Calendar- Below are a list of game titles. To view game details just click on its title to expand it. Click on the title again or on another title to close the first one.
Ball Lose-All
Many thanks to Barb Garber, who posted this game to the Guide Mailing List!
The players are divided into two teams: scarves and no scarves or any other distinctive mark. There are no limitations to the ground to be covered. The object is for the players of each side to throw the ball to one another, without letting it fall to the ground, ten times in a row. The players count aloud. The opposite team tries to get the ball and, in turn, must throw it to one another ten times in a row. The ball may not be taken from the hands of an opposing player; it may only be intercepted in the air or picked up from the ground. The ball may not be thrown back to the same player who threw it, therefore you need at least three players on each team. A player may not run with the ball in her hands. At the start of the game the Guider throws the ball high up in the air, and it goes to whichever team catches it. Each time the "referee" blows her whistle to signal a mistake (ball thrown back to the person who threw it, running with the ball etc.), the ball goes to the opposite team.
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Streets and Alleys
Many thanks to Jenneth Curtis, who posted this game on the Guide Mailing List!
The girls line up in several rows with an equal number of girls in each row (as close as possible), standing just far enough apart that their hands touch when they hold their hands out straight; 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.
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Bandaid Tag
Thanks to Linda Gardner for posting this game to the WAGGGS-L Mailing List!
Each girl has two Band-Aids (her 2 hands). When tagged by another girl she covers the tagged spot with a Band-Aid. If she is tagged and has no more Band-Aids, she sits down.
Set the game boundaries for the group. In this game all girls with a free hand (available Band-Aid) are IT. When game starts, all players try to tag the others. The objective is to be the last standing player. You can introduce other variations (ways to administer 'first aid' to those sitting so they can re-enter the game, such as tapping on head, perhaps also saying the girl's name).
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- Equipment: None
- Number of kids: makes no difference
- Ages: 5 and up
- Category: Outdoors
- Source: Calgary Parks and Recreation Department
Get the kids to line up, like a race. They are to run as far as they can on one yelled breath. Get them to take a good breath before hand. When they have to stop yelling, they are to sit down where they are. (Discourage cheating on this, but it is an energy user!) - Number of kids: makes no difference
The Yell
Here's another great one from Jane Maddin!
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- Runner Beans - run around
- Jumping Beans - jump
- Baked Beans - lie out in the sun
- Chilli Beans - shiver
- Frozen Beans - Stand still
- Broad Beans - Stand with legs as far apart as possible
- French Beans - say "Oh La La!"
- String Beans - stand still, arms straight up.
- Dwarf Beans - squat down
- Has Beans - fall on the floor
- Jumping Beans - jump
Beans
Many thanks to Kim Dobson and Wendy Baker, who have both posted actions for this game on the Guiding Mailing List.
Can be played with any number.
The Guider calls out various types of beans and the girls perform the correct action.
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Time Bomb
I learned this game at the 2005 OCA Conference, at the "No Equipment, No Planning Time, No Problem" session facilitated by Matt Barr.
Ask each player in the group to individually choose one other person in the group to be a "bomb" and another, different person to be their "shield". Ask them to keep their choices secret. Tell the players that their "bomb" is about to explode any minute and the only way to survive the blast is to hide behind their "shield". Each player then needs to try and keep their "shield" between themselves and their "bomb", and since each player has made different choices, you will end up with a room full of excited folks desperately trying to keep behind their shields, who are also always on the move to keep behind their own shields!
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Blob Tag
Many thanks to Jane Maddin for posting this game to the Guide Mailing List!
Like normal tag, one person is chosen to be 'it'. When 'it' tags someone, they link arms or hold hands. As more people are tagged they form a line or blob!
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Toothpaste and Germs
Thanks to Anne Saywell for posting this game to the Guide Mailing List!
Send one half of the girls to one side of the room (Toothpaste) and the other half (Germs) go to the other side. You give each side commands in turn - i.e. Germs, advance 3 and then the Germs take 3 steps forward. Toothpaste, retreat 2 and the Toothpaste go 2 steps backwards. Once you have them reasonably near to each other say Toothpaste (or Germs) ATTACK. Then the side you have chosen have to chase the others back to their home wall. Any caught, then join the other side and the game starts again. Keep it going for as long as you need!
