GAMES Duck, Duck, Goose Children sit down in a circle facing in. One person is “it” and walks around the outside of the circle. As they walk around, they tap the players’ heads and say either ‘duck’ or ‘goose’. Once someone is ‘goose’, they get up and try to chase ‘it’ around the circle. The goal is to tag ‘it’ before she is able to sit down in the goose’s spot. Electricity The group sits in a circle holding hands and one person sits in the centre. The game begins with one person sending a pulse to the person beside them by squeezing their hand. The squeeze then passes around the circle. The person in the middle tries to work out where the current is. If successful, they exchange places with the last ‘sender’ of the charge. Knots Groups of 8 stand in a circle facing in. Each player shakes their right hand with the person directly across from them and then each player joins their left hand with a different person in the group. The aim is to untangle the human knot without letting go of each others’ hands. Cat and Mouse Standing in a circle, two players are chosen – one to be the cat and the other to be the mouse. The object of the game is for the cat to catch the mouse on the inside of the circle. This is difficult to achieve because when the mouse runs between two people, they will join hands to stop the cat. Whispers The group sits in a large circle. The ‘originator’ starts a message and whispers to the person immediately next to them. This process is repeated until it gets to the last person in the circle. Both the original and end result of the message are then said aloud – often with hysterical consequences. Simon Says One person is chosen to be “Simon” (or it is the teacher). “Simon” calls out an action for the children to follow. The children are only supposed to carry out the action if the words “Simon says” have been used first. You can vary the actions according to the age group of your guests. The last person standing can then be “Simon”. This works well using physie positions – “Simon says do yard”. Popcorn Stand in a big circle facing in. Each child is a piece of popcorn that has to pop. To “pop” they jump straight up and clap hand overhead. Anyone can pop at any time but if two (or more) pieces pop at the same time, they are ‘out’ and have to bob down. The last 2 pieces of popcorn standing are the winners. A great game for the slower ones because winning is based more on luck than on skill. Sticky Popcorn The children begin by “popping” around as pieces of sticky popcorn, searching for other pieces of popcorn. When two pieces meet, they stick together. Once stuck together, they continue to pop around until they end up as one big popcorn ball. Red Light Players stand in a straight line at least 20m from “it”. “It” turns her back, says “green light”, counts to ten, says “red light” and turns around to face the other players. Meanwhile, the children have crept as far forward as possible while her back was turned. If anyone is spotted moving after the “red light” signal is given they must return to the starting line. The first person to touch “it” on the back wins. Hot and Cold One person is “it” and leaves the group. The rest choose an object in the room and when “it” returns they help them to find the object by saying hot or cold, depending on the distance from the object (e.g. a shoe). In the River, On the Shore All the players stand on one side of a line drawn on the ground and the leader calls out, “on the shore” or “in the river”. The players follow the commands by jumping to the river or shore. Those who jump the wrong way are out. Groups Game Children dance around to music and when it stops you call out a number between 2 and 10. They have to form up into groups of that number. Any ‘leftovers’ are out and have to sit down. This is great for a Christmas party when playing with the whole club. You can even call out numbers like “seventeen!!” and enjoy the chaos that ensues. (Don’t allow children to bully others, or push them out of the group). Races The following three races can also be played as relay races, with evenly matched teams chosen by the teacher. No-Hand Get Up Race: Players run to a turning point, stop, lie down on their backs, fold their hands across their chests, get up (without moving their arms) and run back to the finish line. Spider Race: pairs link elbows and one person faces backwards as they run to a specified point and back. Toe and Heel Race: the runners advance by placing one foot in front of the other so that the heel of the advancing foot touches the toes of the back foot. British Bulldog All the players stand at one end of the hall, with three “bulldogs” standing in the middle. When the bulldogs are ready they call out “British Bulldog” and the other players must then run to the opposite side of the hall without being tagged. Catch One Catch All One player is chosen as “it”. When “it” tags another player, he or she also becomes “it”. This process continues until all the players are caught. Colour Tag Players scatter and the leader nominates a colour and calls it out. If a child is wearing that colour she is “it” and proceeds to tag the other children. If a child is tagged they must scuttle like a crab until a new colour is called. Imitation Tag The chaser can hop, skip, crawl, dance etc. and all the players must imitate the new style until they are caught. Whoever is caught becomes “it” and chooses a new style. Serpent Tag Four players link their arms together, forming a chain and these players are the serpent. The serpent runs around and tries to catch as many players at one time as it can by forming a circle around them. If you are caught you must join the serpent chain until the last player is caught. Stuck in the Mud When a person is tagged they must “freeze” on the spot and stand with their feet apart. The only way they can become unfrozen is if another player crawls under their legs. Play continues until all the players are frozen. Uncle Sam The person who is “it” stands in the middle of the hall, with the other players lined up along the side of the playground. The object of the game is to get across to the other side of the ground without being tagged. Players sing out “Uncle Sam may we cross your dam?” and “it” responds, “Yes you may if you’re wearing green today!”. Those who are wearing green attempt to cross to the other side without being tagged. If a child is caught she must help catch the others when new colours are called out. Loose Caboose One of the children is nominated to be the loose caboose. Divide the rest of the group into trains of three players. Each player holds the waist of the person in front (like a train) and the first player in each train is the engine. The object is for the loose caboose to try to attach itself to a train. When all are aboard, the trains chug around the tracks (sound effects should be encouraged) trying to dodge and turn to keep away from the caboose. When the caboose attaches to a train, the engine of that train becomes the new loose caboose. Obstacles Split the group into three teams. One group will be the obstacles and will stand very still in the hall. Another group will be the vehicles trying to get across the hall. The trick is, they will have their eyes closed. The third group will be the assistants (one per vehicle). They will be on the other side of the hall and will direct the vehicles safely across. If a vehicle bumps into an obstacle, it is out. The groups should rotate so everyone gets to be everything. What’s the Time Mister Wolf? One player is the wolf and stands with their back turned to the other children, who stand in a line a reasonable distance away. The children call out, “What’s the time Mr Wolf?” The wolf turns to face the children and shouts out a time (e.g. ten o’clock!) The group takes the same number of steps towards the wolf as the number of hours in the chosen time. This process is repeated until the wolf chooses to replace a time with the words “dinner time!” The wolf then runs after the children in an attempt to catch one, who will then become the wolf. Of course, the teacher must take a turn at being the wolf… Knights Game This is played in pairs and is better for older children (and adults!). Players skip around the space with their partner until you call out an instruction to take a ‘pose’. They have to take that pose and the last to freeze in that pose is out. To start you call “Knights a- dancing” which means link right arms and skip around each other clockwise.