D
Equipment: rope
Tie the rope to a tree. One person should be chosen to be the bear. They should hold the rope in one hand. The rest of the players need to run around in touching distance. With their free hand, the bear tries to touch the other players. If touched, the player would hold hands with the bear and help catch people.
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Dancing Statues (active)Equipment: Yogurt cups (or something else, be creative)
Each player is given an empty yogurt cup and they put it on their head. All of the players must start dancing. Whoever keeps the cup on their head the longest, wins.
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Dho-Dho-Dho (active)You need a soft area that is divided into 2 equal parts with a centerline. The players should be in two teams on either side of the centerline leaving a no-mans land in between them. One team chooses a player to go across the line, tag one or more players on the other side, and return safely home. Clearly that could require agility-but breath control? That's where the "dho-dho-dho" comes in. Before crossing the center line, the player who is IT takes a deep breath. Not only must he complete his mission in one breath, but he must use that breath to repeat aloud in a steady flow, "Dho-Dho-Dho-Dho-Dho...." If members of the opposite team can catch and hold him in their territory until they run out of breath, they've acquired a new team member. If he makes it back across the line with any part of their body, even a fingertip, all those he has tagged join their team.
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Dice Count (circle/moderate)Equipment: 1 die, a pair of oven mitts, a chocolate bar or other wrapped up treat, and a hat.
A chocolate bar is wrapped up in 5-6 layers of paper and placed in front of one of the players who are sitting in a circle. The person directly to the left of the person who has the chocolate bar starts rolling the die while the person with the chocolate bar starts to put on the hat and oven mitts. Once the oven mitts and hat are on the player starts to unwrap the chocolate bar. The unwrapping continues until the roller rolls a 6. When that happens, everything is passed to the left, and a new person starts to roll the die, and the old roller starts to put on the mitts and hat. The game continues until the chocolate bar is eaten.
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Dodge Ball (active/circle)Divide the group evenly into two teams. Team A forms a circle around team B. Team A is given a large rubber ball. At signal team A players throw ball at team B, attempting to hit them below the waist. Team B players may avoid being hit by moving or running aside or ducking. A player must leave the circle when hit OR a player who is hit may join team A. Leader may time the eliminating process to determine which team eliminated its opponents fastest
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This requires a long wall or side of a house and a big rubber or kick ball. Everyone lines up and one person throws the ball at the wall in an attempt to hit a part of someones body. If they do, then that person is it and must now throw the ball. The object is not to throw the ball hard, but accurately in order to catch someone trying to dodge the ball. Contributed by: Laura J. Rhinehart
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Kids would form two teams. One team would form two lines facing each other. They had playground balls for ammunition (two balls was the norm.) The other team would scatter about between the lines of the first team. The first team would then throw balls at team two. If a member of team two was hit below the shoulders, s/he was out and had to stand aside. If a player on team two caught the ball in the air (not after a bounce), s/he received a free "life" (ie-if s/he is hit again, s/he has used up a "life" and is not out.) A player may not receive more than three "lives." The fourth, fifth, etc. time a player catches the ball, s/he may bring players who were out, back into the game by calling a name. If and when all players of team two are out, the teams switch places.
VARIATION: If a player on the opposite team catches a ball you threw before it bounced, the thrower is 'out' Contributed by Sarah Buhman
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We played Dodgeball in a circle (the circles were actually painted onto the blacktop on the playground). However many kids wanted to play, were divided up into 2 teams. One team was inside the circle and the other half spread out around the outside. We used a red rubber playground ball (about 14 inches in diameter) and threw it at the players inside the circle. The kids inside were allowed to run around where ever they wanted, but could not go out. We could only throw the ball to hit the kids inside below the waist. If a ball was thrown and hit someone above the waist, the thrower had to stop playing. If a kid in the center was hit, they became one of the players outside the circle. The game was over when only one person was left inside the circle. Contributed by Cherie Robinson
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An indoor variation on the dodgeball theme. You form a circle and choose a person to start. That person tosses a ball (preferably a soft one, like Nerf) to someone across the room. If you catch it, you toss it to someone else. If you drop it, you sit down. Last person standing is the winner. It's a good rainy day game and nobody gets hurt, and hopefully nothing gets broken. :) Contributed By Jennifer Smith
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Variation 1: Setup: You need a large open space and at least enough soft-medium hard balls to have one team have enough balls to have one per player. You can have a lot more, or a lot less. You divide into equal teams. Playing area: Mark a large rectangle with a line through the middle. Rules: You throw the ball trying to hit one of the members of the other team. If they catch the ball, the person is out. If the ball hits a person in the head, the person is out who threw it. That all happens before the ball bounces. If the team with a person out hits a member of the other team, all their members are in again. If it bounces, the ball does not follow any of the above rules.
