Games for Fun
etc
MOUSE TRAP
• Equipment: None
• Age: 5 - 12 years
• Number of participants 10-30 (with 30 participants start with a bigger trap!)
4 children become the Mouse Trap. They stand in a circle, facing in, holding hands with their arms extended and up high. The other children are "mice" and they run in and out of the trap. One person facing away calls "Spring the Trap" and the girls of the trap bring down their arms catching (hopefully) some of the mice inside. The caught mice become part of the trap. The game continues until only a few "mice" haven't been caught. Then they become the trap and the game begins again.
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WIZARDS, GIANTS, AND ELVES
Divide the girls into two groups. Divide the playing area in half, with a safe zone at each end, as per British Bulldog, and a line in the middle. This game goes something like "Rock, Paper, Scissors". Each team decides to be one of the three things, by consensus. They then meet in the middle and on the count of three each team acts out their creature (wizards point their fingers and go "Zap" or some other spell related noise, giants stretch up tall and go "Grr" and elves crouch down low and stick out their tongues and make silly noises). Giants squish wizards, wizards zap elves, and elves tickle the giants on the ankles, so giants beat wizards, wizards beat elves, and elves beat giants. The team that is beaten has to race back to their safe zone, with the other team chasing them and trying to tag them. Anyone who is caught has to join the other team, and the game continues from there. The game is over when one team is no more. If both teams decide to be the same thing, nothing happens, and they go back to decide what to be again.
Margaret Fraser
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FRUIT BASKET
We have played a game called "Fruit Basket" at a closing dinner - which included girls and parents. It was quite a wild time! I don't know how much room you have... but anyway ... everyone has a chair in a circle (or could have a circle within another circle - as long as chairs in the inside circle were not put too close to each other). You can just ask girls to pick (choose) a fruit (e.g. apples peaches pears or plums) or you can go around the circle and assign each one a fruit (but with 100 players this might take too much time). The fruit they pick is the fruit they are for the entire game. Then someone in the centre calls out one fruit name - all the girls that have chosen that fruit stand up and must change places (and NOT to the chair next to them). Oh yes, meanwhile the person in the centre tries to sit down on an unoccupied chair. So - you end up with one person left with no chair - they then are in the centre and call out another fruit. Once the game is clear - can call out more than one fruit at a time - or FRUIT BASKET - which means EVERYONE must stand up and run around to find another chair. (I've always told the girls they are JAM - if they just take the chair next to them - but actually they don't - they tend to run to the opposite side of the room squealing and it is bedlam!! but a lot of fun (advise - always stop a game sooner than the girls want to - that way they don't become bored and they look forward to doing it again)
(In guides we adapted this game to use the 4 world centres instead of fruit)
Margaret AB Jones
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SHIPS AND ROCKS
Group divided - one half rocks, other ships (swap roles latter) Rocks sit in 2 or more rows holding hands eyes closed, and back to ships. Ships have to get through rocks. If rocks hear ships, lift arms. If 'catch' ship, the ship restarts
Margaret (South Africa)
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STREETS AND ALLEYS
The girls line up in several rows with an equal number of girls" in each row (as close as possible) they stand just far enough apart that their hands touch when they hold their hands out straight and they do this to form "streets" that are between the lines. Pick one girl to be the "cat" (it) and one the "mouse". The cat chases the mouse through the streets trying to catch them. Meanwhile a leader calls out "alleys" and the girls in the lines do a quarter turn to make "alleys" that run at right angles to where the streets were before. The cat and mouse continue chasing but must change directions to follow the alleys, as they must not go through any of the girls’ arms. Call out "streets" to turn back. Continue chasing and switching streets/alleys until the mouse gets caught and then pick someone else to be the cat and mouse. (I hope this is clear it is kind of hard to describe).
