GAMES AND ACTIVITIES

JOKERS HEAD

Two blindfolded players hold hands and try to reach a goal about 10 metres
away. One of them wants to go in one direction; the other in the other
direction.

FIRE!

Two players stand about 10 metres apart. Each one carefully memorises
the position of the other player. Then the players are blindfolded. They
walk towards each other and must shake hands. If they pass each other by,
the observers call FIRE!. The successful couples are rewarded (optional).

THE ENCHANTED CASTLE

The castle is guarded by two guards standing in front of a gate which is 3

metres wide. Anyone who can pass without being caught is the owner of
the castle. All players are blindfolded. The intruder must walk on tip-toes.
An exciting game.

CROSS THE BRIDGE

An imaginary bridge is marked on the floor, with crocodiles on either side.

Each child must cross the bridge to the other side.

PLEASE MR CROCODILE!

This game is played with one child facing the front. On the opposite side of
the room the other children stand and ask:

Please Mr Crocodile,
May we cross the water
To visit your fair daughter?

Yes, you may

If youre wearing something......(colour)

The children wearing that colour may cross the water safely.

SURPRISE THE CENTRE

Children sit in a ring, one child in the center. A child from the ring is
chosen to creep into the ring and try to touch the person in the center
(whose eyes are closed). The center person must try to detect where the
person creeping-up is coming from and point to them. If successful, the
latter must return to the circle and another child is chosen.

2.

GHOST KING

All stand in a circle, except for 6, 9 or 12 pupils. They sit on the floor in the
middle, apart from each other, with eyes shut tight. The Ghost King walks
around chanting this verse over and over again, and the whole outer circle
joins in:
The midnight hour is striking clear,
The Ghost King walks and none can hear.
Come rise-up and follow me,
Be careful not the last to be.

The Ghost King touches the sitters in the middle of the circle on the
shoulder one by one, and they rise-up and follow him/her. The last one has
to sense when he/she is the last, and rise up of his own accord to follow the
others. If they walk around him/her three times before he/she realises
he/she is alone, or if anyone gets up too soon, then he/she must join the
outer circle.

WHERE ARE YOU?

The pupils stand in a circle holding hands. Two stand in the middle, both of
whom are blindfolded.
Tom: Zoe, where are you?

Zoe: Here I am!

Tom must try to catch Zoe by repeatedly asking the question, which she
must answer every time, and by following her voice. Zoe can duck and
dodge freely, but must not leave the ring. When Zoe is caught, she changes
places with Tom.

This game can also be played with only Tom blindfolded.

 ROUND-UP RACE

Two cones are placed at a distance of about 6 metres apart. One runner
stands next to each cone, and they both run around the two cones trying to
catch-up with each other.
PINE-CONE PICKING

There are three baskets each with a quantity of pine-cones on one side of
the field and three empty baskets some twenty paces away. The three
players must carry the pine-cones in their hands from one basket to the
other. Anyone who loses a pine-cone on the way must pick it up
straightaway.

3.

SKIPPING

Skippety skip, skippety skip!

Skippety skip,
Skippety skip!
Hold the rope slackly,
Give a little flip,
Shut your lips tight,
Make your feet light,
Skip on your toes if you
Want to skip right -
Hold your head straight -
Isnt it great
That skipping is so easy?

SKIPPING

Salt and pepper,

Vinegar, mustard,
Cinnamon, cloves
And spice;
Over our heads
 With a twirly whirly,
Apples and pears
And rice.

GUESSING

Five or six children get a piece of differently coloured chalk each. They
each draw a line on the chalkboard and then exchange their chalks amongst
themselves. After this they stand in a row facing the rest of the class who
begin asking questions:

.....(name), have you got/do you have the blue (red,etc) chalk?

When the answer is Yes, the two children change places and the game
starts again.

WHO IS IT?

One child is allowed to leave the classroom. The rest choose one pupil IN
the classroom and the child from outside is called back in. He/she tries to
find out who is It by asking questions which can only be answered by
either yes or no. e.g.:
is it a boy?
Has he got dark hair?
Is he wearing a blue shirt? etc.,.

4.

SIMON SAYS

The teacher, or once the class is familiar with the game, a pupil, acts as
Simon and the others have to do what he/she says. For example:

Simon says: Touch your head

Everyone does as bidden, unless the words Simon Says are omitted.
Those who do wrong are out. The last one being the winner. The
commands should follow one another in quick succession.

DO YOU EAT GRASS?

One pupil is allowed to leave the room being told to:

 Come in again as an animal that we all know!

On coming in, the pupil moves about like a particular animal for a while,
then stands still at the front of the room and the class start asking
questions which can only be responded to by either yes or no. e.g.:

Do you live in the water?

Can you fly?
Do you have four legs?
etc.,.

The child who guesses correctly which animal was represented, may go out
next.

SNATCH THE PLATE

About eight children sit in a circle on the floor. Each represents an animal.
The teacher spins a plate like a top and calls the name of an animal. The
object is to remember what one is and run to catch the plate before it falls
over. Anyone who manages, may then in turn spin the plate and call out
another animals name.

