Half-Time Oranges
Half-time oranges are not to be confused with full-time oranges, though both maintain the same set of employee rights.
20 minutes
This game stretches the definition of ‘half-time oranges’ to its absolute limit. Get your group into teams of four and give each person an orange (obviously check for fruit and citrus-based allergies at this point). The aim of this game is to be the first team to eat their oranges. However, there are two key rules: only one player in each team can eat their orange at a time and each player must eat their orange in half the time it took the previous team member to eat theirs. So if the first person takes ten minutes, the second person has five minutes. If they manage to eat it in four minutes, the next person has only two minutes, and so on. If a person runs out of time to eat their orange, their team is out. So teams must balance speed with the need to give the last players on their team enough time to actually eat an orange. You might need pens, paper and multiple stop watches to keep track of this game.
Penalty Shoot-At
We genuinely think they should introduce this element to an actual penalty shootout.
10 minutes
Get your group into two teams and number each member of each team from one up to however many are in each team. You then need to set up a simple penalty shootout scenario. Each ‘number’ from a team then takes on the corresponding number from the opposite team – so both number ones take a penalty at the other number one in goal. Meanwhile, the numbers twos are given a water pistol and situated a few metres away. While their teammate is attempting to score / save a penalty, they can put off their opponent by shooting water at them. When it’s the number twos’ turn to play, the number threes are given the water pistols and so on. The team that scores the most goals is the winner.
Mexican Wave Relay
This game involves a far more authentic Mexican wave than those seen at football matches, and possibly some unhelpful Mexican stereotypes.
10 minutes
Split your group into two teams, sitting down facing each other and present the people at the end of each line with a sombrero and a poncho. When you say go, the first player must put on the sombrero and poncho, stand up, wave their arms and make noise as if they’re taking part in a Mexican wave before passing on the slightly stereotypical paraphernalia to the next person in the line. The first team to complete their ‘wave’ wins.
Diving – Bored?
This game involves a skill which has become crucial for professional footballers.
10 minutes
You can barely open a newspaper or turn on Match of the day without seeing somebody moan about diving. And we agree, diving is a problem, but the problem is that it’s so boring. There’s no creativity involved. This game seeks to redress that balance. Prepare a large, comfortable crash mat or similar and line your group up a few metres away. Immediately before the mat, have a leader ready to ‘trip up’ young people (obviously this is for show and the young people should know what’s going to happen). One at a time they should ‘run’ (in reality jog or walk) forwards before being tripped up and throwing themselves through the air with the most elaborate dive possible. You should have three leaders as ‘judges’ who should mark each dive out of ten for both creativity and beliveability. The dive with the highest combined mark (out of 60) wins.
The Ludicrously Simple Game: Keepy-Uppies
Actual, genuine keepy-uppies are quite difficult. This game is not.
5 minutes
Get your group into teams of four or five and give each group a balloon. The aim of the game is to keep the balloon off the ground for as long as possible, the twist being that once they’ve initially thrown the balloon into the air, they’re not allowed to touch it again, and can only use the power of their own breath to keep the balloon airborne. Give them a few trial runs before trying it for real. The winners are obviously the team that keeps their balloon in the air the longest.
