Games

81. POLAR BEARS. ( Active.)
Outline the playing ground (approximately 10m x 12m) - "the sea". Near it outline the less ground - "the ice - floe". 2 players are "polar bears", whose place is "the ice - floe". All the rest players are "the bearcubs". They take up their positions on the large playing ground - "the sea". On hearing "the signal" "the polar bears" begin to catch "the bearcubs" ("The polar bears" link their arms and catch "the bearcubs "so that they are between their linked arms). The captured "bearcub" is led to "the ice - floe". When there are 2 "bearcubs" on "the ice - floe" they may also catch "the bearcubs". The game continues until all 'the bearcubs" are caught. The player who is caught the last is considered to be the deftest. The rules of the game. The players who run out the playing ground are considered to be caught and they must go to "the ice - floe". "The polar bears mustn't grab the players at their clothes or hands. They may only encircle them. The captured "bearcubs" mustn't tear themselves away from "the polar bears".

82. CROSSING ROADS. ( Active.)
One player chases the other. But the chased player may be "saved", if one of the players crosses the line of run between the chaser and the chased. According to the rules of the game the chased turns to chase the player who "saved" his/her fellow-player.

83. FISHING-ROD. ( Active.)
The players get into a circle. The leader is in the center of the circle with "the fishing-rod" in his/her hands. "The fishing-rod" is a 3-4m long string with the sac full of sand attached to the end of it. Standing in the center of the circle the leader spins round "the fishing-rod". While gliding the floor the sac may touch the players' feet. So their task is to jump up as the sac does not touch them. The player touched by the sac is out of the game.

84. HUNTING WITH THE BALL. ( Active.)
Divide the players into "animals" and "hunters". Give " the hunters" the balls. "The hunters" try to hit "the animals" with them. "The animal hit by the ball is out of the game. The task of "the animals" is to catch the ball on the spot.

85. TAG. ( Active.)
There are several variants of the well-known game.
The first variant - to catch the running player only (not to catch players who squat)
The second variant - not to catch the players who hold each other by the hands
The third variant: Every player except the leader has a fillet hidden under the collar. The leader tries to draw the fillet out. The player whose fillet is drawn out becomes the leader.

86. LITTLE FISHERMAN. ( Active.)
Draw a circle (5-7m in radius) round the tree or the stake - "the pond". Tie a 3-4m long string to the tree. The leader - "the little fisherman "holds the end of the string in his hands. "The fisherman" tries to catch the players - "the fish" - who run within the circle. The players who are caught are out of the circle. The last player who remains within the circle becomes the leader in the next round.

87. SQUIRRELS, NUTS, CONES. ( Active.)
Divide players into groups of three. The first player in each team is "a squirrel", the second is "a nut", the third is "a cone". Each team, which consists of "a squirrel, a cone", and "a nut" links their arms, forming a little circle. The leader is in the center of the playing ground. The leader cries: "Squirrels!" and all the players named as "squirrels" must exchange their places. While they are changing the leader tries to occupy any of the vacant places. If he/she manages to do it he/she becomes "the squirrel" and the former "squirrel", who has no place becomes the leader. At the command "Nuts!" or "Cones!" The players exchange the places accordingly. When the game is in full swing the leader may command: "Squirrels, nuts, cones!" Then all the players must exchange their places. Here you may stop the game.

88. BLIND MAN'S BUFF. ( Active.)
The instructor holds an open umbrella in his/her hands.
- Children, my umbrella longs to fly away. It longs to travel. Those, who are not afraid, follow me!
All the children stand under the instructor's umbrella. They are whirling to the music with the leader. Then it gets dark. (The instructor switches off the light.) Strange sounds are heard. (The instructor imitates animals' cries.)
- Where we are? It seems to me we are in jungles. Let's listen to the sounds. The trees want to tell us something. Can you hear? They propose us to play blind man's buff. But this game is not a usual one. (The children are given the masks of animals - bear, wolf, panther, monkey etc.)
- Who are you now? What tale have you remembered?
- "Jungle Book"!
- Right you are! Your leader is Mawgli, all of you - are his friends. Mawgli must remember the masks of the players. When he catches one of the players he must recognize the player by his/her mask. All the players may attract leader's attention by the sounds. But the players may only utter the sounds of the animals the masks of which they have. e.g. "the panther" may utter "mew", "r-r-r", "the snake" - "sh-sh-sh" etc.
You may make this game more difficult. All the children take different noise making and musical instruments: pipes, rattles, bells, mouth organs etc. The leader must recognize the players by the sounds of their instruments. The players exchange the instruments every round.

89. CITIES. ( Active.)
Draw some circles (1,5 m in diameter) on the ground. The circles are at the distance of about 2 m from each other. Each circle has the name of the city: Moscow, Washington, Berlin etc. The number of the circles is less by one the number of the players. At the instructor's command the players take up their places in the circles. One of the players has no "the city" of his/her own. He/she is a leader. The object of the leader is to occupy any of the vacant cities. The object of the players is "to tease" the leader. They decide upon their exchanging the cities behind the leader's back with the help of the gestures and run to each other's circles. In this moment the leader can take up any of these circles. The player who "looses" his/her circle becomes the leader.

90. WOLF AND HARE. ( Active.)
The players choose the leader and sit down on the ground in a circle. The leader slowly walks round the circle from the outside. As he/she walks he/she touches each player saying "wolf" or "hare". If the player is called "wolf" he/she stands up and runs down the leader, while the leader tries to take up the vacant place of the "wolf". If the leader takes up the vacant place, "the wolf" becomes the leader.

