The sitting game

Everybody stands in a tight circle then turns to the side, so everybody is facing the same direction. At the same time, everybody tries to sit down on the knees of the person behind them. It's possible but usually takes a few attempts, especially if your group members are as clumsy as myself.

Giants, elves and wizards

Stolen from: A Network for Jewish Youth

The idea is based on rock, paper scissors but played in teams. Giants beat wizards, wizards beat elves and elves beat giants. Each team goes to their side of the room and chooses what they're going to play, then both teams come to the centre of the room and stand in lines facing each other.

Everybody shouts "Giants, elves, wizards!" and does the appropriate action for each one. For giants, you stand on your tip toes and put your hands in the air. For elves, you crouch down and use your hands as pretend pointy ears. For wizards, point your arm forward as if it's a wand. Each team then shouts out their chosen fantasy creature and does the appropriate action.

The winning team then has to chase the losers back to their side of the room; anyone they catch becomes part of the winning team. If the teams do the same action, they hug then start again.

I played a similar game in the Philippines, but instead of giants, elves and wizards it was called Bunny, hunter, wall. If you have a particular theme for the night, change the game to fit in with it.

Buzz and Fizz

Stolen from: A Network for Jewish Youth

Everybody sits or stands in a circle. Going clockwise, everybody takes it in turn to say a number, starting from one. When they get to a multiple of 5, they have to say "fizz" instead. When they get to a multiple of 7, they say "buzz" instead. If players make a mistake they're out.

To make it even more complicated, try changing direction whenever people say buzz or fizz. And if you manage to get to a number that's a multiple of both 5 and 7, shout "Shizzle!" and make everybody run round the room or something.

Pass the squeeze

Stolen from: A Network for Jewish Youth

Everybody stands in a circle holding hands, except for one person who stands in the middle. The leader starts by "passing a squeeze" round the circle. The person in the middle has to guess where the squeeze is in three goes.

To make the game more complicated, have several squeezes on the go at once.

Guess a minute

Stolen from: A Network for Jewish Youth

Everybody stands with their hands behind their backs, facing away from any clocks. The leader says when to start, and then the players have count to 60 in their heads and sit down when they think a minute has passed. The person who is the closest wins.

Head and catch

Stolen from: A Network for Jewish Youth

Players stand in a circle with a leader in the middle. The leader throws the ball towards a young person and says either "catch" or "head." If the leader says "catch" they have to head the ball and if the leader says "head" they have to catch the ball. If anybody does it wrong they're out.

If you want to make it more difficult, tell the players to run round the circle after every go; it breaks their concentration.

I love you baby, but I just can't smile.

Everybody sits down. One person is chosen to be "it." They have to approach other players and say "I love you, baby" and they have to respond with "I love you baby, but I just can't smile." If they smile while replying, they lose and become it. If they manage to keep a straight face, "it" has to move onto new prey. "It" isn't allowed to touch anyone, but anything else is fair game.

I've played this as an up front game before; some young people sat at the front and one of the more dramatic leaders had to try and make them smile. It works well as long as the audience can see their faces.