Finger Baseball
There are a few different and more complicated versions on YouTube that you can check out, but here’s a simple version to start with. You have two players – one starts out as the pitcher and the other as the batter. Like rock, paper, scissors, both players throw out either one, two, three or four fingers, representing a base. If both the pitcher and batter throw out the same thing, it counts as a hit (to that number of bases), if they throw out different numbers of fingers, it counts as an out. The batter gets three outs, and like regular baseball you play for nine innings. You have to keep track of your base runners in your head and the runner must be forced to move by another hit to advance. A runner on second would only to move to third on a single.
Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock
We love all things Rock-Paper-Scissors at Playworks. This version seems to have been invented by a guy named Sam Kass (not the White House chef) and then recently celebrated on a network TV show. Here’s how it goes: scissors cuts paper covers rock crushes Lizard poisons Spock smashes scissors decapitates lizard eats paper disproves Spock vaporizes rock crushes scissors. Basically everything beats two things and is beaten by two things. Here’s the link to Sam’s page.
Twenty Questions
You can play with 2+ players. One player is chosen to be the answerer. That person chooses an object but doesn’t reveal to the others who are all questioners. The questioners then take turns asking yes or no questions. Variations allow for starting off with a clue as to whether the object is animal, vegetable or mineral, and for allowing ‘maybe’ answers which aren’t counted against the questioners’ allotted 20 questions. The questioner who guesses the object becomes the next answerer. If the questioners do not guess the answerer gets to be the answerer again.
The Alphabet Game
Start with the letter “A” and take turns finding the letter on a sign, truck, building or license plate, say the word and then move on to the next letter. You can do this as a competition or together as a whole bus for the younger beginning readers. The first one to get to the letter “Z” is the winner!
Two Truths and a Lie
This game can also be played by 2+ people. Taking turns, the first person tells the group three statements about herself, two being true and one a lie. They should be quick – for example, “I once ate frog legs. My birthday is Leap Day. My cat can open the back door.” Everybody then holds up one, two or three fingers to show which statement they think is the lie. The storyteller comes clean and the next person goes.
