Animal Snap
Several packs of animal snap type picture cards - Make sure you have
the same number of each animal card
Distribute these cards one to each person but tell them not to look
at the picture. On the command go they must look at their card and by making
the noise of that animal they must find all the other people in the hall
with that card. A very noisy game ideal as an ice breaker at mixed parties.
Don't forget to get your cards back afterwards.
Balloon Baseball
From: Jim Speirs
• Balloons
• Markers for bases
Players are divided into two teams. Each team designates a pitcher
who pitches to his own team. Each batter gets two pitches to hit a balloon
with his fist. If the balloon is hit, the fielding team tries to blow the
balloon to the ground before the batter runs around the bases. If they
do not, a run is scored. Play continues until everyone on the batting team
has been 'up to bat'. Then the inning is over and teams switch places.
The game continues for a specified number of innings.
Blackout Musical Chairs
From: Dan
Mott
• 1 Tape recorder and
music
• 1 chair per player
New twist to musical chairs. arrange the chairs in a circle facing
outward with the players forming a circle around the outside of the chairs.
The players must keep theirs hands behind their backs. The catch is that
when the music is on, the lights are out, and when the music is off the
lights are on, otherwise; it is played like musical chairs. Can also divide
the group into two, one going clockwise and the other going counterclockwise.
Blind Volleyball
From: Dan
Mott
• 1 blanket
• 1 volleyball or beachball
• 1 rope
Have a blanket hung over a volleyball net or rope forming a solid divider.
The players must sit on the floor or on chairs. Have the divider low enough
so that they can't see under it. Play as in regular volleyball but use
something like a big, light, plastic bag, balloon, or beach ball.
Boat or Car Race
• A toy boat or car connected
to a long length of string on a roller per team
This is an oldie but very good when you have a large group to keep
amused and interested. You will need four toy boats or cars. These are
attached to long lengths of twine which are wound around pieces of dowel
or broom handle. Rotating the dowel winds on the twine and drags the toy
car or boat along the floor. Split the group into two teams and sit each
team on opposite sides of the hall. Choose the biggest person from each
team, explaining to the children, that these people are going to try and
win points for their team. My boats are red, blue, green and yellow. The
first race we use the red and the blue boat. One team is told to shout
for the red and the other team to shout for the blue. After the first race
I change the boats for the other two boats. I tell the children that this
is to ensure that there was no advantage, as perhaps the boats could have
been different weights. I then run the new boats out and we have another
race. The children get very excited during this game, but you have complete
control. You only have to direct the two children running the boats. The
rest of the children are sitting at the sides cheering their boat in.
Bomball
From: Derek Biddle
• One or two Soft foam balls at least 8 inches diameter
Don't know the origin, but it is a firm favourite with Beavers, Cubs and Scouts in several Groups I have worked with.
Leaders (or older scouts) take balls, throwing them to hit the 'victims' who must sit down if hit. Throwers are not allowed to move once they are holding a ball.
If any victim already sitting is hit again, they shout ALL UP, and the throwers have to start again. When a number of victims have already sat down, having two balls is not the advantage it might seem.
Clothes-peg Pegging
• 2 Lengths of rope or
clothes line
• Coloured plastic clothes
pegs
Have two small groups at the front. This time they have to peg clothes
pegs on a length of line. The rest of the kids cheers their team on. Two
people on each team hold an end of the line the third person dashes to
pick up the pegs and put them on the line. You can make it more difficult
by using coloured plastic pegs and getting them to peg them on in a certain
order. The team with the most pegs on correctly in a given time are the
winners points are deducted for every peg that is wrong.
Coloured Circles
• 5 different coloured
pieces of chalk, Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and Brown.
Split the troup or pack into equal teams and get them to number themselves
off in their teams. Then draw a number of coloured circles on the floor,
several of each colour. The leader now calls out an object and a number
e.g. "GRASS 2", the number two in each team now has to run and stand in
a circle that matches the colour of the object. The first person standing
in the correct coloured circle wins a point for his team.
