of it with the larger button. Start from thetee off spot and shoot for can number one. After you get the buttonin this can, take it out, put it next to the can and try for can numbertwo. Count one point for each shot it takes to get the button ina can. The player with the lowest score wins.
Toe Fencing (active)
Players are divided into pairs. Playersface their opponent holding hands. They then try to tap the topsof each other's toes with their own. When one player scores threehits, it's time to switch to a new partner.
Toeies (cooperative)
Partners lie stretched out on the floor, feet to feet, or big toe tobig toe, and try to roll across the floor with their toes touching allthe time.
Togeth-air Ball (cooperative)
See " group Juggling"
Toma Hawk Snatch (active)
The children form two straight lines, six feetapart, with a bean bag, or tomahawk, etc. in the middle. Number thechildren from opposite ends so that the highest number of one team is oppositethe lowest number of the other team. Leader calls a number and the whoplayers of that number run forward, try to snatch the tomahawk and returnto their place without being touched by their opponent. If he succeedshe scores a point. If the opponent tags him, then that team getsa point.
Touch Blue (cooperative/circle)
The game begins with everyone in a circle. The leader will call out, "Touch Blue" and everyone must touch somethingthat is blue. (someone's shorts, piece of a shirt) Colours can beadded on and different body parts can be specified.
True and False (active)
The player are divided into 2 equal teams standingon either side of a centre line. One of these is the "True" teamand the other is the "False" team. Each team has a goal on either sideof the centre line. When the leader gives a true statement, suchas "Grass is Green", the true players run for their goal, chased by thefalse team. If tagged, the members of the true team become membersof the false team run for their goal. The team that has the mostplayers at the end of the playing time is the winner.
Trust Fall (cooperative)
Group forms tight circle around person whostands straight and stiff as a log. The group gently moves that stiffperson around taking care to be gentle. The Purpose is for the individualto gain trust. Once comfortable, the person in the centre closestheir eyes. Everyone in the group should try this. The nextstep is to have 3 people of the same relative size match up. Twopeople stand behind the other and act as catchers. The 'Faller' isto remain stiff as a log and fall backwards. The catchers first stopthe fall after a drop of a foot or so and then straighten the individualup. The faller falls again and the catcher let him fall a littlefurther than before. Continue several times and rotate positions.
Tunnel Race (active/circle)
Two circles of equal numbers of players areformed, and one circle stands outside the other. Inside circle turnsaround so that they are facing the outside circle and each member of thecircles takes the person opposite them as their partner. Each pairin the circle has formed into a tunnel, IT walks through the tunnel andtags any pair, then sits in their position. The pair runs throughthe tunnel in opposite directions until they return to their home position. The last person to return home is IT for the next game.
Twelve feet off theGround (cooperative)
Object is to get the whole group 12 feet offthe ground. Timed event, easy solution is to lift 12 feet off theground.
U
Ultimate Frisbee (active) This game is a modification of football. There are two teams andinstead of a football a frisbee is used. The object of the game isto get the frisbee across the end zone. Players may not run withthe frisbee. The only way to get a turnover is to drop the frisbeeor to intercept. This is a non contact game. Ultimate Foxtail (active)
The same as ultimate frisbee but a foxtailis used. You can easily make a foxtail by putting a tennis ball insidea nylon. For older campers, make sure you use the rule thatyou may only catch the foxtail by its tail and not the ball. Younger campersmay catch it by the ball.
Uncle Sam (active)
The person who is IT is situated in the middleof the playground and the others are lined up in a long line at the side. The object of the game is to get across to the other side of the playgroundwithout being caught. The children at the side call out "Uncle Sam,Uncle Sam, may we cross your river dam?" The leader answers "Yesyou may, yes you may, if you're wearing green today!" Those who arein green attempt to cross to the other side without being caught. If you are caught you must help catch the others when new colours are called.
V
Vampire (active) To start, everyone closes their eyes ( vampiresroam only at night) and begins to mill around. You can trust thereferee to keep you from colliding with anything but warm living flesh. However, you can't trust them to protect you from the consequences, forhe is going to surreptitiously notify one of you that you are the vampire. Like everyone else, the vampire keeps their eyes closed, but when theybump into someone else, there's a difference. She snatches him andlets out a blood- curdling scream. He, no doubt, does the same. If you are a victim of the vampire you are a victim of the vampire, youbecome a vampire as well. When two vampires feast on each other,they transform themselves back into mortals.
Viking (circle/passive)
All of the players sit in a circle. Oneperson starts as the viking by putting their fingers at their side of theirhead like horns on their hat. This viking passes the role of beinga viking by pointing their horns at someone. If you are pointed at,you become a viking (horns and all) and the person on the right has tostart paddling to the right and the person on the left has to start paddlingon the left. The last person of the threesome to assume their positionis out. The rest of the players slap their legs during the game ina constant rhythm.
