Games

Tag

A group of kids decides who will start out as being "it." That person chases the other people around, trying to tag one of them with their hand. The newly tagged person is now "it." There is often the rule of "no tag-backs" where you can't tag the person who just tagged you. The game ends when everyone is tired of playing.

Duck Duck Goose

A group of players sit in a circle, facing inward, while another player, the "picker" walks around tapping or pointing to each player in turn, calling each a "duck" until finally picking one to be a "goose" The "goose" then rises and chases and tries to tag the "picker", while the "picker" tries to return to and sit where the "goose" had been sitting. If the picker succeeds, the "goose" is now the new picker and the process begins again. If the "goose" succeeds in tagging the picker, the "goose" may return to sit in the previous spot and the "picker" resumes the process. With older players, the "goose" may attempt to tackle the "picker".

TV Tag

A variation of Freeze Tag where the person unfreezing the frozen player has to call out a TV show title. That show then can't be used again during that game.

Freeze Dance

Choose one person to be in charge of the music. When the music starts, everyone else dances, the crazier the better. When the music stops, the dancers must freeze in their position. Anyone caught moving after that is out. Play continues until there is one person left, the winner.

Blob Tag

Chose 2 People to be the starting "Blob". The "blob" goes around attempting to tag people. Once they catch someone they join hands and run around trying to tag other people. The blob can not separate. They can break into 2 when they have an amount of people divisible by 2

Red Rover

Divide everyone into two teams, each forming a long line, holding hands, facing the other team. The two teams should be around 20 or so feet apart. The teams take turn calling out, "Red Rover, Red Rover, let <insert child's name> come over!" That child leaves their team's line, runs as fast as they can toward the other line and tries to break through the held hands. If they break through, they get to take someone back to their team. If they don't, they join the new team. When a team only has one person left, that person tries to break through the other team. If they do not, then their team loses. If they do, they gain a player and play continues.

Fruit Tag

Everyone chooses a name of a fruit or veggie (depending on size) and says it out loud one person at a time. Everyone stands in a circle. One person starts off being "IT" and they call out a name of a fruit. the IT person must run towards whos ever fruit was called and try to tag them before the fruit called out calls out another fruit. If the IT person tags whos ever fruit was called before they call another fruit they are it.

Sardines

In Sardines, one person hides while the remainder all count to a specified number. Once this number is reached, the remaining people spread out in search of the person who has hidden. As players find the hider, they must join the hider in the hiding place. Eventually the hiding place is likely to become obvious because of the number of hiding players. The last person to discover the hiding place must hide in the next round. This game is sometimes played in the dark, increasing the number of reasonable hiding places.

Musical Chairs

In a circle, arrange chairs facing outward to total one fewer than the number of players. An additional player needs to be in charge of the music. When the music starts, the players walk around the chairs. When the music stops, players sit down in the nearest chair as soon as they can. The one player who does not have a chair is out. One of the chairs is then removed, and the game continues in this manner. The player that sits in the final chair is the winner. This game is traditionally played inside, but it can also be played outside with outdoor furniture and a portable music player.

Shadow Tag

In this version of Tag, you tag each other's shadow with your feet instead of tagging their body. Thus, it must be played on a sunny day. The closer to noon, the greater the difficulty.

Manhunt

Manhunt is a mixture of hide and seek and tag, often played during the night. One person is it, while the other players have to hide. Then, the person who is it tries to find and tag them. The game is over when all players are out. Manhunt is sometimes played with teams. In one variant there is a home base in which a player is safe. That version ends when all players who are not safe are out.

Mafia

One Person is the narrator. They tell everyone to put their heads down and they will say "if i tap you once you are the Mafia and if i tap you twice you are the doctor" they tap 2 people once and they will be the Mafia and they tap one person twice and they will be the doctor everyone else is a townsperson. The Narrator then says "Mafia awaken" the mafia wakes up the narrator then says "who would you like to kill" the mafia both decide on one person as quietly as possible the narrator then says "go to sleep" the mafia lowers their head. Narrator says "Doctor awaken" the Doctor awakens Narrator says "who would you like to save" the Doctor chooses one person who they want to save the narrator then says "everyone awaken" everyone wakes up and the narrator says "Last night the mafia did this and that and etc and <insert Name here> died" Then the townspeople accuse people and whoever had the most votes is killed if they are the Mafia or not. And this process is continued until the Mafia is killed or everyone but the Mafia is dead.

Simon Says

One person is Simon and starts by saying, "Simon says, '<insert action here>.'" Everyone must then do the action. However, if Simon makes an action request without saying, "Simon says" to begin the request, anyone who does that action is out. The last person still playing in the end will be Simon for the next round.

Sharks and Minnows

One person is selected to be a shark and the rest are minnows. The shark will say "minnows across" and the minnows try to get across without getting tagged by the shark. If they are tagged by a shark they too become a shark and help tag other people

Ghost in the Graveyard

One person is selected to be the Ghost. While the ghost goes and hides the rest of the players chant "one o'clock 2 o'clock 3 o'clock up until 12 when they yell MIDNIGHT" they all go hunting for the Ghost and once some person sees the ghost they yell "GHOST IN THE GRAVEYARD" and everyone runs back to base whoever is last to base or is tagged by the ghost is also a ghost. continue until everyone is tagged

Indian Chief

One person is selected to leave the room while the rest sit in a circle. The people in the circle decide who will be the "chief" and that person will be leading everyone in what they are supposed to do. The selected person will come back in and will try to guess who the Chief is.

