Tag: Middle

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.

 

Rainbow Categories

Grade:

Grades 3-5, Middle

Setup:

Pairs

Objective:

Put the students into two students stand up. Let the group pick a category (like animals) and a color (like orange). The students must then alternate, trying to name orange animals for as long as possible until one hesitates. When one person stops, the other student wins. (You can play until a certain number of points or have it be an ongoing game throughout the day, keeping the students in teams. OR you can can have each student play for themselves and get a point for each round they win.)

 

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:

Group Drawing

Grade:

Grades 3-5, Middle

Setup:

Teams of 3

Objective:

Divide your group of students into teams of three. Each person on the team has one of the following roles:

  • Drawer. The Drawer attempts to recreate a pre-drawn design they cannot see. They take directions from the Talker. They stand with their back to the Talker and the Viewer and may not talk.
  • Talker. The Talker describes the design to the Drawer, without seeing the design. They may question the Viewer. They may not use hand gestures.
  • Viewer. The Viewer sees the design. However, they are not allowed to talk and must communicate nonverbally to the Talker. Additionally, they must not draw the design in the air or actually show the design with their gestures.

The activity ends when the Viewers say they are satisfied with the drawings. You can have the Talkers vote for which image looks the most like the one they were trying to recreate (hint: don’t let them know which drawing belongs to their team).  

(Note: If you have uneven teams, you can have that student draw the original artwork that will be recreated.  Or you can draw them yourselves before you start the game, or you can have the art drawn on the whiteboard with the Drawers already in place, with their backs to the board.)

 

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:

 

Go!

Grade:

Grades 3-5, Middle

Setup:

Circle game

Objective:

Have the group stand in a circle and ask each player to say his or her name out loud. The game starts when the leader points at a person across the circle and orders that person to Go. For example, if Annika begins by pointing at Karsten and saying “Go, Karsten,” Annika then has to walk toward Karsten. But before Annika gets to Karsten, Karsten has to pick someone else around the circle and order him to go. Karsten must not leave his spot until he orders someone else. After Karsten has said, “GO, Hans” (for example), he then may leave his spot in the circle, walk toward Hans, and Annika takes Karsten’s spot. Once the ordering has gone around the circle a few times and each person has been picked at least once, you may increase the difficulty by adding a second “Go!” energy so that two orders are taking place at the same time.