Jenneth Curtis
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PIP, SQUEAK, AND CHARLIE
Divide your girls into teams of three. Arrange the teams into a circle, with the girls on each team standing in a line. The final formation looks like the spokes of a wheel. Girl #1 on each team is the girl nearest the centre of the circle, #2's are in the middle, and #3 is the girl nearest the outside of the circle. Name all #1's "Pip", #2's "Squeak", and #3's "Charlie". Place a ball, beanbag or bell in the centre of the circle. The leader then calls either Pip, Squeak, or Charlie. (In this example, Pip is called.) All the "Pip's" must run all the way around the outside of the circle and back to their own team. Meanwhile, the "Squeaks" and "Charlies" make a bridge with their arms. When each "Pip" reaches their own team, she runs under the bridge and dives for the ball/beanbag/bell in the centre of the circle. The team of the girl who gets the object first gets a point! Repeat the game a number of times, making sure to call each name.
One great variation I tried at a very HOT summer camp was to have a clean garbage can full of water in the middle of the circle, and everyone was holding a cup. So - you guessed it - once the girls reached the middle of the circle their objective was to get everyone else as wet as possible! This was a lot of fun.
My current Guide Unit taught me an almost identical game called "Pizza". Instead of naming the girls Pip, Squeak and Charlie, they were named Pepperoni, Cheese and Sauce. If the leader wanted everyone to be running at the same time, she called "Pizza"! Cool!
Becky Vincent
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SQUASH THE KING
Put one playing card per person on floor, everyone picks up a card. If you pick up a King, sit on chair and yell what suit you have. Everyone who has that suit must sit on your lap. Last one to sit down is out.
Margaret (South Africa)
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PRINCESS IN THE TOWER
A game we play with Brownies sounds very similar to Jane's Puppy and Bone. We call it the Princess in the Tower. The "princess" has to be rescued from the "Giant". The Princess sits on a chair doing nothing, her "guardian" points to Brownies at random sitting in a semicircle who have to creep up to rescue the princess without being heard by the Giant who is blindfolded - actually our giants hide behind a convenient curtain in the hall and spring out when they hear anything. Our Brownies all love the game which I find quite extraordinary because they are normally very noisy, and sitting very still is quite out of character for most of them!!
Barbara Greenwood
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BUBBLE CAR
CATEGORY: Indoor/ Outdoor (on grass)
EQUIPMENT: None but 2 chairs per team if possible
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: any number . The more teams the better. If teams are not even , one girl can take 2 names
HOW TO PLAY:
Each team stands in a straight line behind a chair. The second chair is placed some distance away. Guider gives each member of the teams the name of a car e.g. all the number ones are Toyota, all the number twos are Ford etc The last person on each team is always Bubble Car.
If the Guider calls the name of a car the team member who has that name runs from her place, around the far chair and back to her place. The first girl back to her place in the line wins a point for her team. The first person on each team could keep the score.
If the Guider calls Bubble car the last person on the team must crawl under the legs of all the members of her team before she runs to the far chair. The first girl back to her position at the end of the team wins the point.
The winning team is the one to get to a certain number of points first e.g. 15
Sandra Doyle
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BEDLAM
This game requires four teams of equal size. Each team takes one corner of the room or playing field. The play area can be either square or rectangular. At a signal (whistle, etc.), each team attempts to move as quickly as possible to the corner directly across from them (diagonally), performing an announced activity as they go. The first team to get all its members into its new corner wins that particular round. The first round can be simply running to the opposite corner, but after that you can use any number of possibilities, such as walking backward, wheelbarrow racing (one person is the wheelbarrow), piggyback, rolling somersaults, hopping on one foot, skipping, and crab walking. There will be mass bedlam in the centre as all four teams criss-cross.
Barb Garber
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FIND THE LEADER
The players sit in a circle, with one person 'it'. This person turns their back and covers their eyes while someone is chosen in the circle to be the leader. The leader starts a motion, such as clapping hands, and all follow by doing the same motion. 'IT' now turns around and tries to guess who the leader is. The leader changes the motion often. So as not to give away the secret, the other children watch the leader out of the corner of their eyes, to know what the new motion will be. 'IT' has three guesses to tell who is the leader. Then the leader becomes 'IT' and a new leader is chosen.
Other motions you can use include: tapping knees, shaking head, shrugging shoulders, snapping fingers, touching nose.
Marianne Mitchell
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THE 2p GAME
Equipment: 2p coin (or dollar, quarter, pfennig, or any other coin you have at hand).
