Here is a first list of games (here is the second). Send us your observations and also other games that you consider valid: next year we will publish another issue on group activities and games.
1. Animal Hunt
We want to share a game that one of our teachers taught us for Carnival, and that we proposed to our Faith and Light group last year. We don’t know the name of the game, but we could call it “Animal Hunt.”
Preparation: Simple
Participants: About ten
Difficulty: Easy
Materials needed:
- A cardboard for each participant; draw a different animal on each cardboard. The drawing should be simple and large, so everyone can recognize it.
- A clown plastic stick or an empty plastic bottle or something similar.
Form a circle, sitting on chairs or on the floor. Each person is given a cardboard with the drawing of an animal, which they must hold in front of them, clearly visible. One person (without a cardboard, but with the stick) stands in the center of the circle. To start, one of the players in the circle says the name of one of the drawn animals. The person in the center must find who has the cardboard with that animal and hit their knees with the stick (gently!). To save themselves, the player with that animal, before being hit, must name another present animal. Then the person in the center must hit that other animal. Whoever is hit without having time to name another animal takes the place of the person in the center. The game continues as long as you want to play.
The game is easy; you just need to be able to recognize animals and move. It was very successful among the kids in the Faith and Light group. We drew the animal cards ourselves, but we thought it would be nice to make them together with the whole group.
2. All in the Family
Participants: As desired, divisible by four.
Location: Any
Materials needed: Cardboard, scissors, and a marker.
Prepare, based on the number of participants, business card-sized cardboard, in a multiple of four. Divide them into groups of four, each representing a family. Choose an original name for each group (Unpopular, Nerds…) and prepare business cards related to father, mother, son, and daughter for each group. For clarity, each set of the four cards related to a family can also be characterized by a color. Randomly distribute all the cards.
Place as many chairs as there are families at the edges of the room. When the facilitator gives the signal, participants walk, meet randomly, shake hands, and introduce themselves by loudly saying the assigned name (for example: “Father Unpopular,” or “Daughter Nerds”…), simultaneously exchanging business cards, and thus swapping names. After a good number of exchanges, the facilitator shouts, “All in the family,” and at that moment, each family that has formed must gather as quickly as possible around one of the chairs (call each other by name to find each other). The first to sit must be the father, immediately followed by the mother, and then the son and daughter, one in each other’s arms.
The facilitator will assess which group was the slowest and eliminate it from the game, retrieving the four cards. The remaining families continue the game as before, and so on until the last family is declared the winner.
3. Risk a Hundred – (Game for Big Parties)
Participants: Enough to form at least two teams
Location: Indoors or outdoors
Materials: Board created as per the drawing; list of simple quiz questions divided into scores of 30, 50, 100; scorekeeper, bell, recorded songs or guitarist and guitar.
This fun and engaging game, lasting at least 45 minutes, is a cross between “Il Musichiere” and “Risk It All.” Place a bell near the host. Play a short musical piece, and the teams that believe they have recognized the song send one of their players to ring the bell (taking turns). The first to ring the bell has the right to say the title of the played song. If the answer is correct, they have the right to spin the board wheel. In this case, various possibilities can occur depending on the arrow’s indication.
- 30 or 50: The player, with the help of their team, must answer a question of equal value. If the answer is correct, they earn the indicated score.
- Bad luck: Lose all points earned up to that moment.
- Risk a hundred: The player must answer a very difficult 100-point question. If they answer correctly, they earn that score; otherwise, it is deducted.
When deciding to end the game, the team with the highest score wins.
Note: The questions can vary in complexity depending on the participants (from the names of the Seven Dwarfs to the days of the week, from mentioning a monument in one’s city to finding a rhyme, from guessing the name of a singer to identifying a person in their group, etc.). Alternatively, practical tests (reciting a poem, singing a verse of a song, dancing, etc.) can replace the questions.
4. Brothers!
Location: Open
Materials: None
Participants: From 10 and up
Divide into pairs (better if each pair consists of a boy and a friend). The members of each pair are arranged separately and begin to move. At the command of the game leader, the two members of the pair must quickly find each other. The last pair to join, according to the game leader, either exits the game or pays a penalty. Be careful of collisions!
5. The Jumping Color
Participants: From 10 and up
Location: Inside or outside, but spacious enough
Materials: Colored paper sheets
Divide into groups, and each group has a color. The group members attach sheets of their chosen color to themselves. The game leader starts telling a story with a lot of imagination, mentioning the present colors. The group members must jump (or raise a hand) every time their color is mentioned. A straightforward game. A lot depends on the skill of the game leader, who must also repeatedly mention the same color to make a group jump continuously.
6. War and Peace
Participants: 15-40 people
Location: Outdoors, a lawn or an inner courtyard, or a covered place, if large enough (e.g., gym).
