Grade:
All
Setup:
Small groups (4-6) or Whole Group
Objective:
Players in a group tell one another two truths and one lie about themselves. Other members must guess which one is the lie.
Tag: Grades 1-3
Ten Seconds to Make…
Grade:
All
Setup:
Teams of 2-3
Objective:
Students are in pairs or triples and the teacher or student leader gives them “10 seconds to make…_______” (an object or two of their choosing) and the students have to make what was said using their bodies. The teacher chooses the one they like best/is most useful.
Examples: “You have 10 seconds to make a tennis ball and racket!” / “You have 10 seconds to make a banana pie!”
Shoe Pile
Grade:
All
Setup:
Campers spread out
Objective:
Ask everyone to take off one of their shoes (only one of their shoes). Have everyone throw their shoe into a big pile in the center of the circle. Explain the rules of the game. Once everyone takes off one shoe and throws it into a big shoe pile, have everyone randomly grab a shoe. The goal is to mingle and go around introducing yourself and talking to many people and trying to find the person whose shoe you are holding.
Red Light, Green Light
Grade:
Grades 1-3, Grades, 3-5
Setup:
Campers form a line
Directions:
In this game, one person plays the “Stoplight” while the other players try to cross to the other side. At the start, have the campers form a line across from the Stoplight. The Stoplight will give a series of color commands that control how the players move. Teach Campers these Colors and Meanings beforehand and gradually add more complexity!
Basic: Green Light – Run or Skip/ Yellow Light – Move Slow Motion/ Red Light – Stop and Freeze
Expansion: Blue Light – Dance/ Orange Light – Hop, If campers like Dinosaurs or Minecraft or Purrmaids you could add a related light and moves!
If a camper does not follow the command they are kindly told they are caught and they return to start. The goal is for all the campers to make it to the other side!
Race for the Truth
Grade:
All
Setup:
Cones for start and finish line
Objective:
Have each person stand on starting line while a leader lists off general facts. (For example, I have a dog.) If the stated fact is true for any of the students, those students must move forward a step. Whoever crosses the finish line first wins! (You can decide the length of the “track” depending on if you are indoors or outdoors. A cone could establish the starting line, while the student leader could be the finish line.)
Name Impulse
Grade:
All
Setup:
Circle game
Objective:
Students sit or stand in a circle and you time how quickly everyone can say their name immediately after the person to their right. The person on the left can say their name the second the person on the right next to them starts to say their own name. (Variations: you can have students say their favorite animals or colors, etc.)
Video:
Move Your Bum
Grade:
Grades 1-3, Grades 3-5
Setup:
Circle game
Objective:
Have the group sit or stand in a circle and have “It” stand in the middle. You will want to start as “It” the first time you introduce the game. Explain that if It is going to tell them to “move their bum” if whatever It says applies to them. For example, It might say “move your bum if you have a pet,” or “move your bum if you had cereal for breakfast,” or “Move your Bum if your favorite food is pizza.” When It calls the command, all players who have a pet (or had cereal or like pizza) must switch spots with someone else who also has a pet (or had cereal or likes pizza).
While players are switching spots, It tries to steal the open spaces. The person who is left in the middle becomes “It and must think of something different to get people moving.
Human Ladders
Grade:
All
Setup:
Two lines facing each other
Objective:
Assign each player a partner. Have campers sit in two long lines, partners facing each other, legs outstretched and feet touching. Their legs are the “ladder rungs.” Assign each pair a number and then call out one of the numbers. The pair with that number must stand up and race each other down the center of the ladder, avoiding the rungs. Once a player reaches the bottom of the ladder he must run around the outside of the ladder to the top and then head back down the center until he returns to his original space. The partner who arrives at his space and sits down first earns his team a point. The game finishes when players on one side of the ladder have earned a set number of points or when the game has peaked.
Video:
Heads Up, Heads Down
Grade:
All
Setup:
Circle Game
Objective:
Rules: All students stand in a circle and put their heads down looking at the ground. When the moderator says, “heads up” each student looks up at someone else in the circle. If the person they choose to look at is also looking at them, the two of them are both out. If the student they look at is looking at someone else, they get to play another round. The idea is to start slow and then speed up quickly!
Feel free to adapt this game to your group. It could be the Wild West and if you meet eyes with someone you both get taken out. Or if they like Percy Jackson/Greek Mythology, it could be the Medusa effect.
Video:
Frog in the Pond
Grade:
Grades 1-3, Grades 3-5
Setup:
Circle game
Objective:
Students are all sitting on the knees in a circle. There are different movements depending on what is said. “Frog in the pond” means students put their hands down in front of them. “Frog in the bank” means students put their hands on their shoulders. “Frog in the tree” means students put their hands on their head. “Frog in space” means students stick their arms above their heads and wiggle their fingers. One student is the leader and they will call out “Frog in the pond” and do a movement — either the correct one or not. Students are supposed to follow what the leader SAYS not what they do. So a student may say “Frog in the tree,” but put their hands on the ground. Students leave the circle if they don’t do the correct movement to what is said.