Suggestions:
Red: Blood, Cherries, Ruby
Blue: Violet, Sapphire,
Electric
Green: Grass, Emerald, Cucumber
Yellow: Lemon, Primrose,Sulphur
Brown: Earth, Potato, Leather
Please remember that some lads may have trouble with colours and so
you may have to point out which circles are which.
Crocker
• 2 Stumps a yard apart
for the wicket
• 1 Stump for the bowler
8 yards in front of the wicket
• 1 Stump 7 yards to
the left of the wicket to run round
• 1 Large ball such as
a football
• 1 Baseball bat or rounders
bat
The ball must be bowled under arm from the bowlers stump. The batsman
must run round the running round stump, every time he hits the ball in
front of the wicket. The bowler can bowl as soon as the ball is returned
to him. The batsman is out if the ball passes between the wicket stumps,
it hits his legs twice (leg before wicket) or if he is caught out, in front
of or behind the wicket. To speed the game up, you could make the whole
team out if someone is caught out.
Eating Race
From: Jack W. Weinmann
• Two double crackers
per player
Give each boy two double crackers. The boy who can eat them all and
whistle, or blow up a balloon wins.
Farmyard Frolics
'Games Galore', BSC publication
• Pieces of paper with
sets of different birds and animal names
Each boy is handed a slip of paper bearing the name of a domestic animal
or bird. On the signal to start, each begins to act the creature in dumb
show, at the same time looking out for others of the same species. When
three or more have been collected, they may begin to give voice. The first
herd, covey or flock in full chorus is declared the winner.
Find the Bell
'Games Galore', BSC publication
• 1 small bell that rings
easily.
Have the group sit in a circle. Choose one person to sit in the centre
of the circle. The leader gives the bell to one of the players, who begins
to pass it around the circle. The object of the game is to pass the bell
quietly so that the person in the middle cannot guess who is holding the
bell. Players may not silence the bell by holding the clapper - they have
to try to pass it carefully enough so that it does not ring.
First Person To Me
This game can be used with large numbers of children. It keeps them
interested and can play for as long as you have questions. The object of
the game is for a child to bring you an item that you ask for. The first
child to you with that item gets the prize. Listed below are some examples.
Floating Bomb
'Games Galore', BSC publication
• Feather or balloon
Chalk
Each six defends a quarter of the room and a feather is released at
the centre by Akela. The Cubs have to blow to keep the feather or balloon
in the air, but if it lands in their portion they have been hit.
French Cricket
• 1 Cricket bat or baseball
bat
• 1 Tennis ball
All players form a circle and the batsman stands in the centre of the
circle facing the player who has the ball first. The player with the ball
can bowl under arm at the batsmans legs or pass the ball to another player
around the circle to bowl. The object of the game is to hit the batsmans
legs. The batsman must stay facing the man who first had the ball, but
he is allowed to move the bat around him to protect his legs. When the
batsmans legs are hit, he swaps places with the player who bowled the ball.
Hockey
• 6 hockey sticks and
a block of sponge rubber as the puck
The troop is split into two teams, and each team numbers off from 1
to 15, or however many scouts there are. One hockey stick is placed in
each goal mouth, the other four are placed, two each side of the centre
line. Instead of a ball, we use a small sponge rubber block. A kitchen
scourer pad is about the right size. We have found that it is better than
a ball for indoor use, it doesn't roll too far and doesn't cause any damage.
This is placed in the centre at the start of each game. No sticks may be
raised above ankle height during play to reduce accidents, any player doing
so has committed a foul. The scout leader calls out three numbers, eg.
1,2 and 3. The first number called is the goalkeeper. The second number
is the defender, and the third number called is the attacker. The scouts
from each team with those numbers, run and pick up their sticks and try
to get the sponge into the opposite teams goal.
