GS Games

GAMES

Balloon-ping-pong Relay
Level: Brownies/Juniors
Participants: 15-35
Country: USA
Equipment: balloons and ping pong balls
Each team member gets a balloon. Each team gets a ping-pong ball. The team has to get the ping-pong ball down to the turn-around and back by blowing up the balloon and using the escaping air to push the ball around. If turning is too hard, you can split the team.

Barnyard Bedlam
Level: All Ages
Supplies: Two sets of small objects to find, each a different color. We use milk caps, one set of pink and one set of blue, about 15 or 20 in each set. Two small bags (big enough to hold one set of objects)
From: Sandy Keeney - Cadette/Senior Troop 497, Mid-Continent Council of GS, Kansas City, MO SandyKeeney@juno.com
1. In advance, mark off the playing area. It doesn't have to be any particular shape, but should be big enough to allow all your girls to run around with freedom. Within those boundaries, scatter your objects to find. Be sure you know how many you're scattering! Mix them up well, too.
2. Divide the girls into two teams. Have them pick a captain, and a barnyard animal. Give each captain a bag, and have the group practice making their animal's noise. Assign an object color to each team.
3. At the signal, the teams run out over the playing area, searching for the objects of their color. When they find one, they may *not* pick it up; they stand over the object and make their animal's noise until the *captain* comes to pick it up. The captain collects the objects in her bag.
4. The first team to collect all their objects wins. 5. If you like, have the two captains re-scatter all the objects, shuffle up the teams and play again.

Bird/Beast/Fish
Level: Brownies/Juniors
Participants: 15-35
Country: USA
Time: 10-15 minutes
Form a circle with one player in the middle of the circle closes their eyes. They then turn and point at someone in the circle and say "bird", "beast", or "fish". They player pointed to must name an animal in that category in five seconds. If they do not, they become "it". If they do the game continues.

Circle In A Circle
Level: All Ages
Participants: 8-55
Equipment: Rope loop or hula hoop
Country: England
Time: 5-15 minutes
Place your arm through the rope loop. Now have everyone join hands in a circle. Without breaking hands, have the team move the loop around the human circle. If you break hands start over again. When the team gets the loop back to where it began the goal has been reached. When your group gets really good at this game place 2 or 3 hula hoops in the circle. Then the team tries to have the 2nd hula hoop catch the first, etc.

This game can also be made into a relay game. Divide into teams, first team to reach the goal wins. Teams can be patrol against patrol, Juniors against Brownies, Girls against adults or any combination.

Caterpillar Relay
Level: Brownies/Juniors
Each team forms a line and each girl must hold onto the waist of the girl in front of her. They may stretch out as far as possible so long as they don't separate. When the whistle blows, the girl at the back goes down on her hands and knees and must crawl through the legs of the whole group. when she gets to the front she jumps up, her waist gets grabbed, and the girl who is now at the back goes through. You can either do this down to the finish line or down and back (by reaching the turning point and having all girls spin around so they are facing back the way they came).

My Bonnie Game
Level: All Ages
Participants: Any number
Time: 5-10 Minutes

Everyone gathers in a circle (if you use chairs this makes it more comfortable). Parents and girls came all participate in this game. We sing "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean". Every time we sing a word that starts with a B we either sit down, if we are standing, or stand up if we are sitting. It is a lot of breathless fun!

My Bonnie Game (Version two)
Level: All Ages
Participants: Any number
Time: 10 - 15 Minutes

The "princess" has to be rescued from the "Giant". The Princess sits on a chair doing nothing, her "guardian" points to Brownies at random sitting in a semicircle who have to creep up to rescue the princess without being heard by the Giant who is blindfold - actually our giant’s hide behind a convenient curtain in the hall and spring out when they hear anything. Our Brownies all love the game which I find quite extraordinary because they are normally very noisy, and sitting very still is quite out of character for most of them!!