Variation 2: The only change of rules is that the team with the person out must hit the player of the other team to get the team member in. Contributed by Tom Bowersox
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You divide up in two teams. Drag a garden hose or other similar divider between the yard. The teams each go to their own side, and may not cross the divider. Gather as many balls as possible and split them up between the two teams to start. You throw a ball at the other team, if you hit them below the head, they are out. If they catch the ball, you are out. The last person in is the winner. Contributed by Kari Busch
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Frisbee War: This was Dodgeball played with Frisbees instead of balls. Usually there were two teams and a boundary that you had to stay inside of. We usually had a few Frisbees, 2, 3 or 4, depending on how many kids were playing (sometimes up to 15 or 20 at a time). We always played that if you caught someone's thrown Frisbee then the thrower was out. You played until one person or team remained. Contributed by Brian Litteral
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A NAME="Donkey_Dodgeball"> Donkey Dodgeball (circle/active)Equipment: ball
This game is played with the same objectives as in all dodgeball games. In this game a circle is formed and 4 people are chosen to go into the middle. The 4 people hold on to each other at the waist, forming a chain. The front and middle protect the back of the donkey by using their bodies as a block. The players who form the circle try to hit the back end of the donkey, below the waist with the ball. If someone does hit the last person of the donkey, then the thrower will join the front of the donkey and the person who was hit, joins the circle.
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Do This, Do That (active)see simon says
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Dracula (active)One player is chosen (secretly) by the leader to be dracula. When the game starts, everyone starts to mingle with their eyes closed. (Make sure that their are people watching to make sure no one gets hurt.) Dracula keeps their eyes open. Dracula picks their victim, goes up to them and screams. This caught person, opens their eyes and becomes a Dracula as well. The game continues and the Draculas move around together. The game is over when all of the Draculas surround the last human. Watch the ears!
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Duck Duck Goose or Drip Drip Drop (active/circle)The children form a small circle and all sit down. One person is it and he walks around the outside of the circle, touching the other children's heads saying "duck, duck, duck," and when he comes to the person whom he wants to chase him, he calls "goose". The goose chases the it around the circle and the one who reaches the space first sits down and the other one is it.
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Ducks that Fly (active)When the leader says, "Ducks fly", and flaps his/her arms, all the players must flap their arms. The leader goes on to say, "Cats Meow", with appropriate sounds or gestures, which must be imitated as above. He/she may continue, "hens cluck", "horses trot", and so on with appropriate gestures and sounds. When he/she chooses, he/she may substitute a false statement and motion, such as, "cows bark", "elephants fly", and so on. If the player imitates the false motion, he/she is penalized. If any player makes a false motion or sound at any time, he/she's out (can be given three chances).
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Drop the Handkerchief (active/circle)The players form a circle. One player is chosen to be IT. He walks around outside the circle with a handkerchief in his hand. He drops it quietly behind one player and keeps walking trying to get around the circle before the player discovers the handkerchief. If IT gets all the way around the player becomes a dead fish and stands in the middle of the circle. If the player discovers it he chases IT and catches him, they are not IT. If he doesn't catch IT, he becomes IT. A dead fish can rescue himself in two ways. He may snatch the handkerchief from behind some other player before that player sees it, or a player behind whom the handkerchief has been dropped may toss it into the circle behind a dead fish. The dead fish then picks up the handkerchief and chases IT.
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E
Participants split up into as many teams as you want or feel are necessary. The entire tournament site (including play, rest, food, and sanitation areas) is divided into a like number of parts. The boundaries should be clearly described but not marked. Each team is given one portion of the field.
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The Electric Fence (cooperative)Equipment: Sturdy 8' pole, "wire"
Object:To transport a group over an "electrified" wire or fence using only themselves and a conductive beam.
