Think Quick:

-- Print out names of various animals on small pieces of paper. If you have 20 kids you might write out 5 pieces of paper with the word pig, 5 with the word cow, 5 with the word duck and 5 with the word cat. Put the pieces of paper in hat and have the kids reach in and pick a piece of paper. On the word “go” they must walk around and find the people who are the same animal by making the appropriate noise. The first group to find all the animals in their group sits down. They are the winners.

 

Group grab:

-- Ask everyone to come together in a close group and “mingle” (they can shake hands and say “mingle, mingle mingle…”) when you say the word go. After a few seconds call out a number (say “Six!”) Each person must find or form a group of six people. The first group to get the right number sits down. They are the winners. This is a lot of fun as group members panic trying to get another person, leave a group to join another, etc. After getting a winning team give a short cheer, ask them all to start mingling again and then call out a different number.

 

-- Get everyone to stand shoulder to shoulder facing in toward the center of a tight circle. Have everyone turn to the right and place their hands on the waist of the person in front of them. Give the group a “heads up” that at the word “go” you will get them to sit down on the knees of the person in front of them. This is a lot of fun. The group must sit down at the some time if it is to work. For extra fun get the group to actually walk in a circle once they are seated. Once seated the group leader needs to direct the walking. (eg. Sitting all together, left foot forward, right foot forward, left…) The whole group will probably fall down after a short circular walk!

 

-- Have the kids stand in a circle facing in. Ask each of them to come up with the name of some living thing (cat, worm, Garfield, octopus, etc.) that will represent them for the game. Give them a minute or two to share this representative name. One person stands in the middle with a rolled up newspaper smasher. When one of the animal names is called out the person in the middle must club the person whose name has been called out. To be “safe” the individual who had their “name” called out must call out another member’s animal name before they get hit by the wad of paper. If a person gets hit before they have time to call out another name they must go into the middle. This game is a lot of fun as individuals panic and can’t remember the names fast enough.

 

-- Have everyone remove their shoes and put them in a big pile. Have someone stir up the shoes mixing them well. Divide the children into two groups and have them line up at the other end of the room ready for a race. On the word “go” the first person in each team must run down, find both shoes, put them on, and run back tagging the next person in the group. The first group to finish is the winner.

 

-- Inflate a balloon for each group member. Tie a short (about 12 inches) piece of string to each balloon. Have each person tie the other end of the string around their ankle. On the word “go” each person stomps around and tries to pop as my balloons as possible while protecting their own balloon. Lot’s of noise and lots of fun!

 

-- Give each person 4 to 10 spring loaded clothes pegs. On the word “go” each person tries to clip the pegs onto the other individuals in the group. At the same time they can be unclipping acquired pegs and transferring them to others. At the end of 2 or 3 minutes the winner is the one with the least number of clothe pegs on.