Elbow Tag
Level: Juniors/Cadettes
Participants: 12-26
Time: 10-15 minutes
Safety: Make sure the area is not slick
Buddies with elbows linked, are scattered around with outside hands on hips. Pick on pair to be the Chaser and the chased. The chaser chases her partner, who at any time may hook on the outside elbow of a pair. The person who's elbows were not linked too, becomes "it" and chases the former "it". If the Chaser tags the pursued before they can hook on, they reverse rolls.

Fire on the Mountain
Level: All Ages
Participants: 15-51
Time: 15-50 minutes
Safety: Make sure the area is not slick
Form two circles, one inside the other, with an equal number of player in each. A player stands in the middle of both circles and is "it". "It" and the inner circle clap hands in a beat and stands still. The outer circle moves to the beat until "it" shouts "fire on the mountain". Then all of the people in the outer circle try to stand in front of a person in the inner circle. "It" also tries to get a partner in the inner circle. They player without a partner becomes it.

Fording the Stream
Level: Juniors/Cadettes
Participants: 10-16
Country: Scotland
Equipment: Ball, boundaries
Make two lines about 12 feet across to form the stream. Throw the ball high over the heads of the players. The player who catches it before the ball hits the ground may cross the stream. They then toss the next ball. This continues until your run out of players. If the ball is dropped, your are out of the game. If a player accidentally touches the stream without having the ball they are out too.

Guess Who?
Level: All Ages
Time: 15-20 minutes
Equipment: Note cards, pens
Country: USA
Have everyone write down two of their goals for the future. Do not let anyone else see them. Collect all of the goal cards. Shuffle them and pass then out to different people. Have each player read their new card out to the group. After a card is read out, have people guess whose goals they are. If nobody has guessed after three tries, ask for the owner of the goals to reveal identity.

Hawk and Hens (Zimbabwe)
Level: All Ages
Time: 15-20 minutes
Participants: Minimum of 4 players
Country: Zimbabwe
This is a great chasing game for times when you have lots of energy and want to run. You will need at least four people and two safety zones. One person is the hawk. All the others players are the hens. The hawk stands between the safety zones and tries to catch the hens as they run back and forth from one safety zone to the other. When a hen is caught, she sits on the side and watches the game. The last hen to be caught by the hawk becomes the next hawk.

Honey Do You Love Me? (A favorite with our Troop!) :)
Level: All Ages
Participants: 5 or more
Equipment: None
Time: 10 + minutes
Country: ?
One girl is "it" person. The others sit in a circle around her. She selects one person to confront and goes to that person and says: "Honey do you love me?" The selected player must answer without smiling: "Yes, I love you but I just can't smile!". It becomes very difficult to do and the girls have a great time trying to stay serious! The first one to break a smile becomes the new "IT" person and the round starts over.

Human Pinball
Level: Juniors
Participants: 15-35
Equipment: A ball
Time: 10 minutes
Country: USA
After explaining the directions, have everyone stand in a circle facing outward. Players should stand with feet shoulder width apart. Have them bend over with their hands dangling. Their arms are now flippers. They cannot hold the ball and must remain in this position during the game. The player who is the human pinball enters the center of the circle. Everyone tries to hit this moving target by flipping the ball across the circle. Who ever hits the target becomes the next human pinball.

Ice Breakers
First brake into groups by using the "Animal Ice Breaker". Everyone draws a slip of paper from a box that has the name of an animal on it. Figure out how many people you have and how many and what size groups you want (For a group of 100, I would use about 8 different animals. Try duck, cow, pig, cat, rooster, horse, sheep, and dog.) At the signal, you start making the sound that the animal you picked makes. You must go around and find everyone else in your group by listening for their animal sounds. It sounds like a huge barnyard! It is a great way to mix people together and start off with something humorous.

After you have formed your groups, you then play "Cooperative Gadgets". Each group will have about 12 or so people. Each group must come up with an appliance, gadget, or machine that they will portray WITHOUT WORDS. ("Machinery noises" are permitted. Example: whirring, humming, etc.)

