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.