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What are you doing?

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Group Size: 
Any size
Age Group: 
Grades 3-5
Age Group: 
Grade 6+
Length of Activity: 
Under 10 minutes
Developmental Goal: 
To develop creative thinking and listening to directions.
Equipment: 
None
Before You Start: 
  • Explain the rules of play.
  • Demonstrate how to play.
  • Have players explain the rules back to you or to someone next to them.
  • Players get in line and the first two face each other.
How To Play: 
  • Player A does a motion like in charades, and then player B asks “What are you doing?”
  • Player A must name a motion that doesn’t match the motion that they are doing.
  • Player B must do the motion that player A named.
  • Player A then asks, “What are you doing?”
  • Game continues until someone makes a mistake. When a player messes up, they go to the end of the line and the next person steps up.
Variations: 
  • Have multiple lines going to increase participation.
  • This game can also be played in pair, eliminating the rotational style and shortening the time of play.

Mouse Trap

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Group Size: 
Large group (10 or more)
Age Group: 
Grades 3-5
Length of Activity: 
Under 10 minutes
Developmental Goal: 
To develop cooperation, teamwork and strategic thinking.
Equipment: 
None
Before You Start: 
  • Choose six students make a "trap" by making a circle holding hands.
  • Remind students to be aware of others around them.
How To Play: 
  • One child is a "cat" with his or her back to the circle, but part of the circle.
  • All other students are mice going in and out of the "trap."
  • When the cat yells "snap!", the arms of the trap goes down to catch mice.
  • The caught mice then become part of the "trap".
  • When only one student is left, the game ends and s/he become the cat for the next round.

Four Corners

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Group Size: 
Any size
Age Group: 
Grades 1-2
Age Group: 
Grades 3-5
Length of Activity: 
10 minutes or more
Developmental Goal: 
To develop decision making capabilities.
Equipment: 
None
Before You Start: 
  • An area with four corners. This can be a classroom or an area on the playground.
  • Have players split equally among the four corners (or as closely as possible.)
  • Do a practice round with leader in the middle. 
How To Play: 
  • The player in the middle will close their eyes and count slowly and loudly from 10 to 0.
  • While they are counting, all others may stay where they are or quietly move to a different corner. When the counter gets to 0, everyone must be at a corner (if not they sit down).
  • After counting, the player in the middle points to corner of his/her choice and can only open their eyes after having done so.
  • Anyone standing in that corner must sit down.
  • If no one is standing at the chosen corner, all players sitting may stand up and get back into the game.
  • When only one player is left standing, s/he becomes the counter for the next round.
Variations: 
  • Change the middle person when one person has been in the middle for 2 minutes.
  • The counter can say that they will point to the loudest corner.

Splat

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Group Size: 
Large group (10 or more)
Age Group: 
Pre K/K
Age Group: 
Grades 1-2
Length of Activity: 
10 minutes or more
Developmental Goal: 
To develop quick thinking and concentration.
Equipment: 
None
Before You Start: 
  • Group forms a circle with one player in the middle
  • Make sure everyone understands the importance of safety and control
  • Check that all players know the rules and what happens if you are last to splat.
How To Play: 
  • The player standing in the middle of the circle is the “splatter”.
  • The splatter randomly points to someone and shouts “SPLAT!”
  • The player pointed to must duck down; then the two players on either side of the “ducker” must “splat” each other by pointing to the other and saying “SPLAT!”
  • The last one to splat sits down, and the player ducking stands back up.
  • The game continues until there are two players left, have them Rock Paper Scissors to determine who will be the new splatter in the middle. 
Variations: 
  • Instead of sitting down when last to splat, have that player switch with the player in the middle.
  • Or have them perform a task to get back in the game.