Everyone in the group must be a part of the portrayal, so no one gets left out. For instance, a group portrayed an electric can opener. The two tallest people in the group stood next to each other with their arms up together forming the lever of the can opener. The rest formed a tight circle in front of them. When it was their turn to portray, the two "levers" moved their arms down together like when you push the lever down on an electric can opener and started making a whirring noise. Those in the tight circle then moved around in a circle, like the can does while the lid is being removed. I hope you get the visual idea here!

Groups can portrayed popcorn poppers, toasters, typewriters, and lots of other things. It's great fun seeing the imaginative ideas people come up with for their portrayals!

Jan-Ken-Pon (rock, paper, scissors)
Level: All ages
Participants: 2
Time: 10 minutes
Country: Japan
This is a game for two players. Two players face each other with their hands behind their backs. Together, they say "jan-ken-pon". On "pon" both bring a hand forward to stand for a stone (fist), paper (flat hand), or scissors (V-shaped with the index finger and middle finger). Stone beats scissors because it can break them. Scissors beats paper because it can cut it. Paper beats stone because paper can wrap up a stone. A player gets a point each time her hand beats the other's. The first player who gets seven points wins.

Kim's Game
Level: All ages
Participants: minimum of 2 players
Time: 10 minutes
Country: England
Girl Scouts and Girl Guides all over the world play this game. you and your friends can have fun playing it, too!
You will need:

1 or more friends
At least 10 small things
A scarf or piece of cloth

Put 10 things on a table. Be sure you can cover all of them with the scarf or piece of cloth. Show the players the 10 things for one minute. Then cover them up. Ask the players what was on the table. See if they can list all 10 items.

Letters and Numbers
Level: All Ages
Time: 5-20 minutes
Give the girls a letter or number to make using only members of the group. Everyone must be included in the solution. Have the group make several shapes, or letters.

Lighthouse
Level: All Ages
Time: 15 minutes
Participants: 10-25
Country: Canada
Safety: Have the "rocks" spot
Equipment: 1 blindfold, set boundaries (this will be the ocean)
Pick a player to become a lighthouse and a ship. The rest of the players are rocks. Blindfold the ship. In the boundary area (the ocean) have "rock's" sit in a spot then freeze. Stand the lighthouse at one end of the ocean and the "ship" at the other end. Have the lighthouse guide the ship, by giving verbal directions, through the rocks hazards to safety. Make sure the rocks spot the ship in case of it sinking on the rocks.

Large Group Version of Lighthouse:
The Leader is the lighthouse. Blindfold half the group, they are ships. The other half are rocks, and distribute themselves on the floor between the ships and the lighthouse. Please ask the rocks to keep their hands and feet in to minimize tripping. The rocks also should not clump up. The lighthouse goes "WOO WOO" to guide the ships. The rocks go "SWISH, SWISH" quietly to warn the ships of their presence. On go, the ships navigate between the rocks to the lighthouse. If they touch a rock, they are sunk and must sit on the floor (and go "swish, swish" also). When all the ships have made it to the lighthouse (or have been sunk), the rocks and ships switch places.

Multiples
Level: All Ages
Participants: 5 +
Country: Egypt
Players sit in a circle and start counting round the circle from "one." Pick a number between one and ten. If the agreed number is seven, each time the number being called includes the number seven or is a multiple of seven, the player keeps quiet and clasps her hands together. If anyone makes a mistake they are out. When they become good at this game, add one or two other numbers, so they will have to keep very sharp not to get caught with numbers four, six and eight going on at once. For one number the player clasps hands. For the second number she will put both hands above her head. For the third number she can nod her head. Most players will find thinking of two numbers at once difficult enough.

Mr. Bear
Level: All Ages
Participants: 5 +
Country: Sweden
One person is Mr. Bear. He is trying to sleep in his den. The other players sneak up to Mr. Bear and whisper, "Mr. Bear, are you awake?" Mr. Bear pretends not to hear them. Then the players yell, "Mr. Bear, are you awake?" This makes Mr. Bear furious! He chases them all and tries to catch them before they reach home, which is the safe place. Everyone tagged by the bear before reaching home becomes one of Mr. Bears' cubs. They go back to the den with Mr. Bear. When the remaining players come back to wake up Mr. Bear again, the cubs help Mr. Bear catch them as well. When everyone is caught someone else becomes Mr. Bear (or the last one caught).