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Buddy Tag
Pair all the girls up into buddies. Scatter the buddies around your playing area, leaving lots of space between each pair. Then pick one pair to start off the chase. One girl is "it" and tries to tag the other. The girl being chased can, at any time, grab a hand of a buddy. If this happens, the buddy of the girl whose hand was grabbed must run in her place, and the girl who was running becomes one of the standing buddies. The effect of this is that the "it" girl ends up chasing a whole series of different girls! If the "it" manages to tag one of the runners, the roles are reversed, so the chased girl becomes "it" and the "it" is now being chased.
...and here's a slightly altered version of Buddy tag which was sent to me by my good friend Leslie Bown! Thanks!
All girls form pairs and hold hands, except for two. One person is "IT". "IT" tries to tag the only other single lone person. The lone person tries to join hands with one of the pairs, except the pairs try to avoid having that person join hands with them. So the pairs try to get out of the way of "IT" so that the lone person can get tagged.
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Windmill
Many thanks to Jean Rowsell, who posted this game to the Guide Mailing List!
Divide the girls into 4 teams. They stand in an X formation like the arms on a windmill. Each girl needs to know what number in the team she is. In the middle put THREE items - can be balls, pencils, rocks - anything you have handy.
When a number is called, that person CRAWLS BACK through the legs of her team mates. Runs in a CLOCKWISE DIRECTION around the circle. CRAWLS UP THROUGH her team mates legs to grab one of the items in the middle. Then she CRAWLS BACK through their legs to her "spot". The team who doesn't manage to claim an item sits out. Remove another item and play again until you're down to a winning team. This is a very fast paced game.
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- Equipment: None
- Category: Large space required
- Age: 5 and Up
- Number: Any number
- Source: A Brownie Pack with Black Forest District, Germanica Division
The girls assemble in the center of the gym. The commands and actions are as follows:- Captain's Coming - all line up, stand at attention and salute.
- Bow - run to the 'front' of the gym.
- Stern - run to the 'back' of the gym.
- Port - facing the 'front' of the gym, port is the left wall. Run to port.
- Starboard - facing the 'front' of the gym, starboard is the right wall. Run to starboard.
- Man overboard - lie on back and swim
- Submarines - lie on back and stick on leg straight up. (for the periscope)
- Man the Lifeboats - find a partner, sit together, and row!
- Torpedoes - lie on tummy, with hands together over head to give a stream lined look. One person (usually a leader) does the calling and the girls rush around performing the actions, which are mixed up and used more than once. Once everyone knows the rules it is not a problem to join in as you go.
- Category: Large space required
Captain's Coming
Many thanks to Jane Maddin, who posted this game to the Guide Mailing List! I've also heard this game called "Crows Nest" and "Battleship".
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Wolf Tag
This is basically tag but with a twist! When a girl is tagged the first time, she can continue running around but must yip like a wolf puppy. If she is tagged a second time, she barks like a grown wolf. When she is tagged a third time, she must stop where she is and howl loudly! A great game to play if you like lots of noise!
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Cat and Mouse
The girls stand in a circle, holding hands. Two girls are chosen -- one to be the "cat" and the other the "mouse". The cat must try to catch the mouse by tagging her. The mouse must do her best to evade the cat! The mouse may go under the arms of the people in the circle, however, every time the cat tries to catch up, the girls of the circle must to their best to stop her!
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Caterpillar
Thanks very much to Judy Quinn, who posted this game to the Guiding Mailing List!
Divide the girls into teams 3-5 girls each. At the start line have the girls sit down with their legs wrapped around the waist of the girl in front of them. This forms the caterpillar. With the girls attached as a team, the Guider yells go. The girls move together as a unit by using their arms by their sides and lifting and moving their bottoms. The teams race to a designated line or spot. At the line, the girls let go of their link to reform their caterpillar with the girls in the opposite order. The teams continue racing back to the start line.
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Zombies
Thanks very much to the anonymous reader who sent me this game!