Red Light Green Light

One person is the traffic light at one end, and the other players are at the other end. When the traffic light faces the group, he or she says, "Red light!" and everyone must freeze. The traffic light then turns his or her back and says, "Green light!" while the group tries to get as close to the traffic light as possible. The traffic light turns around quickly, again saying, "Red light!", and if anyone is spotted moving, they have to go back to the starting place. The first person to tag the traffic light wins and gets to be the next traffic light.

Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

Played inside or outside, the group sits or stands in a circle and holds their hands together in front of them. One person takes the button and goes around the circle, pretending to put the button in someone else's hands. They actually deposit the button in one person's hands, but then continue the rest of the way around the circle, pretending to put it in everyone else's hands. Then going around the circle, each player tries to guess who has the button now. Before each person's guess, the group asks together, "Button, button, who's got the button?" Then the player can state their guess. Once the player with the button is finally guessed, that person distributes the button during the next round. In another version of this game (and the one that I am more familiar with), one child stands in the middle of the circle, and the button gets passed around the backs of the rest of the group. Those without the button pretend to pass it. When the passing stops, the player in the middle has to guess as to who actually has the button.

Telephone (Whisper Down the Lane)

Players sit in a circle. One person thinks up a sentence or phrase and whispers it to the next person. That person repeats it to the person on their other side. This continues around the circle. When it finally reaches the last person, that person says the sentence out loud. Hilarity ensues. The ending sentence is usually quite changed from the beginning sentence, since errors tend to compound as they go around the circle.

Hide and Seek

Sometimes there is a home base that you can run to and tag, becoming "safe," sometimes you just wait to be found. The general idea is that one person is "it," that person closes his or her eyes and counts to a certain number without looking and then he or she tries to find the others

Capture the Flag

Split the group into two teams, each team having a flag or other marker at the team's base. The object of the game is to run into the other team's territory, capture their flag and make it safely back to your own territory. You can tag "enemy" players in your territory, sending them to your jail. They can be sprung from jail by a member of their own team running into your territory, tagging them and running back, with one freed person allowed per jail break. It is sometimes played that all the people in jail could hold hands and make a chain back toward their own territory, making it easier for members of their team to tag them. We also played a similar game called Steal the Sticks. It had almost the same rules, but several sticks were used instead of one flag.

Food Tag

There are four categories "Love it, Like It, Hate it, Never tired it" the person who is it calls out a food and as people move to what they feel about the food the IT person tries to tag them.

Kick the Can

This game is a variation of tag and hide & seek. One person or a team of people are designated as "it" and a can is placed in the middle of the playing area. The other people run off and hide while the "it" covers his or her eyes and counts to a certain number. "It" then tries to find everyone. If a person is tagged by "it", they go into a holding pen for captured players. If one of the un-captured players manages to kick the can, the captured players are released. The game is over once all the non-"it" players are in the holding pen.

Mother May I

This game is set up in the same way as Red Light Green Light. One person in the group asks the person in the front, "Mother, may I take <insert number> steps forward?" The person at the front then says, "Yes, you may." or "No, you may not." You can vary your requests by including options such as taking baby steps, spinning steps, leaps or whatever strikes your fancy. Again, the first person to tag the person in the front wins and is the next person in the front.

Traffic Cop

This game works best on a street with little to no traffic, or in a large paved area of some kind. You need bikes, wagons, pedestrians, scooters or whatever is available. One person directs traffic to make sure kids don't run into each other. It is more fun than it sounds, and helps kids learn about waiting to cross the street and about traffic safety.

Freeze Tag

This is a variation of Tag where if the person who is "it" tags you, you have to freeze where you are. Another participant can tag you to unfreeze you.

Spud

This outdoor game is a lot of fun. Every player gets a number and crowds around the person who is "it" for that round. "It" then tosses the ball straight up and the other players run away. As the ball reaches the top of its toss, "it" calls out the number of one of the other players and then runs away also. The player whose number was called must run back and catch the ball (or chase after it if it is bouncing around). Once that person has the ball, they yell, "Spud!" Then everyone else must freeze. The person with the ball must try to hit one of the players with the ball. If they do, that new person gets a letter (first S, then P, then U, then D) and is now "it." If they miss, the person who threw the ball is "it" for the next round.

Heads Up Seven Up

To start the game, seven players go to the front and the teacher says, "Heads down, thumbs up!" Everyone still at their desk puts their head down, extends an arm and stucks their thumb up. The seven kids that were at the front go around and each press one person's thumb down. Then they all go back to the front of the room and the teacher says, "Heads up, seven up!" The players at the desks raise their heads and the seven whose thumbs were pressed down stand up. Each in turn names the person they think pressed down their thumb. If they are correct, they change places with the presser. Then the game can start again.

Blind Man's Bluff

this game is yet another variation on tag. The person who is "it" wears a blindfold and tries to tag the other players.