Materials:
- A travel outfit for each team: a pair of shoes, a pair of socks, a pair of pants, a golf shirt or a sweatshirt, a bag or suitcase to put the clothing in.
- What is needed to delimit the territory of each team, such as ropes, ribbons, etc. Note: Playing on a sports field (soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc.) can utilize the lines already marked on the ground.
- To distinguish the teams (e.g., scarves around the neck, ribbons around the arm,…).
The game is about two opposing armies who, after fierce fighting, decide to make peace. The negotiation is facilitated by neutral parties. The “warriors” live on a given territory and wear a travel outfit. The neutral parties delimit the territories and establish the border. The warriors, however, do not have the right to leave their territory. The armies organize themselves by placing their members along the border and distributing the clothes. On command, they must dress and undress as quickly as possible, and when dressed, they must cross the border to touch the enemy’s territory. Meanwhile, the other army does the same. At the end of a set time (e.g., 10 minutes), the war stops, and the warriors return to their territory, undressing. The neutral parties can then declare the winner.
To avoid problems (e.g., grabbing the clothes of others), it is recommended to have a few neutral parties available.
7. Tug of War – War and Peace (continued)
This game, played in two distinct phases, is designed for 15-40 participants and can be played outdoors in a field or courtyard or indoors if the space is large enough (e.g., a gym). Here’s a continuation of the description:
a) Phase of War
In this phase, each team aims to “steal” the items it lacks by taking them from other teams, leaving their territory, invading the opponent’s territory, and returning to their own. Some rules to remember:
- If I invade enemy territory and am touched by an opponent, I am a prisoner and remain “struck” on the spot, waiting for a teammate to free me by touching me.
- The “treasure zone” is a safe zone: defenders cannot enter it. To prevent enemies from stealing, defenders must be able to strike them before they enter or after they leave the treasure zone.
- In the neutral zone, no one can be struck.
- Thieves are allowed to throw the stolen items to their teammates, and defenders can intercept these throws.
- Only one item can be stolen at a time (1 sock, 1 shoe), and the thief must always exit the treasure zone before stealing another item.
- Stolen items must be deposited in the team’s treasure zone, where they also risk being stolen.
- The team that first completes a whole travel outfit wins this phase.
b) Phase of Peace
Instead of stealing each other’s clothes, teams will meet to exchange them peacefully. Exchanges always occur between two teams, one on one (e.g., 1 sock for 1 suitcase).
8. Cinderella Game
Participants: At least 15, preferably more
Location: Indoors or outdoors, doesn’t matter
Materials needed: 2 scarves for blindfolding
Participants form a circle and sit down. The circle is divided in half, creating two teams: those on the right and those on the left. All players remove their shoes and pile them in the center.
Each team chooses its “Cinderella” (even a man is fine) who will be blindfolded and seated on the ground next to the shoe pile. The two players must find their shoes using touch and, if they believe, by trying them on. The one who finds their shoes first wins. The funny part is that some “Cinderellas” may be unblindfolded only to realize that the shoes they put on are not theirs! After one round, two new volunteers can be chosen, and the game is repeated.
9. Newspaper Dance
Participants: Any even number
Location: Doesn’t matter
Materials needed: One or more newspapers, music
The facilitator divides the participants into pairs and gives each pair a newspaper. The game involves dancing around the newspaper placed on the ground between the two members of the pair without ever touching the floor. When the music stops suddenly, the two dancers must step onto the newspaper without any part of their bodies touching the ground. After verifying the correctness of the action by the facilitator, the newspaper is folded in half, and the music starts again, possibly with a different rhythm. The game is repeated several times, making sure to fold the newspaper more each time. Couples are gradually eliminated if they fail to stay on the newspaper for at least a few seconds. The speed with which each pair positions itself is not important; rather, the creativity in finding an increasingly precarious balance is appreciated.
10. Ball at the Feet
Participants: 20-30 people divided into two teams
Location: Outdoors or indoors, as long as everyone is seated on chairs or benches
Materials: 2 balls (not too heavy or too light) and basins (capable of holding the ball abundantly)
Participants (well mixed—young, old, ladies, people with difficulties, children…) sit in two lines of chairs along the walls, facing each other. Everyone’s hands rest on the sides of the chairs and cannot be used. Legs are straightened out in front.
Two facilitators, one for each team, place the ball on or between the feet of the first player, who immediately tries to pass it to the feet or between the feet of the second player until the last player who must place the ball in the basins using only the feet. Every time the ball falls (and it falls often!), the facilitator will place it again on the first person in line; back to the beginning! The team that first places the ball in one of the basins wins, of course. It’s a very fun game, unleashing laughter and enthusiasm. I have seen and played it with people of all kinds (elderly ladies, small children, even bishops!). There is one exception, alas! People who cannot freely use their lower limbs can control the arrival of the ball in the basin and declare the winning team.