Everyone starts by standing in a circle. The person leading the group tells everyone to close their eyes. S/he walks around the circle and touches two people on the shoulder. Then says "If you were tapped on the shoulder, you are a zombie, do not let anyone know." Then the leader explains the rules. Everyone must walk around shaking hands and saying "Hello, my name is (insert your name here)." If you are a zombie you need to tickle the other person with one finger. If you are not a zombie and are tickled you will become one. If you are a zombie and are tickled by another zombie, you nullify each other. If you are a zombie and you tickle someone who is not a zombie then you are both zombies.
When the leader stops the game, everyone goes back into a circle. The leader says "Raise your hand if you were ever a zombie." (Everyone who played should have been one at least once.) "Now raise your hand if you were a zombie when the game ended." (This part differs - but a few people should raise their hands.) "Raise your hand if you started out as a zombie." (Two people should raise their hands.)
This game can be used just for fun, or as a way to open discussion about how rumours and attitudes can spread through a crowd.
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- Players: 4 or more.
- Equipment: One set of chopsticks per player; Burger rings (snack food, preferably chips, with a hole in the centre.) (North American equivalent: Ringolos?); one bowl for each player; Dice. Divide the snack food equally among the bowls.
- How to play: All players sit in a circle. The first player rolls a dice, if it lands on a six they use the chopsticks to pick up a chip. They can eat as many as they want, until someone else in the circle rolls a six. While the person is eating, the dice is going round the circle, and each person gets a chance to roll to see if they can get a six.
- Equipment: One set of chopsticks per player; Burger rings (snack food, preferably chips, with a hole in the centre.) (North American equivalent: Ringolos?); one bowl for each player; Dice. Divide the snack food equally among the bowls.
Chopsticks Game
Thanks very much to Melinda Scarfe, who e-mailed this game to me! She created this game for an Asian-themed night with her Brownie Unit, the 2nd Warnbro Brownies in western Australia.
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Couch Potato
Please note: Reproduced with permission from The Ontario Physical and Health Education Association (OPHEA), Active Kids: Anytime, Anyplace, 1992. May be copied by members of Girl Guides of Canada for non-profit use within Guiding.
This tag game reinforces the positive aspects of Active Living. Couch Potatoes can be identified with name cards or other props.
One or more Couch Potatoes are "It". If tagged by a Couch Potato, a player pretends to sit on a couch by putting her hands on her thighs and slightly bending her legs. Any other player can free her by doing a physical activity with her. They mime an Active Living Activity, such as tennis, sweeping the floor, basketball, or skiing for five seconds. She mirrors them and she is free to move again. Couch Potatoes may not tag anyone who is in the process of freeing someone, or is being freed.
Variation: Players can have three chances to stay alive before becoming a Couch Potato. They must hold their hand(s) on the first and second spots where they were tagged. They become a Couch Potato the third time they are tagged.
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- Equipment needed: none
- Ages 5-8 years old
- Number of children from 10 to 30.
Double Simon Says Source: this game came from an old Beaver leader handout. Divide the children into two groups. And make two circles. Each circle plays Simon Says (which I'll explain in a moment) and the children who are "out" go to the other circle. Thus no one is sitting off to the side, bored. And the circles do not stay the same size.To play Simon Says (with Sparks, perhaps two leaders should be "it"), pick two people to be "it". "It" stands in the centre of the circle and says Simon Says do This and does an action. Everyone in the group is to copy the action as long as "it" has said "Simon says". After a few actions with the words Simon Says in front, "it" tries to 'catch' people by saying 'Do this' without saying Simon says. If someone performs the action they go to the other circle!
This game works best if the actions are done quickly and the Simon says are fast. The game will not last for a long time, but is good in an area where you don't have a lot of space for running around. And again, can be done in a large group with more than two circles.
- Ages 5-8 years old
Double Simon Says
Thanks to Jane Maddin for submitting this one!
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Duck-Duck-Goose
Sit the girls in a circle. One girl walks around the outside of the circle, tapping each girl on the head saying "duck, duck..." At some point she changes the name to "Goose!" The "goose" must get up and chase the caller around the circle. The first of the two of them to get back to the place where the "goose" was sitting gets to sit back down, and the other then must go around the circle again, tapping each girl on the head saying "duck, duck, GOOSE!"
Thanks very much to Darla Clarke, who sent me this variation of the game!
Instead of playing "Duck Duck Goose", change the names around to "Spark Spark Brownie". Sparks love this game!