Dance Freeze

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Group Size: 
Large group (10 or more)
Age Group: 
Pre K/K
Age Group: 
Grades 1-2
Age Group: 
Grades 3-5
Length of Activity: 
10 minutes or more
Developmental Goal: 
To increase aerobic fitness through ongoing dance
Before You Start: 
  • Designate an open area free of obstacles. If objects are present that cannot be moved, point them out and remind everyone that they must be careful not to touch another person or object.
  • Have the radio or music player ready with an appropriate station or music selection. 
How To Play: 
  • In this activity, everyone dance as the music plays.
  • When the music stops, each player must freeze immediately and hold that position until the music begins again.
  • If a player does not freeze immediately, s/he does 10 jumping jacks during the start of the next round and then rejoins the dance.
  • Since this is an aerobic game, it is better not for players to get “out.” 
Variations: 
  • Assign players as a look-out and have them pick out a unique dance move. When the music stops, they demonstrate the move for everyone; the group tries the new move at the start of the next round. 
  • Rather than have players do 10 jumping jacks, have them do something else- push ups, a balance challenge, act as DJ, etc. 

Silent Ball

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Group Size: 
Any size
Age Group: 
Pre K/K
Age Group: 
Grades 1-2
Age Group: 
Grades 3-5
Length of Activity: 
Under 10 minutes
Developmental Goal: 
To develop non-verbal communication and eye-hand coordination.
Equipment: 
Dodgeballs
Before You Start: 
  • Have players spread out  standing up in the available space.
  • Explain the rules of play and check for understanding with yes or no questions.
  • You will need one medium size ball, any that is appropriate for the players catching skill level.
How To Play: 
  • Leader counts down, “3, 2, 1, silent” and passes the ball to another person in the play area.
  • A player must sit down if:
    • S/he drops the ball.
    • S/he makes a bad pass.
    • They talk or make noise.
  • Play continues until only one person remains.
  • Last player standing gets to be first to throw the ball in the next round.
  • All players who were sitting may return to play at the start of a new round.
  • If game is progressing slowly, add a challenge by limiting time to throw, having all players take spread out, asking everyone to keep one hand behind their back at all times and so on.
Variations: 
  • For young, beginning players: Have youth sit or stand in a circle. See if they can pass the ball around the circle without anyone laughing or talking. Add more balls for a challenge round.
  • Silent Trees! Start with players sitting on the ground, when a player makes a mistake, s/he stands up and becomes a tree. Trees must remain planted, i.e they cannot move his/her feet. The tree can re-enter the game by deflecting or intercepting a pass. The person who was unsuccessful at making a pass becomes a tree.

Wah!

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Group Size: 
Large group (10 or more)
Age Group: 
Grades 3-5
Age Group: 
Grade 6+
Length of Activity: 
Under 10 minutes
Developmental Goal: 
To develop awareness and active listening capability.
Equipment: 
None
Before You Start: 
  • Make sure participants understand the three motions: becoming a tree, chopping down a tree, and having a tree fall.
  • Review when in the game you would perform each motion.
  • Review proper chopping (no touching), as well as proper heckling (no touching or yelling).
  • Play a slow motion practice round.
Set Up: 
Everyone standing in a circle facing each other.
How To Play: 
  • Play begins when a designated player raises both arms over their head with palms together to form a “tree” and says “Wah!”   
  • The two players on either side of the tree become lumberjacks and must chop the tree down by placing their own palms together and simultaneously make one chopping motion toward the midsection of the tree while also saying “Wah!” (Remember not to actually touch the tree with the chopping motion.)
  • When the tree is chopped, it falls by bending at the waist, saying “Wah!” and pointing to another member of the circle. The fallen tree may point to anyone in the circle except the players directly next to them. 
  • The player whom the fallen tree points at must immediately become the next tree by raising both arms together and saying “Wah!”  
  • The game continues with the players on either side of the new tree chopping it down, the tree falling and pointing at another player, and the player pointed at creating the next tree.
  • If it any time a member of the circle hesitates, performs the wrong motion or does not say “Wah!”, that player must step outside the circle. The game stops to let the player step out and starts again when a new tree goes up (anyone may do this). 
  • Players outside the circle remain active by walking around the circle and distracting the remaining players by heckling them (without touching or yelling).
  • As players are eliminated, the circle continues to shrink until the final four players are congratulated as the winners.

