Children’sGameIdeas
Acollec3onofsomeofthebestgames
we’veplayedwithkidsovertheyears
Children’sGameIdeas
Children’sGameIdeas
ToiletTig
ThisisjustlikeStuckintheMud,onlyleaderscanplayittoo. Thereisatleastonepersonon.
Whensomeoneiscaught,theymuststop,bendtheirkneesandputoutastraightarm.Theonly
waytheycanbefreedisifsomeonecomes,crouchesdowninfrontofthemlikethey’reonthe
toilet,pushestheirarmdown,andmakesasoundlikeatoiletflushing.
Where’smyothershoe?
The leader places one shoe on the ground in front of a group of children in a line. She turns
around and counts to five. When she turns back, if the shoe is no longer there, she has four
aBemptstoguesswhohashershoebyaskingonlyyesornoquesDons. Ifshefailstowinback
hershoe,shecanwalkwithalimp,orshecantrywithherothershoe. ThisDmesheonlyhas
threequesDonsinwhichtorecoverhershoe,however,ifshegetsone,shegetsboth.
ChineseLaundry
Yep,thisclassicgame..Thechildrenaredividedintoteamsandeachteamhastopickarunner.
Yourjobistocreatealistofobjectsthatyoucallout.Thefirstpersontobringtheobjecttoyouis
thewinner.Makesureyouhaveateamsheetandhavesomeonekeepingascore.
Ideasforsimpleobjects:show,whitesock,blacksock,hairribbon,scrunchy,hairband,longest
lineofgirls,thefunniestface,thefunniestjoke,a50ppiece(oracoin),abrownleaf,3oddshoes,
2shoelaces,ablackhair,abladeofgrass,asweet,aleaderetc!
ShoePairs
Getthechildrenintoteamsandgetthemtotaketheirshoesoffandputtheminthemiddleof
theroomrandomly(orifyouhavealargerandomcollecDonofshoesforsomebizarrereason(!)
youcanusethem).Mixthemup.Eachteamappointsarunner.Whentheleadersays,'go',the
runnerhastofindasmanypairsofshoesastheycan.Thisisdonebytherunnergrabbingone
shoefromthepileofshoesandthenbringingthatshoebacktotheirteam.Theyhavetothengo
backintothemiddleoftheroom(leavingtheshoewiththeirteam)andfindthematchingshoe.
Atthispoint,youcanchangetherunnerifyoulike.HaveaDmelimittoeach'round'offinding
shoes.Youhavetodecidehowmanyroundstodo,butdofewerroundsthantherearepairsof
shoes!Thewinningteamhasthemostcorrectpairsofshoes.
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Children’sGameIdeas
Slugs
Splitthegroupintwo.Ideallyyouwouldusehalfabadmintoncourt,asthemarkingsworkreally
well.Havehalfofthegroupstandaroundtheoutsideofthecourt,spacedoutonthetwosides,
facingtheoutsidewalls. Theothersliedownontheirbacks,withfeettouchingtheinsideline.
Theyhavetothenpushthemselvesacrossthehallusingtheirfeet. Theyhavetokeepmoving
thewholeDme,andcanonlygoforwards.Thegroupontheoutsidethenlobsomespongeballs
overtheirheads,tryingtohittheslugswiththeirpellets,butwithoutlooking(asthey’refacing
theoutsidewall!)
SpagheFShoes
Everyonegivesinoneoftheirshoestotheleaderinthemiddle.Hethenpickssomeoneoutand
throwsthemthefirstshoe. Shepassesittosomeoneelse,whodoesthesame. Theshoethen
makesitswayaroundthewholegroupunDleveryonehashadatouchoftheshoe,atwhichpoint
it comes back into the leader in the middle. When subsequent shoes are introduced, each
personmustthrowtheshoetothesamepersoninsequence,regardlessofhowmanyshoesare
inplayatanyoneDme.Theleadermaywanttoretreattotheedgeofthecircleforthegame,to
avoidairborneshoeincidents.Theleadermayalsofinditprudenttointroduceeachnewshoeat
differentintervals.Thisisreallyagamethatcanonlybeplayedwitholderchildren,asitcanget
quitedangerouswithaloadofshoesbeingflungabout.