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Evolution
Thanks very much to my best friend Vicky Wallace, who sent me this game!
Everyone needs to know how to play "rock, paper, scissors". The game starts out with everyone as an amoeba. The amoebas wander around the playing space saying "blub, blub" and waving their arms around in the air. They move around the group until they meet another amoeba, then the two battle with rock paper scissors. The winner moves up the evolutionary chain while the loser moves down (except that the amoeba is the lowest). The chain goes: amoeba, snake, fox, human, super human, with actions as appropriate for each level. The goal is to make it all the way up the chain to super human. The trick is that to move up the chain, you must find someone else at your evolutionary level to battle with rock-paper-scissors (e.g. only foxes can battle other foxes, only snakes can battle other snakes, etc.). The first player to make it to super human status wins.
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Fishes in the Sea
Many thanks to Jenneth Curtis, who posted this game on the Guide Mailing List!
Each girl gets a chair and places it in the circle so that the chair backs are on the inside and the girls sit facing out. The names of three fish are chosen such as: cod, herring, salmon, assign the girls each one of the fish names so that they are divided about equally among the names and not all the cod, for example, are sitting beside each other. Now, a leader calls out instructions and the girls follow them like this:
Leader: the cod are swimming (the "cod" get up and walk around the circle in one direction) Leader: the herring are swimming (the "herring" join the cod walking around the circle) Leader: the sea is getting choppy (the girls walk faster) Leader: the sea is very choppy (girls run around the circle) Leader: the tide is turning (girls change direction and walk the other way) Leader: the sharks are coming (girls sit in the nearest chair)
When the girls are moving in the circle one chair is removed, as in musical chairs, so that when the sharks come someone is left without a chair and she is "out", then the game continues with the leader calling out instructions as she chooses, and removing one chair each time until one girl is left as the winner.
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Five Pennies
Many thanks to Anne Saywell for posting this game to the Guide Mailing List!
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.
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Frogs and Ants
I learned this game at the 2005 OCA Conference, at the "No Equipment, No Planning Time, No Problem" session facilitated by Matt Barr.
This is a large group tag game. In a group of 30 or so, assign 5 frogs to be "IT" and the rest of the players are ants. Designate the playing area, including a safe zone (the ant colony). Start the game by having the ants run around the playing area. The object of the game is for the frogs to touch the ants. Once an ant is touched, it must lay on its back with both arms and both legs in the air. This cry for help signals FOUR ants to rescue their fellow ant. A rescue is successful if four ants (all arriving at the same time) can carry their fellow ant to the safety of the colony where it is reborn to play again. The four rescue ants must arrive at the injured ant at the same time and start working or risk being touched by a frog and becoming injured ants themselves. If there are four ants attached and working at the same time, they cannot be touched by a frog. The working ants must transport the injured ant to the safe area (colony) where all can then rejoin the game in progress.
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Fruit Basket
Many thanks to Margret Jones who posted this to the Guide Mailing List!
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 when you have lots of players this might take too much time). The fruit they pick is the fruit they are for the entire game.
Then someone in the center 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). Meanwhile the person in the center tries to sit down on an unoccupied chair. So - you end up with one person left with no chair - they then are in the center and call out another fruit! Once the game is clear, 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.
Please note: "Fruit Basket" is from the book "New Games for the Whole Family" by Dale N. LeFevre (Perigee Books published by Putnam Publishing Group New York 1988) The games in it are great!
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Giants, Wizards, Trolls
This game is very similar to the ever-popular "Paper, Scissors, Rock", but much more active! The game is best played in a gym or other similar room. Divide the girls into two teams. The teams gather at opposite ends of the gym and decide which creature they want to be for the first round: either Giants, Wizards or Trolls. The whole team must be the same creature. When both teams have decided, they line up, facing the other team, in the middle of the gym. Everyone together yells "Giants! Wizards! Trolls!" and then whatever creature their team has decided to be. For example, a team who is Giants would yell: "Giants! Wizards! Trolls! GIANTS!"