 

Variations: 
  • Don’t eliminate players, work together to go as fast as you can.
  • Change the “Wah!” to something else, like “Uma!” or “Oprah!

Marco Polo

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Group Size: 
Any size
Age Group: 
Pre K/K
Age Group: 
Grades 1-2
Age Group: 
Grades 3-5
Length of Activity: 
Under 10 minutes
Length of Activity: 
10 minutes or more
Developmental Goal: 
To develop active listening and coordination.
Equipment: 
None
Before You Start: 
  • Choose one player to be ‘it’ and another to be his/her guide.
  • Have other players spread out in the space.
  • Remind them to walk, not run.
  • Remind players how to use safe tagging.
  • Review the physical boundaries.
Set Up: 
Pick a small space for the playing area (can be indoor or out!)
How To Play: 
  • The player that is ‘it’ closes his/her eyes and calls out ‘Marco’, and all the others respond ‘Polo.’
  • ‘It’ moves toward the rest of the players, trying to tag them gently.
  • The guide will helps the tagger, especially when played in a small indoor space. The guide places his/her hands on the shoulders of ‘it’ and gently directs him/her away from objects throughout the room.
  • When someone is tagged, ‘it’ becomes the new guide and the person tagged becomes the new “it.”

Animal Kingdom

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Group Size: 
Large group (10 or more)
Age Group: 
Grades 1-2
Age Group: 
Grades 3-5
Age Group: 
Grade 6+
Length of Activity: 
10 minutes or more
Developmental Goal: 
To develop hand-eye coordination, rhythm and awareness of different animal sounds.
Before You Start: 
  • Identify a long object that two people can hold, such as a yard stick.
  • Have players stand in a large circle, allowing some space between each person.
How To Play: 
  • One person in the middle will close his/her eyes and spin slowly with the yardstick. Everyone in the circle must move in a clockwise motion to a beat from one or more players.
  • The player in the middle will gently tap the yardstick on the ground three time to let the circle know it’s time to stop moving. The player in the middle will then, with her/his eyes still closed, extend the yardstick to someone in the circle.
  • Whoever the yardstick points to must grab the end of the opposite. If two players are not sure who is closest to the yardstick, they will silently play rock paper scissors. The player in the middle asks to hear an animal. The player on the other side of the yardstick must, to the best of their ability, the sound of the animal.
  • The player in the middle gets one guess to name which player is making the animal sound.
  • Players who make the sound become the new person in the middle.

 

Variations: 

 

Up, Down, Stop, Go

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Group Size: 
Any size
Age Group: 
Pre K/K
Age Group: 
Grades 1-2
Age Group: 
Grades 3-5
Length of Activity: 
Under 10 minutes
Developmental Goal: 
To develop students’ concentration and listening skills.
Equipment: 
None
Before You Start: 
  • Have players stand up either by their seats or spread around the room/play area.
  • Demonstrate the appropriate actions for “up”, “down”, “stop”, or “go”.
    • On “Up”, players should squat down.
    • On “Down”, players should jump, or stretch up as high as they can.
    • On “Stop”, players should move around the play area in a specific movement (such as walking, jogging, running, skipping, hopping, etc.) or, if players cannot move around the play area, they should run in place.
    • On “Go”, players should freeze.
    • Players not doing the correct movement can complete a task (such as jumping jacks, give the leader a high five, etc.) before returning to the game.
  • Do a practice round first so that all players understand the commands and movements that go with them, and understand what to do if they get the movements mixed up.
How To Play: 
  • Call out the commands “up”, “down”, “stop”, or “go” one at a time.
  • For the first few minutes, watch the group and stop when players do the wrong movement and prompt them to  complete the designated task (jumping jacks, etc.)
  • After the first few minutes, call out the commands without stopping for those who make a mistake. They can just quickly do the task and get back in the game.

 

Variations: 
  • Pre-K Variation: Use literal commands (up means up, down means down, etc). Start out just doing up and down. Then do stop and go. Then mix up all four commands.
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