Amuse Journey: Junior Games

Junior Games for “aMUSE” Got some extra time to kill in your meeting? Try one of these fun games in addition to those included in the journey! Receiver Right Clap Have the girls stand up in the circle. Start with one girl to go first. She will throw a “clap” to any other girl by pushing her hands together in front of her chest and then pushing both hands toward the receiving girl, opening up her arms out after sending the clap. Sending a clap makes a “whoof” sound, and receiving a clap makes a sucking sound. The receiver receives the clap by making the inverse gesture and making the sucking sound. Once a clap is received, the player to the right of the receiver sends a new clap to any other player, and the pattern continues. The goal is to get the clap to move as quickly as possible! Group Count The object of this game is to get the group to count to ten without any two people speaking at the same time. Divide the group into two separate circles (to make the game easier, spread these circles far away from one another) and have them stand shoulder to shoulder with their heads down and eyes closed. Tell them that they are not allowed to verbally or physically communicate with one another. With their eyes closed, have them feel each other’s presence nearby. Signal them to start, and if two girls in a circle try to say a number at the same time, their circle must start again. Reinforce that it is not a competition and for them to take their time through the activity. When each group has successfully completed the activity without cheating (they cannot count along the circle in order!), have the two circles combine and have the entire group count to ten together! One Word Story This game is as simple as it sounds—have the girls stand or sit in a circle and create a story one word at a time, letting each girl say one word and having the next girl give the next word. Sometimes it is helpful to give a “theme” for the story, but the game works just as well without one! House, Girl, Flood Give each girl a number (starting with one, counting up). On your signal, have the girls build a “house” over each girl with their bodies, covering at least three sides of the girl with the rest of the group. Once everyone is in place, call “flood” and the group will move to the next girl (number two) and build a house over her. Continue this until everyone has been in the middle once. Then you may repeat the cycle, timing the girls to see if they can do it in under a certain amount of time! At the end of the activity, tell the girls that building a friendship is like building a house—it takes lots of effort and support and can be washed away if not maintained properly. Dialogue Pause This is a great listening game. Stress to the girls the importance of listening to your friends and being an open ear when they need to talk as they get into a circle. Choose one person to go first. This girl will turn to the girl to her right and begin a dialogue about anything (you may give a topic if they get stuck). The trick is that the girls must pause for five seconds before giving a reply. This will force them to really consider what the other girl said, and how and why she said it that way. This pause also gives them time to create their character’s personality and create the scene. Let each dialogue go for 45-60 seconds and then move on to the next girl. In Her Shoes (aka Character Swap) Have two girls improvise a scene (you may give them a topic if they get stuck), making distinct, strong physical and vocal choices. Let the scene continue until the characters are defined. Then have them switch places and repeat the scene with the roles reversed. This will really reinforce listening to their partner’s words and actions. Have each girl try this at least once—it is a valuable game for literally placing girls in each other’s shoes! Emotion Song This is a favorite with many girls, so this may be a great game to bring back at the end if time allows. Have four or five girls stand in front of the group. Give them each an emotion or mood, and have them repeat back to you a sound to go along with that mood. Tell them to remember this sound as this is their “note” in the emotion song. The facilitator should act as the conductor and create a song by pointing to one, two, three, or all of the group members, who will each make their sound when your finger is pointing at them. When you pull your finger away from each girl, they should stop making their sound. You may also control the volume by raising or lowering your hands. Continue the song for a minute or so, create a dramatic ending, and let the next few girls try! Hot Spot Have the girls stand in a circle with one girl in the middle. The object of the game is to have someone always singing. The girl in the middle needs to start singing a song, any song that is Girl Scout appropriate, until she begins to falter from embarrassment, fear, or simply forgetting the lines. When she starts to falter, another girl should jump in and take her place, singing a different song. These songs should be related in some way, and how this is best achieved is for the group to concentrate on the girl in the middle and “rescue” her with whatever song comes first to mind when she started that song. The mind naturally wants to find connections, so this will most likely happen without prompting. This game gets silly, but what is most important is the “rescuing” of the girl singing in the middle. Players may “tag” her out with a simple tap on the shoulder or with eye contact. Red Ball, Yellow Ball Have the girls spread out and make a big circle so each girl can put her arms out to the side and touch fingertips with her neighbor. The facilitator should join the circle. The facilitator starts by passing an imaginary red ball across the circle by saying “red ball,” making eye contact with the girl she wants to pass it to, and throwing the ball to that girl who in turn pretends to catch it. That girl will then continue to pass around the red ball. Once the group gets comfortable with this, throw in a “yellow ball” by doing the same thing, but calling it “yellow ball” and passing it somewhere away from the red ball. If the group is still doing well, add in some fun balls like a basketball (which needs to be dribbled and passed accordingly) or wrecking ball (which is heavy and needs to be passed with a strong heave and caught accordingly!). .

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