Now here's the catch: Giants step on Trolls (i.e. Giants beat Trolls), Trolls tickle Wizards, and Wizards zap Giants. In each round, whichever team "beats" the other team must chase the losers back towards their side of the gym. (For example: If one team yells "Giants!" and the other yells "Trolls!", the Giants have won (remember Giants step on Trolls). So the Giants chase the Trolls back to their side of the gym.) Anyone on the losing team to be tagged before they can touch their wall of the gym now belongs to the other team. In rounds where both teams end up being the same creature, consider it a tie and start over. Play the game until most of the girls are on one team.
In addition, there are actions to do for each of the creatures during the yell that starts off each round. Giants: raise arms high overhead; Wizards: arms in front of body as if throwing a magic spell; Trolls: hunch down curl arms inwards.
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- Source: Roxanne at the
Shepherd King Children's Care Center in Calgary
- Ages: All of 'em
- Number of children: Any number from 5 and up
- Category: Definitely rowdy, large space required.
Everyone is 'it'. When you are tagged you put a hand on that spot and keep trying to tag other people without moving that hand. If you are tagged a second time, then you must put your other hand on that spot. You are not 'out' yet though. You continue to tag other people (with your elbows) until you are tagged a third time. Then you sit down.A variation on this, will allow some one to be the Doctor and that person will go around and rescue the people who are sitting down. Once the Doctor has been tagged three times, the game is over.
- Ages: All of 'em
Hospital Tag
Many thanks to Jane Maddin for posting this game to the Guide Mailing List!
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Jack Balls
Thanks very much to Ralph Oborn, who sent me this game!
Each player gets 2 balls of a unique color or marking. Croquet balls or painted golf balls work nicely but use your imagination: pine cones, rocks or shoes might do too. A white target ball is tossed out by the winner of the previous game from where the last game ended. The players try to put their ball as close as possible to the target ball. The previous winner gets the privilege of throwing the last ball. There are no out of bounds! Keep the rules simple, so, for example, if the players manage to put the target ball up a tree, in a hole, or behind a stump, it makes the game more interesting.
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Kick the Can
Thanks to J. Conway for posting this game to the Guide Mailing List!
Home Base is a tin can or similar object. (plastic food tubs are quieter than metal ;-) One person is "IT". Players are given set boundaries. Other players go off and hide, while IT counts (to whatever). The players try to get back to base before IT does. When IT spots a player they both race back to base - whoever gets there first kicks the can. If IT kicks the can before the player does, that player is out for the round, but IT keeps looking for the others. If one of the other player manages to kick the can before IT does, she has then "freed" any others who were caught before. Play would then resume with the same IT. If IT manages to get to the can before all other players (meaning she has caught them all), the first person who was caught in that round is then IT. When we play, we set a limit as to how many times a person can be IT in a row (usually 3).
...And here's another variation of the game. Thanks to Jean Rowsell for posting this version to the Guide Mailing List!
Have four sets of Cans - 1 each of - Extra Large Fruit Can, Kernel Corn Can, Soup or Evaporated Milk Can, small Tomato Paste Can. Each set should contain one of each size can (they can fit inside each other). You can decorate the cans with old wallpaper, gift-wrap, etc. This is a relay game. You build the cans into four "towers" (smallest one on top), one tower for each team. The girls run up, kick the cans over, restack them and run back to tag their next team mate. It is a very simple game and fun to play.
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Kingpin
Many thanks to Margaret Fraser for posting this game to the Guide Mailing List!
Materials: Six bowling pins, or other easily knocked
over objects, four balls - large and soft are best (or more if you have lots of
girls).
Number of players: as many as want to play.
Divide the girls into two even teams. Divide the playing space in half, with a clearly defined center line. Set the pins up at opposite ends of the playing area in a triangle, with two pins forward and one pin back. Each team gets two balls. On the word "go" the teams try to knock down the opposing team's pins over, while protecting their own. They are not allowed to cross the center line or stand directly in front of their own pins (although this tends to lead to them tripping over the pin, thus knocking it over). If they knock their own pin over, it counts. Game ends when one team's pins are all down.
