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One of the worst we could think of was the spoon game. You would tie a long piece of string to a spoon before the boys put the spoon down their t-shirt and trousers and the girls put the spoon up through their skirt and top. As I said, they were very different times… Have you got examples from your own childhood? If the therapy has been successful and you’re willing to share them, drop us a line at childrenswork@premier.org.uk or tweet us at @Childrenswork. We’ll share the best and worst ones in the next issue (not to be tried at home, or in church…). Here are some slightly more appropriate games from our childhood:
Dressing-up relay
Where: Indoors or outdoors
Space needed: 5-10m
Number of children: 2+
Equipment: Dressing-up clothes
Here’s a game that combines dressing-up and running - who doesn’t love those two things? Well, me, but kids seem to love both. You’ll need two piles of similar dressingup equipment, the sillier the better. In each pile you could have something like a scarf, a dressing gown, a snorkel, a hat and knee pads. Place these two piles at one end of the hall and place a chair or cone about 5-10m away.
Split the kids into two equal teams and get each team to stand in a line behind the clothes. When you start, the first kid in each line puts on all the dressing-up gear and then runs (or waddles) up to the chair or cone, goes around it and then runs back to their team. They then take everything off, so that the next person can get dressed-up and run up and down as before. Keep going until everyone in both teams has had a go - the winning team is the first one to finish.
The good thing about this game is that you can tie it into almost any theme depending on what you use as dressing-up clothes. Christmas? Tea-towels, angel wings and shepherd crooks. Good Samaritan? Dress as a bandit! Jesus calms the storm? Sailor outfits. The only limit is your imagination (and the size of your dressing-up box).
Ring on a string
Where: Indoors
Space needed: Enough to sit in a circle on the floor
Number of children: 6+
Equipment: Wool
To prepare for this game you’ll need a very long piece of wool, long enough so that everyone can sit in a circle and hold it. (I prefer to use wool as it’s easier on the hands than string.) Thread a ring onto the wool and then tie the two ends of the wool together so it forms a large circle. Get everyone to sit in a circle around the outside of the wool, grab the wool, and hold it with both hands. One person will have their hand on the ring.
Choose one person to sit in the middle of the circle and try to guess where the ring is. When you say go those in the circle should try and pass the ring secretly around the circle without being spotted. Other people should move their hands to pretend they are moving the ring. When you say stop, everyone stops moving their hands and the person in the centre has to guess where the ring is. If they get it right the person who was hiding the ring comes into the centre, if they get it wrong the child in the centre stays there and you play again. (For younger children I’d recommend showing them where the ring is at the start to help).
This is a game that can tie into almost any treasure-themed session: treasure in the field, the parable of the pearl, the lost coin, treasure in heaven and probably many more as well.
Simple Game: Baked beans
Where: Indoors or outdoors
Space needed: Medium to large hall
Number of children: 6+
Equipment: None!
Here’s this month’s offering for when you need a game that requires no planning and no equipment. It’s simple, energetic, and you can keep adding more and more silly ideas to it. Start by getting the kids to walk around the hall and when you shout the name of a bean they have to do that action as they move. You can make up as many of these as you like but here’s a few to get you started: runner bean – run instead of walk, jumping bean – jump, string bean – join onto a chain with other people, has bean – walk very slowly, broad bean – become as wide as possible.
Before you start the game you need two other things: a catcher who stands in the centre of the hall (‘the can’) and a safe area for everyone to run to – this can be an area of the hall or a wall. As well as calling out one of the ‘beans’, you can also shout ‘Baked beans’ at any time. When you do, the catcher can come out of the can to tag the others. If the other beans make it to the safe area before they’re caught they’re fine, but if not then they become catchers too and go to stand in the can with the original catcher, not moving until the next time you shout ‘Baked beans’. Keep playing until everyone is caught or time runs out.
I’m afraid I can’t think of a session that this ties into - perhaps a VeggieTales video about beans?