CurtainVolleyball
This is just like normal volleyball, only using a curtain instead of a net, that way no-one knows
wheretheballiscomingfromnext.
MusicalBears
This is just like Musical Statues, only with the rules changed slightly for those who don’t like
standingsDll.Letthechosenmusicplay,butwhenitstops,calloutthenameofabear,andthe
childrenhavetoactitout.Forexample:“AKoalaBear”or“AGrizzlyBear”Changetheanimal,
thenaddindifferentacDons:“anelephantplayingthedrums”or“amechanicchangingatyre”.
BychangingtheacDonsawayfromstatuesallowsforcreaDvityaswellasaddingtotheenergy
thatisusedup. Becausethegamechangessomuch,thereisnorealneedtoputchildrenout,
howeveritdoesaffordtheopportunitytocelebratesomeofthechildren.Itisimportantthatthe
leaderhassuggesDonsforthefirstcoupleofgamessothatthegamecanbesnappy.A_erthat,
thechildrencansuggesttheirown.
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Children’sGameIdeas
FortyForty
ThisisreallyaglorifiedHide&Seek.LeaveonepersononwhocountsloudlytoForty.Theother
childrenthengoandfindahidingplace.Oncetheygetthere,theycounttofortyquietly.Once
theyreachforty,theyhavetomaketheirwaybacktothestartwithoutgebngcaught.Withthe
Dmelimited,no-onepersoncanbe‘on’foranextendedperiodofDme,especiallygoodifthey
don’tlikebeing‘on’.
Rock/Paper/Scissors
The teams are split into two and retreat to opposite sides of the room. They decide upon a
characterthattheyareallgoingtoperformtheacDonfor. Theythenallrunintothemiddleof
theroom(fiveyardsawayfromtheotherteam),countto3,thenallperformthepre-determined
acDon. This game is a lot like Rock/ Paper/ Scissors, but with different acDons & phrases,
choosingakeythemeandcharacters.ExamplesofacDonsandthemescouldbe:
Superheroes:
Superman (flying) beats Batman (flapping Batwings) beats Spiderman (firing webs) who beats
Superman.
Simpsons:
MrBurns(tapsfingerssaying“excellent”)beatsHomer(slapsforeheadsaying“D’oh!”)beatsBart
(slapsthighsaying“Don’thaveacowman!”)whobeatsMrBurns.
BalloonLines
Teamgames,usingballoons.Divideeveryoneupintoteamsandhavethemstandinstraightlines,
facing forward to the front. Then each team has a balloon, which is passed to the child at the
front.Theythenhavetopasstheballoonbackwardsdownthelineindifferentways.Firstly,by
pubngtheballoonovertheirheads.Secondly,bypubngtheballoonundertheirlegsetc.Have
morethanoneroundofthis.Youmaythinkofdifferentwaystopasstheballoonbackwards!
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Children’sGameIdeas
TAGRugbyGames
WiththeTagRugbygear,thereareanumberofgamesthatcanbeplayedthatwillstandontheir
own,orcanbeusedaslead-instoplayingTagRugby.
TaggyintheMiddle
Have a limited space, and use four children, three throwing, one in the middle. The aim is to
completeasmanypassesasyoucaninthirtyseconds. Ifyouarecaughtinpossessionwiththe
ballbytheTaggyintheMiddle,theytakeoneofyourtags,andyourscoregoesdowntozero.
Youstartagain,withthesameTaggyintheMiddle,unDlthe30secondsisup. Thepersonwho
collectedthemostnumberofTagsinthe30secondsisthewinner. HavingtheDmerestricted
meansthateventheleastathleDchasonlyashortamountofDmeinthemiddle.
Ladders
Thechildrenlineupinpairs,inthemiddleoftheroom,armslengthapart,facingdownthehall.
Thechildrenonthele_haveyellowtags,whilsttheothershavered.Theleadercallsouteither
yelloworred. Whicheverteamhasbeencalledhavetorunandtouchthewallclosesttothem,
beforethepersonbehindthemgetsoneoftheirtags.A_ereachgo,theyellowsmovedownthe
halltothenextpersonontheredteam,sothattheyarerunningagainstadifferentpersoneach
Dme.Itisimportantthatthechildrendothisinpairs,otherwiseitceasestobefair.