Rules: If a participant touches the fence (rope) he is "dead" and must attempt the crossing again. Any person touching the individual as he touches the wire must also return for another crossing. If the conductive beam touches the wire all those in contact with that beam are dead and must attempt another crossing. An electric field extends from the wire to the ground and cannot be penetrated. The trees or other supports which hold up the "wire" cannot be safely touched and so cannot be of assistance in the problem.
Caution: Be careful not to let the more enthusiastic people literally throw other participants 7'- 8' in the air over the rope.
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Electricity (circle/passive)The group sits in a circle holding hands while someone sits in the center. The game commences with one person proclaiming that they are going to send a charge to the person beside them and proceeds to squeeze the hand of their neighbor. The person in the middle tries to figure out where the current is. If successful, he exchanges places with the immediate sender of the charge.
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Elephant ball (moderate/circle)All the players are in a circle with their legs spread apart and their feet touching the next person's feet. The ball must be punched around the circle until it goes through someone's legs. That person is then out. This continues until there is one person left, who would be the winner.
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Elephant, Giraffe, Palm Tree (active/circle)Form a circle with one person in the middle. The middle person will point to an individual and the person pointed to along with the persons on each side will have to form what was called out. ELEPHANT - Middle person (one pointed to) will form an elephant trunk by putting arms straight in front of you crossed at the wrists. Persons on each side will form the ears of the elephant by bending toward middle person, cupping around the mouth with hands as if whispering to the middle person. GIRAFFE- Person pointed to raise arms above head, arms extended fingers closed. Side people will grab middle ones waist bending over. PALM TREE- Middle person raise arms above head in "Y" formation, fingers open. Side people do the same but lean toward outside, away from the middle person. The object of the game is to try to keep changing all the time. The game has to be played quickly. As soon as an object is formed, the person in the middle of the circle has to point to someone else.
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Elves, Giants, Wizards (active)This game is based on the same concept as rock, paper, and scissors. In this game; Elves beat Wizards (they can run through their legs) Giants beat Elves (they stomp on their heads) Wizards beat Giants (because they are smarter) The group needs to be split into 2 groups. Each group needs to choose one of these signs. The two teams come face to face in parallel lines about 2 meters apart. Both groups will yell, "Elves, Giants, Wizards,.........."(Chosen sign goes here). The side that won chases the other team back to their home and tries to tag them. The players that are touched must join the other team. The object is to get everyone on your team. The actions are; ELVES- swat low to the ground and put one finger to either side of your head like little pointed ears. GIANTS- stand up on your tip toes and stretch your arms high over your head WIZARDS- turn body 90° to the left. Stretch right arm out in front and put left hand by left shoulder. Wiggle your fingers like you are casting a spell. If both teams do the same sign, it is a tie. (go pick again!)
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Escape From the Planet Of "What" (active)The game begins by giving each team a clue that will lead them to their spaceship. These can be anywhere. Once at their spaceship, the team finds a message for them either in a tape recorder or on a piece of paper explaining that their spaceship has malfunctioned and they have crashed on the Planet of "What". They have 40 minutes to follow the clues that will lead them to a new spaceship so that they will only be able to say "who", "what" and "where". Clues lead them from station to station where they have to perform a task (such as making up a national anthem for the planet, or crawling through a laser field). The final task is to build a spaceship out of any equipment available.
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Escape From the Monsters (circle/active)Equipment: bean bags, blindfolds, ropes and keys
Four monsters are chosen and they are blindfolded and sat in the middle of a circle that is formed by the rest of the players. In front of these Monsters sits their treasure (keys). They have beanbags for ammunition. The leaders chose one person to go through the circle and get the treasure. This person gets 3 monster de-activators. (ropes tied into a circle) These will de-activate the monster if it is put over their head. The monster can stop trespasser by hitting them with a beanbag. The players in the circle can help the monsters by telling them where the trespasser is.
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F
Equipment: six objects such as paper plates, beanbags, small boxes
Divide the children into teams of equal number, each team behind a starting line, facing a wall or finish line about twenty feet away. The first player on each team is a farmer, the second player is a crow, the third a farmer, the fourth a crow, and so on. At a signal, the first farmer on each team takes the seeds (six beanbags) and places them at equal intervals from the starting line to the finish line. He runs back and touches the second player, a crow. The crow must hop over each of the beanbags, touch the finish line, change to the other foot, hop back, pick up each seed as he comes to it. He hands them to player number 3, a farmer, who goes out to plant them again, and so on. The team finishing first wins. Play again letting each crow be a farmer.