The goal keepers are not allowed out of their goal areas, but they
are allowed to pick up the sponge or kick the ball. Any scouts committing
a foul of any sort, have to spend 30 seconds in the Sin bin. The game continues
until a goal is scored. The sticks and the sponge puck, are then replaced
in their starting positions, and three new numbers are called. We continue
playing, until each scout has played in all three positions. We also play
another version of this game using only four sticks. In this game we have
rush goalies, where the goalie can come out of his area. This version is
also a very fast game. When we play this version we usually put one of
the leaders on each team. Every so often we call out the leaders number,
as either the goal keeper or the attacker. We therefore have a leader and
a scout on each side.
Islands
• 4 Skittles or bean
bags (different colours)
• 4 Beads or balls (same
colour as skittles)
• 1 Small cloth bag to
keep the balls in
• 1 Whistle or other
noise maker, I use a siren whistle
This is a variation on musical chairs, but the kids will not realize
this the way that it is played. Place the four coloured skittles at the
four corners of your playing area. Tell the lads that these are islands.
When you say "GO" they must run around the outside of the four islands
in a clockwise direction, when you shout "CHANGE DIRECTION" they must run
the other way round. When you blow the whistle, they must go and stand
next to one of the islands. You do this a couple of times with no forfeits
and nobody out, then you introduce the bag with the coloured beads. You
reach into the bag and take one out, all the boys standing next to that
colour has to do ten press-ups. You then sort them all running again. This
time all the lads who land on the colour you pick out of the bag are out
and have to sit in the middle (This keeps them out of the way). You then
take away that skittle and it's matching coloured ball. The next time round
all the lads on the chosen colour have to do a hand stand. The next time
all the lads on the selected colour are out and sit in the middle. You
again remove the selected skittle and it's matching coloured ball. So you
are down to two skittles. By this time most of the boys will be out and
you just keep playing with the two skittles until you get to a final winning
boy.
Mug Race
• Mug per team member
• 2 dixies per team
Fill one dixie with water and place the dixies at either side of the
hall. Distribute a mug to each person. The team must transfer the water
from one dixie to the other passing the water from one mug to the next.
Could be marked in several ways: Time to move fixed amount of water with
penalty for water dropped, or volume of water moved in fixed time.
Refinement:
Thread mug handles through a string and place objects such as chairs
or if at camp around trees. This creates some bottlenecks which the team
must learn to limit.
Refinement:
Give smaller mugs to people at the end of the line. Team must learn
not to overfill mugs.
No Bowler Cricket
• 1 Cricket bat or baseball
bat
• 1 Tennis ball
Set up as for any other cricket type of game, but in this variant there
is no bowler. In this version the batsman has to balance the ball on his
bat, flip the ball in the air and then hit it. The batsman must run if
he hits the ball or not. Any fielding team player can stump the batsman
if he is not at his wicket or catch him out. The batsman may also be out
if he drops the ball onto his own wicket. When a batsman is out a new batsman,
if one is available takes his place. When all batsmen are out then teams
change over from fielders to batters.
Pass The Parcel (Updated)
• 1 Timer or alarm clock
with a loud ring
• 1 Small Box (to put
clock in)
Pass the parcel is a bit old hat but the lads will enjoy this updated
version. A timing device with a loud alarm connected to it is passed in
a box around the circle. The person holding the box when the alarm goes
off is either out or has to do a forfeit. There was a toy put out on the
market several years ago that did just this. It had some name such as 'Time
Bomb' or 'Grenade' you may have seen it.
Richmond Hill Hand Ball
From: Jim Speirs
• 1 Soccer or volleyball.
Divide the group into two equal teams. Find a suitable playing field
about the size of a soccer field, with an area to be used as an end zone.
The play starts with a jump ball. The object is to move the ball down
the field to score points. Players throw the ball to their teammates, or
run with the ball. Players may not take more than five steps while carrying
the ball. If they do, the ball is handed to the other team, who throws
it in from the sidelines.
Points are scored when the ball is thrown to a teammate in the opposing
team's end zone, and caught. The ball must be thrown from outside the end
zone into the end zone and caught by a teammate. If the ball is missed
or dropped, the opposing team gets a chance to move it out of their end
zone. One point is scored for each catch.
