For a free pdf download of this resource click here
Scavenger hunt
Where: Indoors or outdoors
Space needed: Space to run around in
Number of children: 6+
Equipment: Hula hoop, objects to hunt for
Split your group into equal teams of between three and eight. Put the teams in opposite corners of the space and place a hula hoop in the centre. The teams should line up in their corner and whoever is at the front of the line will go that turn. Then the leader in the centre will call out something (eg a ball) and one child from each team (the one whose turn it is) has to run, find that object and bring it to the hoop in the centre. The first team to place a correct object in the hula hoop gets the point.
This game works better if you’ve written a list of things to scavenge beforehand and, if need be, scattering some objects around the hall for the children to find. Some examples could be a ball, a sock, something you’d wear on your head, something red, something that starts with the letter T, the oldest person on your team.
Balloon pop quiz
Where: Indoors
Space needed: Space for everyone to sit
Number of children: 6+
Equipment: Lots of balloons, lots of pieces of paper, pens
Here’s concession to those who want to learn while having fun. Before the quiz you’ll need to write out a series of questions and for each question you’ll need a balloon and a piece of paper. On each piece of paper write a random number (I like to go big so the lowest score is usually 100 and the highest is 1,000). Ensure a good spread of scores so that getting the highest score doesn’t guarantee you’ll win and the lowest score could be the difference between defeat and victory.
Once you’ve written a score on each piece of paper, roll them up and put one piece of paper inside each balloon and blow the balloons up. Split the group into teams, and if a team gets a question right, they get to choose a balloon and burst it. The number of points their team gets is the points on the paper inside the balloon they burst. Once you’ve gone through all the questions the team with the most points wins.
As you play you’ll probably discover that some kids don’t want to pop the balloons (and some kids don’t like answering the questions), so the child who answers correctly doesn’t necessarily have to be the person who pops the balloon. For the braver kids, you can nominate a body part they have to burst the balloon with (eg foot, arm, back).
Simple game: The numbers game
Where: Indoors or outdoors
Space needed: Space to run around in
Number of children: 8+
Equipment: Music and a way to play it
Get the children to move, dance or run around when the music plays and when the music stops the leader shouts out a number and the children have to get into a group with that number of people in it. If you can’t make a group of the right number of people you are out.
Make sure the kids don’t just hang around in a group with their friends waiting for the music to stop. Try putting some chairs around the hall and get the kids to walk or run around the chairs to keep them moving. Also try calling out low numbers to split up larger groups and encourage mixing with other children.
It’s useful for the first few rounds to add in a leader or two to make the group a multiple of two, three, and four, and use those numbers so everyone gets to play a few rounds before anyone is out. When they get really good you can play the ‘leg variation’: the number you call out is the number of legs each group is allowed to have touching the floor. A group can get to the number in several different ways (eg people standing on two legs, people on one leg or people being carried off the ground) and potentially no-one will ever get out.