11. Kim’s Games
The proposed games are three and can be carried out separately.
A. Kim’s Hearing Game
Participants: Divided into 2 teams of at least 6 people
Materials: Recorder with a tape filled with “sounds”, a bell close to the facilitator. Environment: Preferably indoors.
In each turn, the team chooses a messenger (preferably a person with a disability). The “game master” starts the tape on which he has previously prepared some sounds (clapping, whistling, barking dog, phone ringing, etc.) by playing one sound at a time, sometimes repeating if necessary. When the team has understood the sound, the messenger rings the bell and says the answer. If the first team that rang the bell gives a correct answer, they receive double the points they bet. If the answer is incorrect, they give the bet beans to the game master. If the second team that reacted also gives a correct answer, they simply get back their bet; if it is incorrect, they give the bet beans to the game master. At the end, each team counts their beans, and the team with the most is declared the winner.
B. Kim’s Sight Game
Participants: Divided into multiple teams of 4 people
Materials: 20-30 different objects (pen, scissors, etc.), a cloth.
Objects are arranged on the floor or on the table. Participants in the game stand to observe the objects without touching them. The observation time is limited (e.g., 1 minute). When time runs out, the objects are covered with a cloth, and each team must make a list with the most objects observed. The facilitator should try to help participants with disabilities remember the objects they recognized.
C. Kim’s Taste Game
Participants: Divided into 2 teams of at least 6 people
Materials: 6 different foods to taste (sugar, salt, garlic, flour, etc.)
Environment: Preferably outdoors.
This game can be done as a relay. Teams line up in two rows, and two players (one from each team) start. They reach a friend each, who will let them taste a food. When the food is recognized, the player can return to the team, and another player is sent out.
12. Surprise!
Participants: 8 and above Location: indoors or outdoors, seated in chairs or on the ground in a circle
Materials: a gift (box of sweets or other) wrapped with many layers of paper and twine.
Music: cassette recorder or a person with a guitar
Pass the gift from hand to hand to the sound of music. When the music stops suddenly, the person holding the gift removes the first layer of paper. It continues until a player removes the last layer: the gift is then theirs, but if they wish, they can distribute the contents among the other players. It’s a game that is enjoyable because it creates suspense. It’s easy and can be done on occasions like birthdays and other celebrations: the gift should then “land” with the guest of honor thanks to the “direction” from the person in charge of the music.
13. Bean Casino
Materials: half a kilo of dried beans – one sound-making tool for each group – a list of questions of the same category. Examples of categories: animals, sports, plants, cooking, cartoons, etc.
Before starting, the game leader gives each group an equal number of beans (± 50); those that remain constitute the bank. Then, the leader announces the category of questions that will be asked. The groups then bet from 1 to 5 beans. The question is asked. The groups make their sound-making tool resonate and take turns giving their answers. If the first group that made a sound gives a correct answer, it receives double its bet. If the answer is wrong, it hands over the bet beans to the game leader. If the answer from the second reacting group is correct, it simply gets back its bet; if it’s wrong, it hands the bet over to the game leader. In the end, each group counts its beans: whoever has the most is declared the winner.
14. Hurry Up, If You Can!
Participants: 10-20 or more people divided into two or three teams. Everyone should be able to walk even if with difficulty.
Location: outdoors or indoors (if the room is long enough).
Materials: two rings of rope or thick twine with a diameter of 60-70 centimeters (depending on the size of the largest person among the participants)
Arrange the teams in a line at the starting line. On the finish line, draw with chalk or colored paper or ribbon 2 or 3 perimeters within which the rope rings are placed on the ground. At the start of the game, the first 2 or 3 players reach the finish line, enter the perimeter, thread the rope from the head, let it fall to the ground, leave it, and run to the 2nd companion, touch their hand, and exit the game. The 2nd companion will do the same until the last. The victory will go to the group that has taken the least time. It’s a “warming up” and fun game. Remember to divide the team members equally based on running and movement abilities.
15. Image Bingo
Participants: at least 10 people.
Location: indoors and outdoors, in any case with tables to lean on.
Material needed: what is needed for bingo (beans to mark the “numbers”; bingo cards; a bag or box for the “numbers”).
It is a nice variation of normal bingo, only instead of numbers, pictures of group members are used. The game then has the same rules as classic bingo. It takes a bit of patience and quite some time to prepare many different cards from each other. Note: to distribute the various photos equally and proportionally, it is advisable to refer to the distribution of numbers on classic cards, associating each photo with a number.
The game was proposed and prepared by two friends and successfully tested in our group for the New Year’s Eve party. Not only is it fun to see your own photos and others on the cards, but you also get to know the names of the people better; last but not least, even those who are not too skilled with numbers manage well with the photos of friends.
