The group sits in a circle, and then someone starts the game by saying their name, and then an animal that begins with the same letter as the first letter in their name (e.g., Chris the crocodile). The next person in the circle repeats what the first person says, such as ‘Chris the crocodile’, and then adds in their own name and animal. This carries on all the way around the circle until the last person gets to say everyone else’s name and animal and then add their own. As in the name game, if someone messes up, the previous…
Author: David Priestley
Form a circle. The first person to go will state a word that describes themselves that starts with the first letter of their name followed by their first name (e.g., Giant George or Footie Fred). The following people to go will need to state all the previous people’s names and finish up with their own name. If someone messes up, the previous person that went has to repeat their turn and the game continues from there. The last person to go will need to state everyone’s name and then finish up by stating their name.
Ask participants to pair up and bend down facing each other. The object of the exercise is to try and slap each other’s knees. Participants defend their own knees by fending off attacks with their hands. After each successful ‘strike’ they break contact and prepare to start again. The contest ends when someone has scored three strikes and the contestants find new partners to start again. Warn participants before about hitting hard and sticking to light slaps. Minimum Group Size: 10 Equipment Requirements: None
Everyone starts with a band tucked into their shorts or trousers. The idea of the game is to get as many bands as possible from the other participants. Participants can only steal if they have a band tucked in to their own shorts or trousers. When someone loses their band, they continue jogging until the time is up. Minimum Group Size: 10 Equipment Requirements: None
Good warm up game. Everyone in the group is it and they must try and tag each other, if they get caught they must stand still with both hands in the air, the only way to free them is for another person to give them a high 10 and then the game continues. Minimum Group Size: 6 Equipment Requirements: None
In this game, the group creates a closed circle around the leader, ensuring that they have enough space between each other. The leader goes through three actions, including stance, kicking, and the chop. The instructor gets the group jumping up and down on the spot and then does a countdown from five to one. When they get down to one, each group member must perform an action. If the action they choose is the same as what the kung-fu master (the leader) chooses, they are out of the game. This game can be adapted to suit a specific sport that…
All children are given a beanbag. When instructed by their leader, all children have to run, skip or hop around until the leader calls out a body part. Once the leader calls out the body part, all children have to try to balance the beanbag on that specific body part. The last person to complete this is out of the game. The winner is the person left after all rounds. They then get to take over from the leader in the next game and give instructions to the rest of the group. Minimum Group Size: 8 Equipment Requirements: Beanbag for each…
Similar to ‘stuck in the mud’. During the game there are two different coloured balls and two ball carriers are selected from the group. The blue ball carrier can freeze people by touching them with the ball. The yellow ball unfreezes. When the yellow ball is handed to someone who is frozen, they defrost and become the yellow ball carrier instead. The blue ball carrier stays the same throughout the game. More than one of the same coloured ball can be added during the game to make this a faster paced game. Minimum Group Size: 12 Equipment Requirements: 2 different…
The leader selects a cat and a mouse from the group. The aim of the game is for the cat to chase the mouse. If the cat manages to catch the mouse they then become the cat and have to do the chasing. Everyone else in the group pairs up and stands side-by-side spread out in the activity area. The mouse changes throughout the game by the mouse linking to the side of a pair, the person on the opposite side to where the mouse has linked themselves then becomes the mouse and the cat has to chase them instead.…
The leader selects a shark from the group. Everyone else must then line up at the other end of an allocated area. The shark decides who to call forward. For example, it could be ‘anyone wearing red’ or ‘anyone wearing a hat’. Those chosen run to the opposite end of the allocated space, past the shark who will try to catch them. If the shark catches them, they then become seaweed. As seaweed the children cannot move their feet but they can reach out with their arms and attempt to try to catch others in the group. The game continues…
This is a giant team game of rock, paper, scissors. Divide the group into two teams. Define a playing area with two end safety zones and a middle line. Each team decides their character and approaches the middle line. On the count of three the teams perform the action and noise (which signifies their character). The winning team pursues the losing team and tries to tag them before they make their safety zone. Any person tagged joins the opposite team. This continues until one team has all the players. As in rock, paper, scissors each character beats one other; Wizard…
Participants start of by slapping their hands against their thighs and running on the spot mimicking how a penguin runs. The leader should get participants to do this slowly to start with, so they become accustomed to it and have them to speed up at a later stage. Leaders should introduce further commands such as left bends, right bends and double bends, which all include speeding sound effects and actions whilst still running on the spot. Other actions to include: Penguin going through a tunnel Penguin on ice Penguin at the disco Penguin over a ski jump Minimum Group Size: 4…