W
- Wacky Walkers (active)
Equipment: A frisbee or a paper plate for each pair of players. Divide group into pairs. Give each pair a frisbee or a paper plate.Mark a start and finish line. Pairs line up at the start line. Partners hold their plate or frisbee between them. The object ofthe game is to race to the finish line as fast as possible while steepingover the frisbee or paper plate, one foot at a time, without letting goof it. When the leader says "Go", partners twist and turn each takinga turn to step. Although this is not difficult to do, it can be confusingso players should start off slowly. Players that let go of theirfrisbee must go back to the line and start again.
What's Missing? (passive)
Have a tray with a number of different objects(ie. pens, crayons, scissors etc...). Have the children study itfor 30 seconds, then cover it up and remove one article. Rearrangethe objects, and show it to the children again. The first child toguess what is missing gets to organize the tray for the next time.
What Time is it Mr.Wolf (active)
The children line up at one end with Mr. Wolfat the opposite end of the playing area with his back to the rest of thegroup. The children advance together asking " What time is it Mr.Wolf?". The wolf responds with any time (for each hour the childrentake one step forward. ie. 2 O'clock is 2 steps forward) but when he calls"Dinnertime", the children must run back to the starting line without gettingcaught by the wolf. If the wolf catches someone then that personalso becomes a wolf. The last person left wins.
Who am I? (moderate/icebreaker)
Each person has pinned on his back a pictureor name of a famous person. By asking questions to the other peoplethat can be only answered "yes" or "no", he must figure out who is on his back.
Will You Buy My Donkey?(circle/passive)
The players should be sitting in a circle. One donkey and one donkey seller should be in the centre of the circle. The donkey seller will try to sell their donkey to those in the circle. The donkey seller will choose one person and ask them, "Will you buy mydonkey?" The players in the circle have to answer "no thank you"with a straight face. Then the seller will say,"My monkey can do cool things like..." The donkey has to try anddo the things that it's seller says it can do. (ex. tap dance, do a somersault,sing a song...etc.) The players in the circle have to say "no thankyou" without laughing. If the person laughs, they become the donkey,the donkey becomes the seller and the seller gets to join the circle.
Wink (passive)
Players are arranged in partners, one squattingand one kneeling behind the circle. One person is it. He winks as unobtrusively as possible at one of the seated persons whotry to get to it before his partner can prevent it by placing his handson the person's shoulders. Guards must keep their hands by theirsides except when they wink at their partners.
Witch
You need a witch, a mother, a babysitter and at least two children.The mother says to the babysitter:
"I'm going downtown to smoke my pipe, and I won't be back until Saturdaynight. And don't let that witch take any of my children!"
Then as she walks around the ouside of the house (or yard) the witchcomes to the door to "borrow" a cup of sugar. While the babysitteris getting it, the witch "bribes" a child to come with her and they leavefor the witch's house. The mother comes home and gets mad at thebabysitter, but this doesn't stop her from going out again. Repeatthe same game until all children have been "kidnapped". The babysitterfollows the witch with the last child but also gets kidnapped. Thewitch then gives each child a new name which will be a category (IE colours,fruits, cereal, etc). The mother comes to the witch's house and hasto guess the new names of her children before they can go home!
Contributed by Barb Enright
X
Y
Yankee Doodle Cracker (passive) This is a game for two teams of at least fourplayers on each team, and a referee. The referee gives everyone acracker. As soon as he blows a whistle, or, "calls on your mark,get set go!" the first person on each team eats his cracker and tries towhistle "Yankee Doodle Went to Town". As soon as he has succeededthe next person does the same. The first team to finish wins.
Ying Yang Yoo (passive)
This game should only be played by older campers. Each word has a separate action. Ying:hand on top of head, pointingin one (either left or right) direction. Yang: hand under chin pointingin one direction. Yoo: Regular pointing action. These three wordsmay only be spoken in the correct order, it always must be Ying YangYoo. The first person starts and says Ying, doing the motion. If they point to the left then the person to the left must respond Yang,also doing the motion. The person that was pointed at must say Yooand point to anyone in the circle. That person then starts againby saying Ying.
Z
Zip Zap (passive) It points to a person in the circle repeating the word "zip" or "zap" andcounting to five. If they say "zip" the person must reply withthe name of the person on his right, "zap" he must reply with thename on his left. If he is wrong then he goes into the centre ofthe circle. Zoom Schwartz Pifigliano(passive) ***for older campers
Players sit in a circle on the ground. The first person starts by looking at someone and saying Zoom. Thatperson may then look at someone else and say Zoom. Whenever you sayZoom, you look at the person who you are Zooming. If you want tosend the Zoom back to the same person , you must say Schwartz, but youmay not look at the person. That person then has the option of Zoomingit to a new player. However, if the player wants to get the sameperson back again then they must say Pifigliano. It is a pure concentrationgame and a lot of fun, but do not expect campers to get it the firsttime they play it.