Rules:
• The girls can only move by jumping with feet together
• "IT" moves by taking large paces
• Any player moving outside the boundary is out.
• Once a player has moved, she must stand still. She cannot move feet etc.
The girls scatter in the playing space - you need a defined space, that is not too large (or the game goes on for ever!), we use a tennis court size for about 20 The leader (or girl who is "IT") holds a coin & stands in the middle
• "IT" tosses the coin.
• If it is "heads" then the players move 2 jumps (see above) in any direction
• If it is "tails" then "IT" moves one pace in any direction.
The aim of the game is for "IT" to "tag" another player by touching any part of them with their hand. To "tag" another player, "IT" can reach out in any direction etc., but ONE foot must remain in its original place. Players can of course try to move their body out of reach, but BOTH feet must stay in their original place! (Resourceful older girls soon figure out that they should go for the feet when trying to tag as they cannot move & also how to make their reach longer by lying down etc.!)
This is great fun, requires a minimum of equipment (and we all have a coin of some sort don't we!) & can be done in virtually any space! (We have played it in a marquee at a wet camp, in a car park while waiting for a late bus, in the meeting room, even in a swimming pool! If space is limited, restrict or change the size of moves each person can make!)
Lucy Roberts
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THE FIVE PENNIES
Get the girls to sit on the floor in 2 parallel lines with a reasonable space between each line. Number them 1 - ? along one line and then the same starting at the other end with the second line. (If you ask them to choose a partner first and then sit them diagonally opposite their partners i.e. the two number 1s being partners, etc., it is easier to make sure that they are equally matched.)
In the middle of the space between them, put 5 coins on a chair and an empty chair at each end of the space. As you call out a particular number both those girls dash up, pick up one penny and place it on the chair at the end. You will already have told them which chair belongs to each side! They do the same for the second penny while the first girl to pick up the third penny and get it to her chair gains a point for her side.
Anne Saywell
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HAND CLAPPING
Everyone sits with hands on floor, and then each person moves left hand to be the other side of the person on their lefts right hand. Go around circle clapping floor, one hand at a time. Any hand that misses times is eliminated.
Margaret (South Africa)
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THE SLAPPING GAME
• Good for ages 7-15.
• Equipment: none
• Number who can join: unlimited but it makes for a long game!
The children make a circle, lying down on the floor on their tummies with their hands on the floor in front of them palms down. (This can be done around a table too!)
Each child has her left arm linked through the right arm of the girl beside her. And her right arm linked through the left arm of the girl on the other side. So, each girl has two hands in front of her, the left hand of her right hand neighbour and the right hand of her neighbour to the left.
One person starts- she picks the direction of travel of the slap and then she slaps her hand on the table. One slap means the slap continues in that direction, and two slaps mean that the direction is reversed. In either case only the hand immediately adjacent to her hand in the appropriate direction of travel is to go next.
If someone misses their turn they are out and must remove that hand! (This gives each girl 2 chances at being 'out' which is more fun than messing up once and being removed from the game). The game continues in the opposite direction, with the next hand having the next turn.
This is a fast paced game, and can be played in large groups around a circle on the floor, or around tables in an auditorium.
Jane Maddin
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WHO IS IT?
• Equipment: None
• Number of Children: lots
• Ages: 5-12
All the children sit in a circle. One is picked to do the guessing and she is sent out of the room where she can not see what is going on inside. One person is chosen as IT while she is outside, this is done QUIETLY by pointing! Everyone in the circle needs to be sure that they know who is IT.
The girl in the hall is called back in. The person who is IT starts an action and everyone in the circle copies it. Everyone must be cautioned not to be too obvious about watching the person who is IT. Every few seconds IT changes his actions and everyone follows. The person who has been out of the room has three guesses to catch IT! If she does, then IT goes out of the room. If she doesn't catch IT in her three guesses then, IT is revealed and someone else is chosen to leave the room.
I always let an adult pick the person who was IT in a younger group, because everyone gets excited and it doesn't do to make enough noise to let the guesser know who is it before they get back in the room!
Jane Maddin