FUN GAMES

GAMES WITH LITTLE OR NO EQUIPMENT

These types of games can be ideal for a warm up. The warm up is an essential part of a safe activity session. It helps to prevent injury and acts as a pulse raiser to gradually prepare the body for action.

Domes and Dishes

Equipment - Cones for grid One cone per child

How to Play A mark out a large grid

Split the group into two - “Domes” and “Dishes”.

“Domes” place their cone on the ground the right way up and the “Dishes” place their cone upside down.

In one minute, the “Dishes” have to turn as many cones as possible upside down and the “Domes” have to turn as many as possible the right way up.

At the end of one minute, count which team has won. Repeat again.

General Points Try to make sure all the children keep moving around and not just stay around

one or two cones.

Remind the children to look where they are running - to avoid head collisions.

It is useful to use different coloured cones than the ones that form the grid.

To collect the cones back in, ask the children to pick up as many cones as they can and award a point to the team with the most.

Scarecrow Tag/Stuck in the Mud

Equipment – None

How to Play Choose one or two children (depending on the size of the group) to be taggers.

The rest of the group spread out in the hall/field.

The tagger(s) chase the other children around and tag them.

Once tagged the children have to stand with arms out to the side (like a scarecrow).

To be set free, children must run under the ‘scarecrow’s’ arms.

Repeat the game with different taggers.

General Points Decide beforehand which way the children should run under the scarecrow’s

arms - to avoid head collisions.

This game can be played with different equipment to make it more sports specific, e.g. with a rugby ball, taggers must tag children holding ball with both hands around the waist.

Marker Cones can be used for grid. The cones can also be used to keep children away from obstacles by introducing a rule that if they step outside they will be penalised i.e. they have automatically been tug!

HOOP GAMES

Hoop games are a fun and safe piece of equipment for younger children to use. They are ideal for defining specific targets/areas within games and come in different sizes and colours.

Car Hoop

Equipment - Cones for grid- One hoop for each child

How to Play Each child holds a hoop around their waist and pretends they are in a car.

They run around the hall/field and the leader then calls out the instructions:

‘Green’ - Means go and the children continue moving‘Red’ - Means stop‘Amber’ - Means get ready to go so children jog on the spot‘Roundabout’ - Means hula the hoop around the waist and continue

moving‘Police Car’ - Means step to the left (to let the police car pass) and then

continue movingGeneral Points When the game has finished ask the children to park their ‘cars’ in the garage

which will result in the hoops being safely out of the way for the next activity.

Hoop Colours

Equipment - Cones for grid- Assortment of coloured hoops

How to Play

The leader places some hoops in a range of colours on the floor.

The children move around the hoops skipping or jogging slowly.

When a colour is called out, the children run and stand in a hoop of that colour.

General Points Two colours can be called at a time to encourage decision making.

Also the number of children allowed in a hoop can be included e.g. “Green with three”. Be careful that the children don’t push each other out of the hoops.

BALL GAMES

Ball games are easy to use with younger children as they help develop throwing, catching and rolling skills. All the games are easy to set up and promote teamwork.

Target Ball

Equipment - Cones for gridLarge ball or balloonA number of small balls

How to Play Divide the group into two and stand the teams at opposite ends of the grid.

Place a large ball in the middle.

Each child has a small ball and on the signal “go” they have to throw their ball at the large ball in the middle.

The idea is to make the large ball to cross the other teams line.

Children can throw as many small balls as they can (i.e. they collect the balls that the other team has thrown).

General Points A balloon can be used instead of a large ball. It will travel slower in the air and

thus prolong the game.

For safety reasons, if the large ball rolls out of the grid place it back in to stop the children throwing the balls out of the grid.

Rollerball

Equipment - Cones for gridAn assortment of different sized balls.

How to Play The leader places a number of balls within the grid. Children space out in the

grid.

On the signal “go” the children must touch the balls to start them rolling.

The aim of the game is to keep all balls in the grid rolling.

General Points

Children must try to touch all the balls in the grid and not stay with one.

Balls which roll out of the grid should quickly be rolled back in.

Ensure children look where they are going to avoid collisions!

PARACHUTE GAMES

Parachute games are easily led group activities which allow mass participation and can be developed as far as your imagination will allow. They are enormous fun for younger children as it is a very different piece of equipment to use.

Parachute games can be used to develop group activity, allow the leader to maintain close control of the group and are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.

Mushroom

Equipment - One parachute

How to Play The group stands evenly round the chute. The children squat down and hold

the parachute on the ground.

On the command ‘Mushroom’ all the children stand and raise their arms simultaneously into the air so that the chute makes a mushroom shape.

When the chute reaches it’s highest point, the command ‘Go’ is given, the children then release the chute at the same time.

Make a Tent

Equipment - One parachute

How to Play The group stands evenly around the chute. The children squat down and hold

the parachute on the ground.

On the command ‘Mushroom’ all the children stand and raise their arms simultaneously into the air so that the chute makes a mushroom shape.

As the chute goes up, the players take two paces inwards, lower the chute behind their backs and sit down so that their bottoms are on the parachute and everyone is sitting inside.

General Points

Make sure the children hold on to the chute as they sit down on it.

RELAYS

Relays are a good way of keeping a large number of children active in a restricted area. Relays are also useful for encouraging children to support team members by developing co-operation skills.

Chain Relay

Equipment - Cones

How to Play The leader divides the group into equal teams.

The first child in each team runs up to a cone on the floor and back again.

When they reach the front of the line, they turn around, bend over and pass one hand between their legs and the next person grabs it.

The two of them race down to the cone and back again, pick up the third person, and so on.

General Points Children should be encouraged to co-operate with the rest of their team. Foster

children should not drag the slower children along!

Points could be awarded for teams who don’t break the chain.

Co-operation Relay

Equipment - One large sponge ball per team

How to Play The leader divides the group into equal teams.

Standing one behind the other, about a yard apart, the ball is given to the child at the front.

They then pass the ball to the second over their head, who passes it under their legs to the third and so on until the last child receives it.

They run to the front of the team and repeat until the first child is back at the front or when the team crosses a certain line.

COOL DOWN

A cool down is just as important as a warm up as it prepares the body to stop exercising and helps prevent stiffness.

The cool down games in this section are appropriate for younger children as, whilst they are fun, they act as a calming exercise so the children are not left on an exercise high when they return to school classes - which is thankful for teachers!

Wink Murder

Equipment - None

How to Play All the children sit down in a big circle.

One child is picked to be the ‘detective’ and is sent away so they cannot hear the rest of the group.

The leader picks one child to be the ‘Murderer’. The detective then comes back to stand in the middle of the circle.

The ‘Murderer’ must wink or blink at someone in the circle who then screams and pretends to die by lying down.

The ‘detective’ has three guesses to determine who the ‘Murderer’ is.

General Points Ensure the children do not all look directly at the ‘Murderer’ for the wink, as

this will be obvious to the ‘detective’.

Play again with different ‘Murderers’ and ‘Detectives’.

Band Leader

Equipment - None

How to Play All the children sit down in a big circle.

One child is picked as the ‘guesser’ who is sent away so they cannot hear the rest of the group.

The leader picks one child to be the ‘band leader’ who starts performing movements’ e.g. clapping, tapping hand on face, playing the trumpet etc.

The ‘guesser’ returns and stands in the middle of the group and has three guesses to determine the bandleader.

General Points Ensure the children do not all look directly at the ‘band leader’ as this will be

obvious to the ‘guesser’.