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Feeding Time (active)Equipment: small pieces of paper, peanuts or candies.
The group needs to be split into small groups of at least 4 people. Each group needs to be a different animal and decide on the sound they will make. A leader needs to be chosen for every group. The object of the game is for each group to try and collect the most food. On the word "go", the players can start looking around the playing area for food. The only people that can actually pick up the food are the group leaders but they can not pick up any food they want. The rest of the team members look for the food and when they find it, they stand on it or beside it and make their animal noise until their leader comes. Once the food is taken by the leader, the player would go and look for food again. The team that collects the most wins.
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Fight for My Attention (drama/passive)Two people are challenged to come up to the front of the room and the audience then chooses a topic. The two people must talk about that topic for one minute in front of the crowd, BUT they are both talking about the topic AT THE SAME TIME! The audience must then vote on which person held their attention for longer.
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Fire (cooperative/active)'Victims' must remain motionless and not aid the rescuers until the victims are healthy again. Rescuers cannot look at signs until victims are removed to safe area. All the group except 3 people are unconscious in that burning building. The rescuers know that the building will explode in 4 minutes. Save as many people as you can. Go!!
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Fish In A PondDivide children into groups of two. Give each group a name of a fish. Then have one member of each pair form a circle (Pond) at one end of the playing area by holding hands, while the other partners do the same at the opposite end. Select one person to stand in the space between the circles. This person calls the name of the fish and the two people who represent this fish rush to their partner's circle to switch places. The person in the space attempts to catch one of the partners. If caught this "fish" calls a different name and their position is taken by the person originally in that space. Position are marked by gaps in holding hands.
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Flinch (circle/active)Equipment: ball
The players stand in a circle with their arms crossed. One person should be in the center. The person in the center is trying to get everyone in the circle out. The person in the center will throw the ball at the people in the circle. If they miss the ball, they are out. The person in the center can also pretend to throw the ball. If the people in the circle "flinch" (move their arms from the crossed position), they are out.
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Flipper Flopper (moderate)Equipment: One penny per pair of campers, rubber chicken
Players form a circle and stand beside their partners. The rubber chicken is in the middle of the circle. One player is the flipper (with the penny) and the other is the flopper. When the leader says go, the flipper must flip the penny on the ground. If it is heads then the flopper takes two steps forward and if it is tails then the flopper takes one step backward. The first flopper to reach the chicken wins!!
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Flying Duchman (circle/active)The players stand in a circle with their hands joined. The player who is it runs around the outside of the circle and slaps any two joining hands, the owners of which become flying dutchmen. They run in opposite directions around the outside of the circle. The player who was it steps into the circle. The last player back to the place in the circle is it.
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Foghorn Leghorn (active)Equipment: rubber chicken
Groups are divided in half (no, not each of them in case you were wondering!). One group lines up in a line with the rubber chicken at the front of the line. The other group forms a tight bunch, as close in as possible, and elects a runner. The leader says "Go Foghorn!" The group in the line then passes the rubber chicken Under-Over style down the whole line. While this is going on, the runner runs around the bunch and keeps track of the number of times they make it around. When the rubber chicken makes it to the end of the line then the last person throws it as far as possible and shouts "Go". The group that was in the bunch then runs to where the chicken landed and lines up behind it. They then do the Under-Over thing. The other group forms a bunch and counts how many times the runner makes it around. This keeps on going and the count of runs is a cumulative count, so at the end of an allotted time period the group with the most runs around is the winner.
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Footloose (active/cooperative) ** For older campersThe object of this game is to transport everyone from one end of the playground to the other. To heighten the challenge and make the game more fun, suggest that players are fleeing a dreaded disease and can only escape if they are carried by other players. The players may be carried by as many players as necessary. When the carried player is delivered to the other side of the playground the others must go back and carry each other. This continues until the last player is carried by a single person. The last player, who was not carried gets carried back triumphantly on the shoulders of the entire group.
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Fool Your Family (active/icebreaker)Equipment: One slip of paper for every player.