FOX

One child is chosen to be fox and another to be hen. Five or six children
are chickens, and form a string at the back of the hen, one behind another.
They then advance to the foxs den and ask him the time. They repeat the
question several times until he says it is twelve oclock at night, when they
must instantly run away as the fox will pursue them, the hen dodging the fox
and trying to prevent his seizing the last chicken. When all the chickens
have been captured, the game is finished.

5.

FATHER/MOTHER,MAY I COME?

One child stands before the class facing the right or left wall. On the
opposite side four or five children stand and ask, one after the other:

Father/Mother, may I come?

Possible answers: Yes, you may/No, you may not

When the answer is Yes, the second question is asked:

How many steps?

Possible answers: Take one (2,3 or 4):

Baby steps
Giant steps
grasshopper steps
kangaroo steps
crab steps, etc.,.

The first to reach Father/Mother may change places with him/her.

PADDY FROM HOME

Paddy from home has never been,

A railway train hes never seen;
He longs to see the great machine,
That travels along the railway.

The children stand in a ring, all holding a long piece of string with a ring
strung on it, and tied at the ends so as to make a loop as big as the ring of
players. One player stands in the middle. The other players pass the ring
around backwards and forwards along the string, hiding it with their hands,
and the player in the middle has to find it. Whoever has it when Paddy
finds it, becomes Paddy the next time. It might be wise to agree upon a
limit with regards to wrong guesses!
BUTTON, YOU MUST WANDER

Button you must wander, wander, wander.

Button you must wander everywhere.
Bright eyes will find you, sharp eyes will find you,
Button you must wander everywhere.

About five children stand in front of the class in a row, facing the pupils.
While the class recites the verse,, the five pass the button secretly from
hand to hand. The teacher will name three children to ask alternately
where the button is. Whoever guesses correctly changes place with the
child who had the button.

6.
 HOBBY-HORSE RELAY

The runners hold a fairly long stick between their legs and then gallop
along.

CAT AND MOUSE

The children form a circle and join hands. One child is chosen to be the Cat
and another to be the Mouse. The Cat chases the Mouse around the
outside of the circle. The aim is for the Mouse to slip under the linked
hands to gain access to the inside of the circle from where he/she has to
find a home i.e. to stand in front of one of the children making up the
circle. Whoever the Mouse stands in front of then becomes the Cat and the
previous Cat becomes the Mouse.

The role of the cat throughout this game is of course to catch the Mouse!
The Cat does not have ready access to the inside of the circle, but must use
his/her wiles to slip under the arms of inattentive children forming the
circle. The Cat can then try to catch the Mouse before it has found a
home. Frequently the Mouse has to escape out of the circle before
reaching a home. If this happens, then the Cat must endeavour to find a
way out so as to continue chasing the Mouse.

STATUES

The children form a straight line at one end of the playing area. One child
is chosen to be the spotter. He/she stands at the far end of the field with
his/her back to to other players. On the word Go!, the line of children may
move forwards. At anytime, the spotter may turn quickly around and spot
any player who is still moving. Anyone so caught has to go back to the
starting line and wait for the spotter to turn his/her back on the players
once more. The first child to reach/touch the spotter becomes the next
spotter.

BIG BAD WOLF

The children form a straight line at one end of the playing area. One child
stands at the far end of the field in the role of the Big Bad Wolf. The Big
Bad Wolf then asks: Whos afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

The row of children respond by saying: Nobody!

The Big Bad Wolf then asks: Shall I come and catch you
To which the children say: Yes!!!

They then run down the length of the play area to try to get to the area
immediately beyond the Wolfs Lair. The Wolf of course is in the meantime
trying to catch the running children. Anyone unfortunate enough to be
caught then becomes a Big Bad Wolf. The game goes on until only one
child is left. He/she then becomes the new Big Bad Wolf!

7.

CENTER THROW

Players form a circle, with one player standing in the center. The center
player throws the ball to any player in the circle and immediately runs to
any other player. That player then runs to the center to receive the ball
thrown back by the player last receiving it. The game continues until all
have been the center player.

CO-OPERATIVE JUMP ROPE

Two players turn a rope. The other players line-up to jump. The first player
jumps once, runs out and takes one end of the rope. The player he/she
takes it from goes to the end of the line. Meanwhile the second player has
to jump the rope twice, run out and take the rope from the other player who
has been turning it, relieving that player to go to the end of the line. The
third player jumps three times and runs out, the next player four times and
so on - each player taking alternate ends of the turning rope (if a
teacher/adult turns one end of the rope, then he/she can decline a turn at
jumping, thus cutting down on any confusion as to which end should be
next!). If a miss occurs, the next player begins over again, jumping once,
the next twice, and so on.

STRING GAMES

For practical reasons it is not feasible to include details of the many

wonderful String Games which can be taught to the children. Such games
can be part of the Movement part of the Main Lesson. They are excellent
for developing the childrens fine motor skills.

BALANCE POLE

The use of the Balance Pole has a marked affect on the childs self-
confidence. Such work was an integral part of our daily Movement in
Main Lessons, alternating with Skipping, Strings Games and the walking of
geometrical forms (stars).

*********

Collected by Eric K. Fairman

Sydney 1996