Spot the pen
5 minutes
You will need: pens (or similar objects)
Get the group to stand in a circle. Their hands should be within reaching distance of those who are standing next to them. Everyone puts their hands behind their back. Choose one person to stand in the middle of the circle with their eyes closed.
Once their eyes are closed the leader should place a pen in the hands of a child who is standing in the circle. Once this is done the child in the middle can open their eyes. The aim of game is for the children to pass the pen around the circle without the child in the middle spotting it! The person in the middle gets three attempts at pointing out the pen.
You can change the pen for another object to make it harder to pass or to fit it into the theme of the session. To make it harder for everyone, have more than one object to pass around.
Number dodge
10 minutes
You will need: A4 paper; pens; safety pins
Split the group into two teams. Each child in each group should have a number written as large as possible on an A4 piece of paper. For example: if you have ten people in the team, each team member opts for a number from within the range of 1-10. The A4 sheets should be pinned with safety pins to the back of T-shirts without the other teams seeing any of the numbers.
Once everyone in both teams has a number pinned to their back each team should submit a contestant. The contestants should go to the middle of the room and face each other.
Both contestants should have their hands behind their backs at all times during the game. The aim of the game is for each person to try and see their opponent’s number, while trying to stop the same opponent from seeing their own number on their back! They can do this by running, jumping and dodging but there’s no contact allowed! The first person to shout the number of their opponent gets a point. Continue this until everyone has had a go. The team with the most points wins.
Human table football
10 minutes
You will need: chalk or masking tape; ball
Split the group into two teams and mark out a pitch with an extra wide goal, a halfway line and side lines. Don’t make it too big! The leader needs to be free to collect and replace the ball for play once it has started.
Each team should have roughly one goalkeeper, three defenders, four midfielders and three strikers. Each set of players should hold hands in a long line across the pitch like a table football table. The lines and teams should be set out like a table football table with lines of the two teams alternating up the pitch.
The game follows the same restrictions as table football. The lines of players can only move from side to side (not forward or backward) The players must hold hands at all times and never break away from each other. It might be helpful to mark out lines for the lines to run along. From then on, the game plays out like a normal game of football.
Feeding time at the zoo
5 minutes
You will need: one blindfold per person
Split the group into four teams of five or more. Each group must choose one species of animal which makes a distinctive sound: lions, monkeys, snakes etc. Once they have agreed on an animal they must practise their sound with each other. If they choose to be lions then they must practise roaring! Once they have done this every player must wear a blindfold so they can’t see each other or where they are.
The leader then must spread the group (still blindfolded) across the playing area. This could be a field or a room / hall. Each member of the group must remain silent during this and be separated from their group members and mixed in with the other groups.
Once the children are spread out the leader shouts: “Feeding time!” The players must make their animal sound to find and move closer to the members of their animal group. The first group to gather all their members is the winner.
Bunny run
10 minutes
You will need: jam; spoons; two empty bowls; two bowls of cotton wool balls; baby wipes
Split the group into two teams of eight or more, and line the teams up at one end of the room. Give each team an empty bowl. At the other end of the room place a large bowl of cotton wool balls. Provide equal amounts of cotton wool per team.
Put some jam on the end of each player’s nose; there needs to be enough jam for the end of their nose to be sticky!
When the leader shouts: “Bunny run!” the team members take it in turns to run to the bowl at the end of the room and collect a cotton wool ball using only their sticky nose. They can’t use their hands. Then they run back with the cotton wool ball on their nose and put it in the empty bowl. The aim of the game is to transfer all the cotton wool balls into the team bowl first. For variation, the race could be hopped, jumped and even run through an obstacle course!
By the youth and children’s teams at Holy Trinity Brompton.