CollecttheTags
AliBleliketheageoldgameofchasees,onlyabiteasiertoreferee.Ifyoutakeatagoffsomeone
whenyoucatchthem,youareremovinganyshadowofdoubtoverwhetherornotsomeonehas
beencaught.Withmorethanonepersonon,thereislessroomforsomeonefeelingtheyaretoo
slowtoplay.
Hide&SeekTag
Yousendanumberofpeopleouttocollecttags.Ifeveryoneiswearingoneyellowandonered
tag,ifyouarethefirstperson,youtaketheredtag(worthfivepoints),andsecondyou’llgetthe
yellow(worththreepoints).Thehighestscorewins.
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Children’sGameIdeas
BallTig(leadingtoTagRugby)
Thiscomesinthreestages:
One:Havetwopeopleon,witheveryoneelsewearingtwotags.Theyhavetothrowthesponge
rugbyballatpeople’swaistorlegs,collecDngatagofthepersonwitheachhit.Iftheyworkasa
team,thentheycancollectmanymoretags.
Two: Havetwopeopleon,witheveryoneelsewearingtwotags. ThisDmetheyhavetotouch
thepersononthetaginquesDonbeforetheycanremoveit.Workingasateammeansthatthey
cancornerpeople,ensuringtheyalmostalwaysgetthetags.
Three:Spliteveryoneupintotwoteams,withoneteamwearingyellowtags,andtheothersred.
ThisDme,ifyouarethepersonholdingtheball,youcanhaveyourtagstaken,hencetheneedto
pass the ball on as quickly as possible. For the team with the ball, the aim is to get as many
passesinarowaspossible.
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Children’sGameIdeas
ParachuteGames
Therearecountlessgamesthatcanbedoneusingaparachute,withthemostposiDveaspectofit
beingthatthereisnoreasonforexclusionduetolackofability. Amongthegamesthatcanbe
playedare:
FruitSalad
Namethechildrenapple,orange,pear&banana.Whentheparachuteisintheair,calloutone
ofthefruit. Thosechildrenthenswapplacesgoingundertheparachute. When“FruitSalad”is
calledout,everybody(excepttheleaders)swapplaces.
AllChange
ThisissimilartoFruitSalad,withthechildrenrunningthroughtheParachutewhenthingsthat
relatetothemarecalledout.Forexample:“Changeifyouarewearingred”;“Changeifyoulike
sausages”; “Change if you remember the memory verse from last week”. When the leader
shouts“allchange”,theneveryonechanges.
Football
Usingaspongeball,splitthegroupintotwoteams,dependingonthedistribuDonofchildrenand
leaders.Makingsurethattheyaresplitwithadiscernablehalf-wayline,playfootball.Theway
to score is to send the ball over the edge of the parachute on the other team’s side, and
prevenDnggoalsisamaBerofmakingsurethattheballdoesn’tgoofftheedgeonyourside.
Rugby
Exactlythesamerulesasfootball,onlywitharugbyball,asitisafunniershape.
HittheRoof
Usingthewholegroup,getthechildrentobendoverwiththeparachutetouchingthefloor.Put
aballinthemiddleandonthecountofthree,ifeveryonejumpsandsnapsatthesameDme,the
ballshouldflyupquitehighintheair.Takethreegoesandseeiftheballcanhittheceiling.
Duck,Duck,Goose
Therulesarethesame,exceptthateveryonegoesundertheparachute(bymakingamushroom,
theneveryonepullingthebackoftheparachuteunderthemselvestomakeaseat). Theperson
whoisongoesroundtheoutside,touchingtheheadsoftheircompatriots,andwhentheyget
theirgoose,theyrun,whilethegoosegetsout. Theduckhastogetroundtheparachuteand
backintotheirplacebeforethegoosecatchesthem.ThiscanonlybeplayedthreeorfourDmes
as the heat under the parachute can really build up. If there is a hole in the middle of the
parachute,oneoftheleadersmaywanttobeapoleinthemiddlethatholdsthe‘BigTop’up.
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