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Ladders (Snakes and Ladders)
Get the girls to line up in a double line. Number each pair of girls off, and have the pairs face each other and sit down, legs out straight in front of them, so that their feet touch their partner's feet. Make sure there is at least 2-3 feet of space between each pair of girls. The effect of this arrangement is to create a "ladder" of girls, with their legs as the rungs. Call out pair numbers in a random order. When a pair's number is called, they must stand up, run up the "ladder" of legs to the start of the line, down the outsides of the ladder, and then back up the middle of the ladder again to their seat. You can play each half of the ladder as a team, so that whoever of the pair gets to their seat first, their team wins a point. Because this is such an active running game, it should be stressed to the girls that while people are running up and down the ladder, everyone else should keep their legs right down on the ground to avoid tripping people. This is also a game where shoes (instead of stocking feet) are a must!
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Lily Pad Leaping
Thanks to Judy, who posted this game to the Guiding Mailing List.
This game is sort of a combination between musical chairs and an obstacle course. Place a few chairs or obstacles around the hall, with chalk arrows on the floor to mark the way. Scatter sheets of newspaper (lily pads) among the chalk arrows. A leader will either turn away from the course and periodically call out stop or use music in a like manner.
Girls leap around the course and must be on a lily pad when music stops, or a stop is called. If a girl is not on a lily pad she needs to perform a silly action or sing part of a frog song or a combination of both. You could incorporate Promise and Law into this, i.e., girls spin around and recite the law.
As the game progresses, remove some of the lily pads. Keep doing this until there are very few left. Your girls may become quite the survivalists, trying to move around the course with a scrap of newspaper under their shoe!
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- Equipment: Mars Bars (three or four),
knife, two dice (more may be needed if the group is particularly large), old
clothes (jumper, trousers, hat). For younger girls use Fun-size Mars Bars or
the smaller sweets version instead of the large bar and the knife
- Number of Players: any number
- Age: any age
To Play: Girls sit in a circle. Place one bar, the knife and the old clothes on a chair / table in the centre of the circle. Give the dice to 2 girls sitting facing each other in the circle. Each girl throws the dice and passes it on in a clockwise direction. If a girl gets a 6 then she jumps up, runs clockwise around the outside of the circle, through her space into the centre of the circle where she puts on the clothes and then cuts a slice of the bar. However there may be someone after her and if she is tipped by another girl before she cuts the bar she must take off the clothes as quickly as possible to allow the other girl put them on. If she cuts the bar she is allowed to eat it. Only an untipped (?) girl may eat the bar. Continue until there are no more bars. - Number of Players: any number
Mars Bar Game
Thanks to Sandra Doyle for posting this game to the Guide Mailing List!
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- Equipment: None
- Age: 5 - 12 years
- Number of participants 10-30 (with 30 participants start with a bigger trap!)
- Mouse Trap Source: I think this one was in a Canadian Guider
Four 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.
- Age: 5 - 12 years
Mouse Trap
Here's another one from Jane Maddin.
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Nutty Knitting
Thanks very much to Dianne Fleming, who posted this neat game to the Guiding Mailing List!
This is a fun game that anyone who can knit will be able to join in with. (Or a good fun activity once your girls know the basics of knitting!) Get the girls to challenge their friends/family/unit members.
They will each need: 2 pieces of uncooked spaghetti (You know, the long straight ones) and a scrap of fine wool (or crochet cotton or similar).
To Play: Cast on 4 stitches using the spaghetti as knitting needles. Knit for as long as you can before the spaghetti gets too short to use. With care this is possible! Compare your efforts with others and see who got the furthest! This is crazy but a lot of fun. Great for a Mum/Grandmother daughter evenings or whenever!
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- "Old witch, old witch
- Are you hungry today?
- 'Cause if you are we'll run away!"
If the witch says no the chant begins again. If the answer is yes the witch chases the girls who run away to a 'safe' spot. If a girl is caught she may be the next witch, although sometimes this means the girls try to get caught which spoils the game a bit. - Are you hungry today?
Old Witch
Thanks to Jennifer Parker, who posted this game to the Guide Mailing List!
One girl is chosen as the 'witch'. She stands apart from the rest who walk behind her chanting"
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Partner Tag
Thanks to Linda Gardner for posting this game to the WAGGGS-L Mailing List!
Girls pair up with a partner. One girl in each pair starts off as 'it'. IT counts '1 zucchini, 2 zucchini, 3 zucchini'. While IT counts her partner WALKS and gets as far away as possible. Then IT WALKS & tries to tag her partner (who tries to escape by walking away). When tagged, the partner becomes the new IT, starts counting "1 zucchini, 2 zucchini, 3 zucchini' and the game starts all over again.