People to People
Level: Brownie/Junior
Time: 15-20 minutes
Participants: matched pairs (unlimited)
Country: Unknown
Players are paired at random plus a "caller". The person who is the "caller" gives commands which others follow. Example: back to back, knee to knee, etc. Players match body parts (knee to knee) with their partner until the "caller" calls "people to people. Then everyone, including the "caller" tries to find a new partner. Whoever is left without a partner is now the "caller".

Rabbit w/o a house
Level: Brownie/Junior
Time: 15-20 minutes
Participants: Need 11 people
Country: Brazil
Pick someone to be "it" (the rabbit w/o a house) and someone to be the caller. Divide the others into groups of 3. Each group makes a rabbit in a house by two girls holding hands (the house) and one (the rabbit) standing inside. The caller yells "Find a house" and all the rabbits, including the one without a house, have to run to find another house. The rabbit left without a house become it.

Red Light, Green Light
Level: Brownie/Junior
Time: 15-20 minutes
Participants: 6 or more recommended
Country: USA
Here is one of many ways to play this game. Choose someone to be "it". The person who is "it" stands at one end of the playing field, far away from the other players. The other players line up along the starting line at the opposite end of the field. "It" turns her back to the group and yells "green light". The players may now run toward "it". When "it" yells "red light", everyone must stop running and freeze. "It" turns around right after yelling "red light". If "it" catches anyone moving, those girls go back to the starting line. The game continues until someone has been able to reach and touch "it" while "it" has her back to the group. That person becomes the new "it" person.

The Ocean is Stormy
Level: Brownie/Junior
Time: 15-20 minutes
Equipment: Sidewalk chalk, string, or pictures of sea animals
Participants: 8 or more are recommended
Country: A Danish Game
Use chalk or string to mark circles on the floor or ground (or tape pictures onto the floor = one for each pair). Get into pairs. Each pair, except for one, should stand in a circle and choose the name of a fish (or sea animal). The names of some fishes are: Sea Bass, Trout, Perch, Catfish, Herring, Salmon, Pike, flounder, Porgie, Sunfish, Sturgeon, Bluefish, and Blackfish. The 2 girls who have not chosen fish names are the whales. They walk around the outside of the circles and call out names of fish. When a pair's fish name is called, they leave the circle and walk behind the whales. After all the fish names are called, or after the whales call all the names they can think of, the whales shout "The ocean is stormy!" Then everybody rushes to find a circle. Any two girls can get in a circle. The 2 girls left without a circle become the whales for the next game.

Sheep and Hyena
Level: Brownies/Juniors
Participants: At least 10 players
Country: Sudan
Time: 10-15 minutes
See if you can keep the sheep away from the hungry hyena! Players join hands and form a tight circle. The hyena stays outside the circle. The sheep stays inside the circle. The players in the circle have to try to keep the hyena from breaking through the circle to get to the sheep. The game ends when the hyena gets the sheep or gets too tired to go after the sheep anymore. Two other people become the sheep and hyena.

Torii Tag
Level: Brownies/Juniors
Participants: 6 - 18
Country: Japan
Time: 10-15 minutes
Two players form an arch, Torii, leaving enough room for the other players to pass between them. The remaining players form a single line, holding hands with the players in front and behind them. The line circles around the Torii once, then passes slowly under it. When the last player walks under the Torii, the line drops hands and scatters. The two Torii players drop hands and act as taggers. If you are tagged your are out. The last two players tagged become the new Torii.

Turn the Turtle
Level: All Ages
Time: 15 minutes
Country: Australia
If your scouts like rolling around on the floor then they will love this quickie. Pair the scouts off in size. One girl in each pair lies on her back, on the ground. On the word go the other scout has to try and turn her over onto her stomach. The scout on the floor tries to prevent this by spreading out her arms and legs and moving around on the floor. No tickling or foul play is allowed.