Author: Abu Rayhan

Zip, Zap, Zop

Grade:

All

Setup:

Everyone in a circle

Everyone stands in a circle. Ask the group to repeat the words “Zip, Zap, Zop” three or four times, all together. Tell them you have a bolt of energy in your hands. To start the game, send the bolt out of your hands with a strong forward motion straight to someone else in the circle (using your hands, body, eyes, and voice) saying “Zip.” Be sure you make eye contact with the person you pass it to. They should receive it with their whole body and pass it immediately to someone else saying “Zap.” That person passes it on with a “Zop.” The game continues “Zip, Zap, Zop.” If there is a mistake, encourage students to simply resume playing without discussion. Challenge students to NOT make the game about them by using funny voices or taking a long time to choose the next person.

Video:

Write the Phrase, Draw the Phrase

Grade:

4-5

Setup

Players sit in circle. Each player has a stack of index cards. Stacks should have as many index cards as there are players in the game. For example, if there are six players, you should prepare six stacks of six index cards each.

  1. Each player writes a funny phrase on the top index card in his or her stack.
  2. Players pass their ENTIRE stack to the right.
  3. Each player reads the index card at the top of the stack, then moves the card to the back of the stack. On the blank card that is now on top of the stack, each player illustrates (no words) the phrase he or she just read.
  4. Players then pass the ENTIRE stack to the right.
  5. Each player looks at the drawing at the top of the stack, then moves the card to the back of the stack. On the blank card that is now on top of the stack, each player writes a sentence describing the illustration he or she just saw. Players are NOT allowed to look at cards other than the one at the top of the stack.
  6. Repeat this process, alternating writing a sentence and drawing a picture until each stack returns to its original owner.
  7. Ask players to share how their phrases changed as they moved around the circle

Video

What Time is It, Mr. Wolf?

Setup:

Cones to mark the playing field, all campers in a line on one side

Grade:

all

  1. Choose one player to be Mr. Wolf. Have him stand at the other end of the playing field, facing AWAY from other players. Mr. Wolf may not look back at the players at any time.
  2. The other players line up at the opposite end of the field, facing Mr. Wolf. Have them say in unison, “What time is it, Mr. Wolf?” And Mr. Wolf will respond with a time, for example, “Three o’clock!”
  3. The players then must take three steps forward. Again, they will ask, “What time is it, Mr. Wolf?” And Mr. Wolf will continue to give them times (up to 12 o’clock), and the players will continue to take the same number of steps as the time.
  4. When Mr. Wolf senses that some players are close at hand, instead of saying something – o’clock, he can shout, “Lunch Time!” and all players must dash back to the starting point while trying to avoid being Mr. Wolf’s lunch. The first person Mr. Wolf tags becomes Mr. Wolf in the next round.

NOTE: If AG is Wolf then face towards the campers, so they can be watched simultaneously

Video:

What are you doing?

Setup:

Partner all campers and if an odd number, partner with AG. Then give an example.

  1. Player 1 starts miming an activity.
  2. Player 2 approaches Player 1 and asks `What are you doing?`
  3. The first player answers something that has nothing to do with what they are actually doing. E.g. if Player 1 is cutting someone’s hair, when asked what they are doing they might say “I’m reading the newspaper”.
  4.  Second player starts miming the activity stated by the previous player (reading the newspaper.) and Player 1 now asks, “What are you doing?
  5. Repeat steps 1-4 until game has peaked (should be 6-8 quick rounds depending on the group and work as a short warm up game to get laughs)

Note to AG – Really exaggerate/be silly with the “What are you doing?” sometimes to make campers laugh. Also choose fun or funny activities for your example to get the kids interested. If you do not have a partner, walk around and encourage (Wow! Oh my! That’s cool!) and provide suggestions if needed.

Video:

Wax Museum (a.k.a. Sneaky Statues)

Grade:

2-5

Setup:

1 Curator & the students acting out the scene

  1. Explain to the students that they are all statues in a wax museum. You, the teacher, are the curator.
  2. Explain that in the beginning, when the curator is in the room the statues do not move or speak. Once the curator leaves the room, the statues come alive and interact with one another. When the curator re-enters the room, the statues all freeze in their current position arid location.
  3. The curator reacts to these changes and may even begin to correct the obvious problems that have occurred while he/she was out. Some comments: “How could this have happened? “My statues must be melting. “I need to turn up the air condition.’
  4. The statues are now allowed to move while the curator is in the room; but you must not get caught. If at any time the curator sees you move, you are out and must remove yourself from the game.
  5. The last statue standing is the winner and becomes the curator for the next round.

Video:

Lemur Leader

Grade:

all

Setup:

Cones to mark the playing field, all campers in a line on one side. One camper is “Lemur Leader” in the middle

  1. Choose a player to be “Lemur Leader.”Lemur Leader stands in the middle of the field
  2. Line the rest of the players up on one side. Players chant: “Lemur Leader, Lemur Leader, may I cross the river?”
  3. Lemur Leader then decides who may cross the river based on descriptive attributes such as “Only if you’re wearing red.”(NOTE: Lemur Leader MUST chose a trait that more than one person shares. No singling campers out please )Those who were described by the attribute attempt to run to the other side of the field without being tagged.
  4. Those who are tagged also become “Lemur Leaders”
  5. Repeat until everyone has been tagged

Tip: For the first two or three rounds, you may want to be Lemur Leader so that the campers have an example. If you have younger campers you may want to continue as Lemur Leader (or co-lead with a camper by providing suggestions and support). If you have older campers you may be able to make one of them Lemur Leader sooner.

Video:

*Note in this video the game is called Uncle Sam. While it is the same gameplay and a great example, we have our leaders called Lemur Leader to stick with the Mister Lemur’s Adventures in Writing Camp Theme 🙂

Story, Story, You’re Out

Grade:

4 – 5

Setup

Everyone forms a line on “stage”

Objective:

Tell a story with a beginning, middle, & an end flawlessly

Players form a line on the stage. A title for a story, and a story genre is obtained from the audience. The MC starts the game by pointing to a player, who needs to start telling the story. At any point in time the MC can switch to another player, who needs to continue the story flawlessly, even if the switch happened in the middle of a sentence or even in the middle of a word.Players that hesitate, or whose sentences are not grammatically correct or don`t make sense, are “out.” The last player left ends the story.

Video:

Screaming Lemurs

Grade:

all

Setup:

cones, line teams up by troop.

  1. Line the teams up by troop (small camps will only have two lines, the younger and the older)
  2. Demonstrate how a Silky Sifaka runs (sideways skipping, arms out and waving). The first player in each line must “silky run” around the cone. Players can ONLY move while they are screaming. If they run out of air, they have to stop while they take a deep breath.  Once the first player is back, then the second player goes, etc.
  3. The winning team is the first team to have all their members and their troop leader complete the course and sit down.

Video: