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.

Sleeping lions

All the young people lie on the floor and pretend to be asleep. The leaders job is to move around trying to make them smile, laugh or move, without touching them; that would be a bit harsh! If anyone moves, they're out.

I know it's a fairly babyish game, but my young people beg to play it after we've been playing bench ball for ages. Also, my favourite method of making young people giggle is threatening to kiss them; not too professional I guess, but very effective!

Clothes dash/I've never

Stolen from: A Network for Jewish Youth

Everybody sits on chairs in a circle, except for one person, who stands in the middle. The person in the middle shouts out a type of clothes, and everybody wearing that type of clothes has to jump up and switch seats as quickly as possible. The person in the middle also tries to sit down. The person left without a seat at the end has to shout out another type of clothes, and so on.

A variation that works better with older groups is for the person in the middle to start a sentance with "I've never..." and anyone sitting down who has done that thing has to swap seats.

Examples -
I've never been to America.
I've never worn a skirt.
I've never had glasses.
I've never stayed in hospital.

Apparently one of my young people has never eaten cheesecake. Who knew?

Copy cat

Everybody sits in a circle, and one person is chosen to leave the room and stand outside.

Another person is (quietly!) chosen to be the leader. The leader does things like clap their hands or wave their arms, and everybody else has to copy them.

The person who's left the room comes back in and has to try and guess who the leader is. After they've guessed, another person has a go, and so on.

This is my friend

Stolen from: A Network for Jewish Youth

Everybody sits in a circle. Somebody starts up a beat; hitting their knees twice then clapping their hands twice. Everybody joins in and gets used to the beat.

As everybody claps away, the first person says their own name once in time to the beat, in time to the first hand clap. On the second set of claps, they would say someone else's name, who would say their own name again, and then someone else's name, and so on.

Players are "out" if they mess up the rhythm or say names at the wrong time. Obviously, you might want to be more patient with younger players, or people as rhythmically challenged as myself.

Teeth!

Teeth is a great game because you can play it anywhere, you don't need any materials to play and it's bound to make people laugh!

To start with, everyone chooses a vegetable to be their name; odd sounding ones are best. Say them out loud a few times so everyone remembers who's who.

Play goes from player to play by repeating your own vegetable name twice, then another player's vegetable name twice. The other player would then say their vegetable name twice, then the vegetable name of another player, like this.

Artichoke: Artichoke artichoke, sprouts sprouts!
Sprouts: Sprouts sprouts, carrot carrot!
Carrot: Carrot carrot, cucumber cucumber!

... and so on. The game is made difficult (and fun) because players aren't allowed to show their teeth at all, so have to speak with their lips covering their teeth at all times. If someone makes a mistake (not noticing that it's their turn, or forgetting the names of other players left in the game) or shows their teeth at all, the other players put their hands behind their head and flap their elbows about shouting "Teeth! Teeth!" The person would then be out of the game.

Obviously, players aren't allowed to cover or hide their mouth at all, because that wouldn't be as fun.

One spot

Equipment:
One pen, hopefully not permanent. Felt tips are best.
Some kids.

Everybody sits in a circle. The aim of the game is to get the least number of spots on their forehead. They get spots by making mistakes or being too slow.

Players get referred to by the amount of spots on their forehead, eg No Spot, One Spot, Four Spot or 12 Spot. Play goes round in a clockwise direction with players talking to each other with a set dialogue, eg

Player 1: Hi One Spot!
Player 2: Hi No Spot!
Player 1: Tell Three Spots (the player after player 2) that Five Spots (the player before player 1) said hi!

If player 1 or 2 made any mistakes (calling someone the wrong name, being too slow etc) the leader puts a spot on their forehead with pen and play continues with Player 2 starting the dialogue.

Player 2: Hi Three Spot!
Player 3: Hi One spot!
Player 2: Tell Four Spot that No Spot said hi!

6 frogs on a log

Equipment: 7 chairs/pieces of newspaper/cushions
Stolen from: Mick Blaylock

Choose 3 players to be red frogs and 3 players to be blue frogs and decorate them accordingly, if you so wish.

The 3 blue frogs stand on the chairs on the left side and the red frogs stand on the chairs on the right, facing each other. Tell a perky story about how both the frog families try to cross the river at the same time, balancing precariously on a log, and then explain the rules.

Frogs can only move one space forward at a time, unless they're leapfrogging another player onto an empty chair. (Not literally, unless you happen to lead a youth group of Olympic gymnasts.) Frogs cannot move backwards, and can only leapfrog players that are facing towards them. The aim of the game is to get all the frog familes on opposite sides of the log.

Is quite good as a team building game or an up front game.

Cheerio Race

Equipment: 2 bowls of water, 2 bowls of cheerios and 2 empty bowls.
Stolen from: Rob Tidy

Split players into teams. Give each team an empty bowl to (hopefully) fill with Cheerios. Players get the Cheerios into the bowl by taking it in turns to run to the other end of the room, where they dunk their face in water then straight into the bowl of Cheerios, causing the Cheerios to stick to their faces in a highly attractive way. The players then run back to their team, transfer the Cheerios from their face to the bowl, and the next person runs up to have a go.

The winning team is the team that has the most Cheerios in their bowl after everybody has had a go (or two!).

EDIT: I've been told that Rice Krispies work better than Cheerios. Sugar Puffs also work well.

Spoons and extreme spoons

Equipment: Spoons and a pack of cards

All players sit in a circle with all the spoons in the middle. It's important that there's one less spoon than there are players, and one spoon is taken out the pile whenever someone is out.

The aim of the game is to get 4 cards of the same number and to grab a spoon.

The dealer deals out 4 cards to each player, and puts the rest of the cards in a pile facing down next to themselves. The dealer picks up a card from the pile, decides whether they want it, and put either the new card or one of their old cards face down infront of the next player, who then picks up the card and decides whether they want it. Players cannot keep more than 4 cards. When a player has 4 cards with the same number, they grab a spoon from the pile, at which point the rest of the players also start grabbing spoons. The player left without a spoon is out. Spoons is more fun when it's played fast.

Extreme Spoons
As above, except the spoons are scattered around the room, or in another room altogether.

Getting to know each other...

Equipment: Chairs in a circle, pack of cards for alternate version
Stolen from: Jonny Wineberg and Matt at Emerge

Everybody sits in a circle. The leader says something like "Anyone wearing jeans." Anyone wearing jeans would move one place to the right. If someone else is already sitting there, sit on them! Game continues for as long as it remains fun. Examples of things to say could be:
- Girls/Guys
- Anyone wearing trainers
- Anyone wearing red
- Anyone under 15
- Anyone born in December
- Anyone with a piercing etc

Alternate version
Play is the same, but instead of the leader calling something out, they hand out cards then call out the suit. Anyone with the relevant suit moves to the right. Cards are then handed in and handed out again.

Depending on the child protection policy of where you work, and the weight of the leaders involved, leaders may want to sit out of this game.

Spaghetti Castle

Equipment: (Dry!) spaghetti, marshmallows
Stolen from: Matt at Emerge

Get players into teams. Teams must build the tallest tower possible from their spaghetti and marshmallows in a specified amount of time. No other props allowed! Winning team is team with highest tower.

Wotsit face

Equipment: Shaving foam, Wotsits, towels if you're feeling nice.

Get players into teams with one leader in each team. The leader gets shaving foam wiped all over their face and stands a fixed distance away from their team. For a fixed amount of time, the teams try and throw as many Wotsits as possible onto the face of their leader. The winning team is the team with the most Wotsits that stick.

You might want to line the floor with bin bags if you're worried about making a mess.

Bring me a...

Equipment: Nothing
Stolen from: Matt from Emerge and Sue Blaylock

Split the group into two teams. The leader says something like "Bring me a... shoelace" and the teams race each other to bring the leader what she asks for. The winning team is the one who wins the most rounds.

Examples of things to bring might be a watch, a trainer, a smelly sock, a 20p coin, an earring, a leader wearing red, a 3 course meal, or anything else you fancy being brought over.

Ladders

Equipment: Nothing
Stolen from: My old Brownie leader

Kids get into pairs and sit opposite each other in a line. Each pair gets a number. When their number is called, the kids race each other up the line (touching a wall or marker at the end), up the outside (touching another wall or marker at the end) and back to their places. The winning side is the side who wins the most.

Ball in space

Equipment: Ball
Stolen from: Matt at Emerge

Players are split into two teams of even amounts and sit opposite each other. Each player is given a number (So there's a One on Team A and Team B, etc etc). The leader calls a number. The players with this number advance towards the ball. Each player aims to get the ball back to their own side to win. However, as soon as the opponent has picked up the ball the other player can tag them and the point becomes theres. So the aim is to get the ball back to your team without the other player tagging you. More than one number can be called if you want to make it more complicated.