The team with the most points after a given amount of time is declared
the winner.
Sixteen Point Compass Game
'Games Galore', BSC publication
• Sixteen cards with
compass points marked
A circle is marked on the floor and sixteen cards are prepared each
giving one of the sixteen compass points. These cards are placed face down
on a table. Each of the sixteen players takes one of the cards at random.
The umpire finds the player who has picked up the North card and places
him anywhere on the circle. On the words, "This is North - Fall in," the
others take up their appropriate places in the circle. After the players
have become thoroughly proficient the umpire should take any player (say
ESE) place him anywhere in the circle and say. "This is ESE-Fall in."
Sound Effects
• 1 tape player
• 1 tape with sounds
that you have recorded
This is another game that is good at the start of a show if not all
the children have arrived. Borrow some sound effects records from your
local library. The BBC do quite a large selection of these records. They
are used by drama clubs and film makers. Record different sounds onto a
tape leaving short breaks between each sound. Put in some easy ones such
as a dog barking and chickens clucking, but put in some hard ones as well,
such as submarine asdic noises and music boxes. Tell the children, that
you are going to play them sounds from the television and the cinema. The
first person with their hand up, will get the prize if they can say what
the sound is. Tell them not to put their hand up until they are certain
what the sound is. This game can be played by any age group. A variation
on this is to use the first few notes of popular songs.
Stop
• 2 Large sets of cards,
four cards in each set and the letters on the cards spell S T O P.
You get up eight people and stand four on each side of you facing the
audience. Give each team member one of the cards from their set of STOP
cards. To start with they should spell out STOP as viewed from the audience.
The idea is that they have to rearrange themselves to spell out the word
that you tell them. The first team to finish each word are the winners.
The words you can have are STOP, TOPS, POST and SPOT. There is lots of
room for fun here, try telling them to spell a word they are already lined
up spelling and see what happens.
The Limbo
• 1 Tape recorder with
recorded music
• 1 Dowel, flat on 1
side, to act as a bar
• 2 Large clothes pegs
or bulldog clips to balance the bar on
• 2 Upright stands
These can be made from two pieces of dowel about one and a half metres
high with a flat wooden base to make them stand upright. Place the two
stands about four feet apart. Put one of the clothes pegs on each stand
at about four feet from the ground. Balance the bar on the clothes pegs.
If one clothes peg falls off then use two clothes pegs per stand. Mark
out the hall with four chairs and tell the players that they must walk
around the outside of all the chairs. This prevents them bunching up, you
only want one person at a time going under the bar. To begin you get all
the players to stand in a single line at one side of the hall. You show
them how to go under the bar, they must lean backwards and bend their knees
to get under the bar. They must not touch the floor with their hands and
they must not knock the bar off, anyone who does so is out. When everyone
has been under the bar once it is lowered down a few inches and the process
repeated Prizes are give to those who can get under the bar at the lowest
setting. Ideal for all ages, girls or boys and can be played with any number.
All you have to do is play the music and keep lowering the bar as they
go around.
Three Ball Throw
'Games Galore', BSC publication
• 3 tennis balls
• 1 box or bucket
Divide the Cubs into two teams. One team bats and the other fields.
The first batter goes to the box and throws the three balls away. He then
scores "runs" over a marked course while the three balls are being returned
to the box. The whole team has a bat, and the total runs are counted. Teams
then change over, the second trying to beat the first's number of runs.
Two Ball Hockey Game
• 2 Hockey sticks
• 2 Balls or sponge pucks
• 4 Chairs
• 6 Skittles or liquid
dishwashing soap squeeze bottles.
Two equal sized numbered teams on each side of the hall. Two chairs
each end for a goal, with a hockey stick and puck in each goal mouth. A
line of skittles between each goal mouth. When a number is called, the
two scouts with that number race to their goal mouth, pick up the stick
and then dribble the puck between the skittles slalom fashion until they
reach the end of the line where they can shoot at the opposing teams goal.
The
Games Compendium
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