Note: This is a WALKING tag game! To make the game more interesting, play in a room with lots of furniture or outside in a forested area!
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Penguin Tag
Thanks very much to Sue Hutchinson, who posted this game to the Guiding Mailing List!
Girls must keep their knees together and elbows glued to the side of their bodies. Everyone is 'it' - you tag others by waddling over and tagging them lightly with your flippers. Fun to watch & fun to do!
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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 winning team 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!
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Popcorn
Thanks to Amanda Day from Australia who e-mailed me this game!
This game is suitable for Sparks aged girls and up. The girls pop around the hall as if the floor is hot and they are pieces of corn. The leader calls out a syrup e.g. maple and the girls all run to the leader and on the count of three they do a big POP and the game begins again. This comes from an Activity Pack for Gumnuts and it is a good game to warm the girls up.
Thanks to Mikele Hushing-Kline, a leader with Brownie Troop 423, Atascadero, CA, who sent me this addition to the game!
Instead of calling "maple syrup", call "butter" and all the girls pretend to melt. This gives them a moment to calm down before changing activities!
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Portage, Pyramid, Piggyback
I learned this game from my friend Jen (Eco) Langley.
This game is suitable for playing in a gym or in a large outdoor space. If you are playing outdoors, you will have to mark a 'start' line and a 'halfway' point. Divide the group into teams of equal size - it works best if you have teams of six or more players. Each team begins behind a 'start' line. On "Go!", the team selects one team member that they will carry, 'portage'-style, down the length of the gym to the other end. When they reach the end of the gym, the entire team must construct a human pyramid on the spot. Once the pyramid has been approved by a leader, the team breaks up into pairs and piggyback each other back to the start line. In this leg of the race, players can only move towards the start line if they are (a) carrying someone or (b) being carried (i.e., if there is an uneven number of players, someone will have to remain back where the pyramid was built until a team-mate can come and piggyback them). The first team to have all its players back at the start line wins!
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- Equipment: 2 water pistols, a plastic drink
bottle with a wide mouth, and a tennis ball. (Or a Nerf ball)
- Age: 5 and up
- Number of children: Can be done in two teams or individually, with two people playing at once and the rest of the kids cheering.
- Source: Kingsland Elementary school
- Category: Outdoor
Balance the ball on the top of the bottle. Have the first two contestants stand facing each other with the bottle in between (have the bottle on a stool, rock or fence to make it high enough for every one to stand up!), and about 5 paces away from the bottle. (This will depend on the pressure in your water pistol, and the weight of the ball and the mouth of the bottle, I recommend that you give this a try and set up your distances before hand!) I recommend those supersoaker water guns because each turn will take a little longer to do, as the kids can pump them up first, then fire. Some one counts, ready, aim, fire! and the two contestants shoot the ball off of the bottle. Scoring: The team who shoots the ball off, wins a point. Highest points win the contest. - Age: 5 and up
Quick Draw (version one)
Thanks very much to Jane Maddin, for posting this game to the Guide Mailing List!
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Quick Draw (version two)
I learned this game at the 2005 OCA Conference, at the "No Equipment, No Planning Time, No Problem" session facilitated by Matt Barr.
This is a fast-paced hand signaling game which is played in pairs. Have your group pair off and sit facing each other to begin. Teach the hand signals needed to play the game:
- Start: hands on your thighs (two slaps)
- Load: thumbs point over shoulders
- Shoot: both hands shoot
- Block: arms crossed in front of chest
The object of the game is to load, then fire (without being blocked) before your opponent does. Both players slap their thighs at the same time (to indicate the start of the round) then choose their next signal. You must load before you can shoot. If you block a shot, then your opponent must reload before they can shoot again. Once you are loaded you can choose to shoot at any time. However, if you are blocked you must again reload before you can shoot. If you are able to load and shoot successfully, you get one point. The first player to reach three points wins and can move on to challenge other players.
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Rattlesnake
Here's another one from Jane Maddin.
Equipment: a Plastic container with a lid and a few
dried beans or macaroni's to make a rattle. And a pair of (clean) pantyhose with
one leg cut off. The main part of the pantyhose should be stuffed into the toe
of the cut off leg and tied in there so that it can't move. And a blind fold.