Papers should be in groups of five, and each group represents a family, for example, the Smiths. So the first Smith paper would be Mr. Smith, the second Mrs. Smith, the third Brother Smith and so on. Each family should have a different last name but the same characters (i.e. one mom and one dad.)
Each player is given one slip of paper and they must walk around trading papers with everyone else on the room. They should try to make as many exchanges as possible, and they should not be looking at which papers they are receiving. The leader then calls out "Find your family". The players must find the other members in their family. When they have found them, they must sit in order from dad to baby in a line on the floor. The last family to sit down may be eliminated if you choose to do so. The leader may also give out specific instructions, for example "Find your family without talking".
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Four Square [Also called Kings Corner]I spent many many hours playing this game in a little school called Roeper; except that it had six squares instead of four. It was not merely a game, it was an art form. In the standard game, there are four squares painted on the ground, all touching each other, making one, larger square. Each small square is roughly 8' x 8', but that's not a hard and fast rule. The ball used is the standard red 'kickball' Each player occupies one of the squares. The squares each have a rank order. The square with the highest rank is called the 'King' [Sometimes the 'Ace']. The other squares sometimes have names, and sometime don't. The #2 square may be called the 'Prime Minister', or the other three may be called the 'Queen', 'Prince', and 'Princess'. To start the game, the King serves the ball by bouncing it in his square once and then hitting it towards one of the other squares. The receiving player then hits the ball to any other player, and play continues until one of the following things occur:
- A player hits the ball (or is hit BY the ball) before it bounces once in their square.
- A player does not hit the ball before it bounces twice
- A player hits the ball out of bounds (it must land in someone's square first)
Once a player is 'dead', they move back to the lowest ranking square. The other players then move up to fill the vacancies. If there are more players than squares, that person goes to the back of the line, and the person at the front of the line gets to move onto the lowest square and play. Playing off of walls, poles, etc was not only legal but encouraged. Contributed by Geof Nieboer and Jerry Waugh
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Frozen Beanbag (Help Your Friend) (active/cooperative)Equipment: bean bags
Players should be balancing beanbags on their heads. On a signal, players move around the area at their own pace. To change the pace or action, the leader can ask the campers to hop or skip. If the bean bag falls off a camper's head, that child is frozen. If the bean bag falls off a camper's head, that child is frozen. Another camper (the friend) must pick up the beanbag and replace it on the first person's head without losing his or her own bean bag. When the game is over, ask the players how many times they helped their friends, or how many times their friends helped them.
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FruitbowlYou have a minimum of 5 players one person sits in the middle of a circle then each person picks a fruit name (short ones work best, Kiwi, pear, etc.) You then pick one person to start the game (excluding the middle player) s/he then calls their fruit name and someone elses, the person in the middle then tries to tag the second person before they call out their name and someone elses. For example if I was Kiwi and it was my turn I might say "Kiwi Grape" - the person who was Grape would need to say "Grape ---" Before the middle person tagged that Grape person. You go like that until someone on the outside gets tagged by the middle person, then they switch places. You do this until you get bored of it. I hope you use and like this game.
Contributed by Keri
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Fruits and Vegetables (active/circle)Divide the children into two large groups. One group will take the names of vegetables, the other fruit. In each large group, two or three children take the same name of a fruit or vegetable. The children mix themselves up and form a seated circle. It, the leader to start, sits in the center. It call out "Peas and apples change places". While they are doing so, it tries to get to one of the vacant seats. If he succeeds the ousted one becomes it.
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Flying Fish (active)Equipment: Construction paper cut outs of fish
Each team is given a folded magazine or newspaper. Players line up in a straight line. A plate is placed on the finish line. At the word "go" each player places their fish on the ground and fans it with the newspaper towards the plate. As soon as they have done this, they would race back to their team and hands the newspaper to the next player in the line.
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Fox and the Rabbit (active)The players are divided into groups of threes and are scattered into groups around the playground. Two of the three form a 'home' by facing each other and joining hands. The third one will be the rabbit and will simply stand in this house. In addition the these groups of three, there should be two extra players, a homeless rabbit and a fox. The fox starts the game by chasing the homeless rabbit around and around in and out of the groups. When the rabbit has grown tired, he may go into one of the homes and at once the rabbit who was already there must leave, and this rabbit is chased by the fox. When the fox catches the rabbit the two change places.
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