- Octopus
- What time is it Mr Wolf?
- Grandma’s footsteps
- Splat!
- Who’s under the blanket?
- Hot potato
- Chocolate game
- Leader in the stocks
- Custard pies (anything with leaders getting wet / messy)
- Sugar tower challenge
- Parachute
Hang on, that’s only eleven games? Yes, we’ve covered these before in this column (see the Premier Childrenswork website for details). Here are the brand new four.
Chicken or hero
Where: Large hall or outdoors
Space needed: Lots!
Number of children: 8+
Equipment: None
In this game, you have to get from one side to the other without getting caught, but there is a twist. It’s ideal to play in a hall or enclosed space but if you’re playing in a playground or open area it’s worth marking out a large rectangle that people need to stay inside. Choose a catcher (a confident child who knows the names of most other children). They stand in the middle and all the other children line up at one side of the space. The catcher then shouts out the name of one of the other children. That child then replies either “chicken” or “hero”. If they choose ‘hero’, they then have to run by themselves to the other side of the space. If they choose ‘chicken’, everyone has to run. If anyone is caught, they become a catcher in the middle, although the original catcher is the only one who shouts out a child’s name at the start of each round. The last person to be caught is the winner!
To avoid children running in two different directions at the same time, if a ‘hero’ makes it safely over to the other side, they should stay there until another child shouts “chicken” and everyone else joins them. They then can come back into play again.
British bulldog
Where: Large hall or outdoors
Space needed: Enough for the children to throw the shot
Number of children: 5+
Equipment: None
Similarly to ‘Chicken or hero’, this game involves a catcher in the middle and the children trying to get from one side of the space to the other. However, this version has its own twist!
The catcher calls out something that marks out a group of children eg “anyone wearing blue” or “all girls”. That group then have to try and run and make it to the other side without getting caught. If they are, they too become catchers but again only the original catcher can shout out a group.
To avoid people running in different directions, have two or three goes running in one direction. Anyone who is left at the end gets a free pass to walk to the other side. Start again with everyone running the opposite direction.
Egg craft
Where: Anywhere, but with a space for dropping
Space needed: As high as possible!
Number of children: Any!
Equipment: Eggs, junk such as paper, bubble wrap or cardboard, sticky tape
Split the children into teams and give each team an egg. They have to build a protective craft around the egg from the bits and pieces they are given. The egg then gets dropped from a great height (two to four storeys up works best) to see if the egg can survive. Some tips:
- Make sure the children stand well back when the egg is dropped.
- Get the groups to mark their craft so you know which one belongs to which team at the end.
- Scrunching up paper work best for protecting the egg. Bubble wrap on its own doesn’t work too well but scrunched up paper can absorb a lot of the force of impact.
Simple game: Tongue murder
Where: Indoors
Space needed: Enough to sit in a circle
Number of children: 6+
Equipment: None
This game is very similar to wink murder but, as you’ll know, many kids find it very difficult to wink. So instead of winking, they have to stick their tongue out. It’s much easier and kids seem to find it hilarious!
To play, get everyone to sit in a circle facing inwards. Choose someone to be the detective and send them out of the room. Choose someone to be the murderer and then bring the detective back in. The detective stands in the centre of the circle and has to guess who the murderer is. (We limit the detective to three guesses to stop them just randomly pointing at everyone.) While the detective is looking around, the murderer has to look at someone in the circle and stick their tongue out at them. That person has to die in the most overly dramatic way possible! It’s then a race between the detective and the murderer to see how many people the murderer can kill before they are caught. The detective should discover the murderer in three guesses but the real fun is in the acting!