Team move

Equipment: Paper or cushions
Stolen from: Matt at Emerge

Teams start at one end of the room, and have to move the whole team to the other side using only three pieces of paper or cushions. Players are obviously only allowed to stand on the paper/cushions.

Can either be played as a race against another team or as an ice breaker.

Crawling race

Equipment: None
Stolen from: Matt at Emerge

Players are split into teams. All the teams get on their hands and knees in a line and hold onto the ankles of the player infront. Each team has to get to the other side of the room without letting go of anyone's ankles; if they do, make them start again.

Get in order...

Equipment: Chairs or benches
Stolen from: Matt at Emerge, and a Lay Witness team I met a few years ago

If playing with chairs, make sure the chairs are in a circle/line without gaps between them.

Players all stand on their chair or bench and have to get in order of different things without getting off the chairs or bench, causing them to climb around each other. Different things they could get in order of could be:
- height
- date of birth
- colour of the rainbow (what they're wearing)
- shoe size

Can either play as an ice breaker, or in teams as a race.

Floppy sock

Equipment: Young people wearing socks (and ideally trousers rather than skirts!)
Stolen from: Matt at Emerge

The players are split into two teams. Each player takes off one sock and takes the other sock only half off, so it flops around. All the players have hands and feet on the floor and assume the crab position (backs nearest the floor, rather than fronts) and the idea is to get the socks off the other team with your hands and feet but without coming out of the crab position. Once players have lost their floppy sock, they're out the game. Last team standing wins.

Line Games

Stolen from: Matt Smith at Emerge

All these games are played in teams, with all players in each team standing in a line racing against the other.

Game 1
Equipment: Polos, straws

All team members have a straw in their mouths. A polo is passed down the line from person to person using the straws and no hands.

Game 2
Equipment: Balloons or oranges

Teams pass either a balloon or an orange down the line under each others chins without using hands.

Game 3
Equipment: Spoons, balls of string

The spoons are attached to balls of string. The first person in the team has to put the spoon down their top and trousers, next person in team puts the spoon up their trousers and top, the next person puts the spoon down their top and trousers and so on and so on. When it gets to the last person, it needs to come back again!

Sticky Popcorn

Equipment: Nothing
Stolen from: Chelsea

One person is It. They run around trying to tag other players, and when they do, they have to hold hands and carry on trying to tag people. Everybody who is tagged by anyone in the line has to join it. The winner is the last person left when everybody else is in the line.

About

The idea for this blog started with me being useless at thinking of and remembering games and a compulsive need to organise everything I know.

My hopes for this blog is that different youth and children's workers can share the games they use and their experiences of them so that we're not left madly seeking inspiration at the last moment and we don't end up playing Duck Duck Goose every week.

Becoming a contributor

New contributors are wanted and welcome! If you just have a couple of games you want to contribute, email me at vickieanne@hotmail.co.uk with the details and I'll post them on your behalf.

If you want to become a regular contributor, get in touch in the same way and we'll sort it out! All I ask is that games are all tried and tested, you give credit where it's deserved and you label all your posts properly so that it's easier for guests to find their way around the site.

Blind Pictionary

Equipment: Paper, pens
Stolen from: Cheshire Youth Service

The aim of the game is to draw a picture as close to the original picture as possible.

Put the group into two teams, and get them to sit in a line (either on chairs or on the floor) facing the back of the person infront of them; players are only allowed to look forward (blindfold some of them if neccesary!). Draw a simple picture on a piece of paper and show it to the people at the back of the lines; using their fingers, they draw what they saw on the back of the person infront of them. The second person then draws what they felt on their back on the back of the person infront of them until it gets to the front of the line. The person at the front of the line draws what they felt on their back onto paper, and the winning team is the team whose picture is closest to the original.

After each round, move the young people around so they all have a turn at the front and the back of the line.

Bench Ball

Equipment: Netball like ball, two benches or similar at either end of the pitch
Stolen from: My school PE teacher

The aim of the game is to get all of your team onto your bench.

Split the group into two teams (Boys vs girls works well) and appoint one person in each team to be the first person on the bench; they stand on the bench on the opposite end of the pitch from their team.

I usually play using basic netball rules, ie no running with the ball or using your feet. Players try and throw the ball to the person on their bench; if they catch it, the person who threw the ball stands on the bench with them and joins in catching. The winning team is the team that gets all their players on the bench.