Number of players: up to 30
Ages: Sparks up to Guides.
Make a circle. Choose one person to be the Snake and one to be the Rattle. The snake gets the pantyhose leg which they hold by the cut end and they are blindfolded.
The rattle gets the container with the beans.
The rattle must rattle their beans the whole time! And they must stay inside the circle!
The snake is to strike using his ears to aim the pantyhose leg by swinging it. When the rattle gets hit by the snake, their turn is over and play is passed on. I like to let the rattle pick a rattler and the snake pick a new snake. Get them to pick someone who hasn't been either part of the snake before.
Note: I find this game very popular and everyone wants to play it until they have had their turn, but I try to limit the amount of time to about 10 minutes.
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Scatterball
This game requires a ball -- preferably about the size of a volleyball and soft, and is best played indoors. One girl has the ball. The object of the game is to tag the other girls by hitting them with the ball -- hip height or lower. A girl is "out" if she is hit three times. When a girl has the ball she may not move around, but can only throw the ball. If a girl catches the ball, she is not considered hit, but she is considered hit if she drops the ball. For a more complicated game, use more than one ball! Emphasize that throwing the ball at people's heads is not allowed.
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Snail
Many thanks to Wendy Baker for posting this game to the Guide Mailing List! A great game for Sparks!
Start with a large circle and everyone holding hands, facing into the circle with a leader and two people to make the bridge. Just like the name implies you walk around making smaller and smaller circles until you are in the centre of the room. The two girls then form an arch or bridge and the leader turns facing out of the circle and everyone follows around until you are all facing out from the circle in a big circle again. The you repeat the process so that you are again all facing in. Everyone seems to like this game. There is a song which goes along with it and you just keep repeating the song: "Snail, snail come out and be fed. First you feelers then your head. The you Momma and your Poppa will feed you fried muttons. (or muffins)."
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Snowball Fight
Thanks very much to Beverley Grammer, who posted this game to the Guiding Mailing List!
You will need about 50 crumpled up pieces of paper (snowballs). Make two teams, one on each side of a line down the middle of the room. Give each team 25 balls and at "GO", they throw the balls to the other side for 30 seconds (or whatever you wish; they don't need long). The team who has the least on their side after the 30 seconds wins.
This is an excellent game to play right before a quiet time because, with any luck, it'll tire everyone out!
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Tri-Hop-A-Thon
Many thanks to Catherine Bryant who posted this game to the Guide Mailing List!!
Relay teams compete rabbit-style: Choose three "landmarks" (if you meet in a gym, lines on the floor work well or you could use corners, doors, chairs...) The teams line up at the same mark. When the contest starts, the first player on each team must hop on one foot to the second mark, skip from there to the third mark, and then jump all the way back on two feet to tag the next team-mate in line. The first team whose members have all completed the course wins.
Please Note: "Tri-hop-A-Thon" comes from the magazine "Family Fun" magazine -- a great source for games and crafts!
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Umbrella Tag
Thanks very much to Roni Carson, who shared this game with the Guiding Mailing List!
You will need several umbrellas and a good-sized playing area for this game. The leaders hold the umbrellas. The place under the umbrella is "home" or "safe", and girls standing under an umbrella can't be tagged. Select one girl to be "it" and the game begins! Whenever a girl ducks under an umbrella, the leader holding the umbrella counts down "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" - then the girl must leave the umbrella and run out again. The fun part of the game is that the leaders can run around too - so the "safe" places don't stay still!
This game is best played outside in a gentle rain.
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What Time is it Mr. Wolf?
All the children are lined up on a wall. At the other end of the room is a leader. All the children yell "What time is it, Mr. Wolf?" and the leader, with her back to the children at all times, yells out a time like "10 o'clock!". The children take 10 steps closer to the leader. ( they can take big steps or little steps, whatever they want).
After two or three times of calling out times, when the children yell "What time is it Mr. Wolf?", the leader will yell "Dinner time!" and turn and run after the children. The children need to run back to the wall they came from before they are caught by the leader. The child the leader catches is then the new wolf. Alternately, everyone who is caught can be the wolf at the same time - this makes the game even harder!
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