I try and be quite strict about not letting people on the bench swap places with people still on the pitch because it gets rid of the tactical parts of the game.

After Eights

Equipment: After Eights (or cheap Tesco version), facial wipes if you're feeling nice
Stolen from: Someone at Penrith Methodist Church

The aim of the game to get the After Eights into your greedy mouth.

Players hold the After Eights between their palms for a while so they get nice and sticky. Players start with the After Eight on their forehead, and have to try to get it into their mouth without using their hands. People usually either try and wriggle it down, or dislodging it by jumping and trying madly to catch it. Because the chocolates are nice and sticky, they tend to leave a satisfying trail of chocolate accross players faces.

You can either take it in turns to have a go, or play it as a competition to see who can do it the quickest.

The Elastic Band Game

Equipment: Big elastic bands
Stolen from: Carl Dodd

The elastic band is wrapped round the player's head, on the tip of their nose. The aim of the game is for them to wriggle the elastic band down to their neck using their facial muscles alone and for the other players to have a laugh at the funny faces they pull in the process.

You can either go round in a circle taking turns, or play it as a competition to see who can do it the fastest.

Circle Ball

Equipment: A football sized ball
Stolen from: Sue Blaylock

The aim of the game is to be one of the last people left standing.

Everybody stands in a circle with their legs spread nearly as wide as they can, touching the feet of the people on either side of them so there's no gaps. People use their hands to try and throw the ball through other people's legs; if the ball goes through your legs, you're out, and the people on either side of you wriggle a bit to close up the gap.

In my experience, the kids who are out tend to busy themselves chasing the ball and throwing it back in when it leaves the circle. Because it's pretty simple, it's a good game to play at the beginning of a session when kids are still arriving because they can join pretty easily.

Complicated Chinese Whispers

Equipment: a pen each, lots of paper (bigger Post It Notes work great)
Stolen from: One of Kat Day's parties.

There's no winner in this game, it's just funny to see the results at the end! Could be used to illustrate how gossip twists the truth or something, in the same way regular Chinese Whispers can.

If there's 8 people in the group, give everyone 8 pieces of paper each; if there's 12 people in the group, give everyone 12 pieces of paper each, etc etc. Everybody starts by numbering their pieces of paper in the corner of each sheet and arranging them in order, one on top of the other. Secrecy is important in this game; group members shouldn't be able to see what other group members are writing or drawing! The game is a lot easier if everybody is sitting roughly in a circle.

Everybody starts by drawing a picture on their first piece of paper; it can be of of anything, detailed or not so detailed. Once everybody has drawn their picture, they keep it on top of the pile and pass their entire wodge of paper round to the person on their left.

Once everybody has a new wodge of paper, they look at the picture on paper #1 and write a description of it on paper#2 using only words, no pictures. Once everyone has done this (you might want to set a 1 or 2min time limit if it's taking a long time), they put paper#1 to the bottom of the pile and keep paper#2 at the top and pass their wodge around to the left again. The next person (without cheating and looking at anything at the bottom of the pile!) uses the written description to draw a picture of what it describes, the next person writes a description of the new picture etc etc until the wodges get round to their original owner. Then they can look at how their original picture has been interpreted and twisted by everyone else and have a good laugh.

Make sure people know it's not a competition to keep it as accurate as possible, it's just supposed to be fun! I've tried this game with 11-14s and they lost interest pretty quickly, but older youth and young adults usually really enjoy it.

1 - 100

Equipment: Paper, pen, dice
Stolen from: Gavin and Francesca

The aim of the game is to be the first person to write all the numbers 1-100.

Everybody starts with one piece of paper, sitting roughly in a circle, with a pen in the centre of the table or floor. The dice is passed round clockwise, and people take it in turns to throw it. If someone gets a six, everybody passes their paper round one person to the left and the person who threw the six grabs the pen and starts writing the numbers 1-100 on their new piece of paper, saying the numbers out loud as they write them (It makes the game a little more urgent for the other players!).

The other people in the group carry on as before, passing the dice around clockwise (skipping the person writing) and trying to get a six. When someone else throws a six, everybody once again passes their paper to the person on their left and and the person who threw the six grabs the pen and starts writing numbers on their new bit of paper; if there's already numbers written on it, they carry on where the last person left off. The first person to get to 100 wins the game.