91. MUDDLE. ( Active.)
There are 2 teams in this game. The players of the first team stand with their backs to the other team. Meanwhile the players of the second team take each other by the hands and get into a circle. They begin "to tangle"(to step over each other's hands so as to make a tangled ball). While "tangling" the players mustn't let each other's hands go. The players of the first team must "untangle" this ball.

92. PASS THE BALLOON. ( Active.)
Players are in a circle. They pass the balloon to each other behind their backs, trying not to hold it for a long time in their hands. Then after the signal the player who has a balloon in his hands is out of the game.

93. WHO IS THE MOST ATTENTIVE? ( Active.)
The players get into a circle and fulfil the commands of the leader. But they must fulfil only those commands which begin with the word "Children". For example: "Children, squat!" "Children, link your arms!" "Stand apart!" The player, who fulfils the last command is out.

94. BLIND MAN'S BUFF ON THE SPOT. ( Active.)
The leaders is blindfolded and placed in the middle of the room. All the players choose their places at any piece of furniture (at the chair, table, sofa etc). Then "the blind man" turns around for several times and starts his search. All the rest players try not to be caught by him. But at the same time they mustn't leave their places. They are only allowed to squat, to bow, to climb on to their pieces of furniture etc. Anyway they must touch their places at least with the fingers or toes. Those who come off their places are out. The task of "the blind man" is not only to touch the player, but also to recognize him/her. If "the blind man" mistakes in identifying the person, all the rest clap their hands and the game goes on.

95. WHO HAS THE RING? ( Active.)
Take a little ring, pass string or fishing line through it so as to make a large circle with the ring on it. The players sit around the circle holding it in their hands. The leader is out of the circle. On hearing the signal the players pass the ring along the string round the circle. If the leader notices the ring in someone's hands, the player who has it becomes the leader.

96. MUSIC CHAIR. ( Active.)
It's probably the most popular game. Put several chairs in a circle with their backs inside. The number of the chairs must be less by one than the number of the players. As the music plays the players walk round the chairs. As the music stops, the players try to take their places on the chairs. The player who hasn't taken the place is out. After that take away one chair (as the number of players became less by one). The player who remains the last in the game is the winner. Sometimes you may change this game a little bit. As the music stops, the player, who hasn't taken the place, sits down on the lap of any player. Then one more chair is taken away. The game goes on until all the players sit on the lap of each other.

97. THE MOST PRACTICAL LADY. ( Active.)
Pour some wheat, peas, oats, beans etc. into the basin. All the ladies sit around the basin. They are blindfolded. Their task is to pick out as many peas as possible in one minute. The lady who manages to pick out the greatest number of peas is the most practical one.

98. VISITING THE GRANDMOTHER. ( Active.)
There are 2 teams (6 players each) in this game. The leader is "a grandmother". She sits at a table. On the table there is a tea-pot, two cups, two dishes with cookies. At the leaders command the grandchildren one at a time come to "the grandmother", greet her politely, ask her how does she feel, pour out a cup of tea take a cookie and thank "the grandmother". "The grandmother" chooses the kindest, the politest and the fastest "grandson/daughter" and gives him/her the prize.

99. RACE. ( Active.)
The players run over the blocks of wood in zigzag line riding a broom. The blocks of wood are at the distance of 2-3 m from each other. The player who runs the distance the first and doesn't topple over the blocks of wood is the winner.

100. PRIZE IN A LOOP. ( Active.)
On the table there are 2 prizes (e.g. an apple and a candy) over them there stands a stool. From the stool hang down two loops. The player must put his/her hand in them to take the prize. One of the players holds the ends of the laces with the loops in his/her hands. The second player tries to grab the prizes. The player who is caught by his hand looses one point as well as his opponent who doesn't succeed in tightening the loop. If the first player tightens the loop before the other touches the prize he also looses a point.

101. BLOW INTO A SMALL BOX. ( Active.)
Take an empty small box. Pull out a half of the inside part, put it to the mouth and blow into it. The small box may fly away rather far. So you may arrange a competition of "blow shooters". More over with the flying box you may: 1) hit a small circle 2) hit a paper target 3) hit a basket, which stands on the floor.

102. WHOSE BALLOON IS BIGGER? ( Active.)
This competition is very easy: the participants receive the balloons and begin to blow them up. The player whose balloon bursts is out of the game. The player who blows up the biggest balloon is the winner.

103. PUT A SHOT! ( Active.)
Pour 1/3 of glass of water into each balloon. Then blow up the balloons to an equal size. Draw 1.5 diameter circles on the floor with the chalk. The balloon is "a shot". The player must "put a shot" as far as possible. The player who puts "a shot" the fartherst is the winner.

104. WHO IS FASTER? ( Active.)
The players are divided into 2 teams. They sit on the chairs (though they may compete upright). The leader gives them two empty small boxes without their inside parts. The task is to pass a box round the team with the help of the…nose. If the box falls down, the player must put it on the nose again and continue to pass it.

105. NOT DEVIATING FROM THE ROUT. ( Active.)
The players of 2 teams form up in file. For each team they draw a 5-6 m line with the circle at its end. At the leader's command the players (one at a time) run along the line to the centre of the circle. As they are in the center of the circle, they raise the right hand and begin to go round looking upwards. On having made 5 full turns on the spot the players run back along the line, trying not to deviate from it. The team which finishes the competition the first wins.

106. LABYRINTH. ( Active.)
On the playground of 7x12 m put different obstacles (stools, skittles, maces, etc) as on chess board. In the yard you may use trees for obstacles. Draw a line between the obstacles. (If is "a labyrinth") The player steps on a line and tries to remember the rout. After that he/she is blindfolded. He/she must walk along the drawn way and go out the labyrinth without stumbling on the obstacles. The players go through the labyrinth in turn.

107. COLLECTING MUSHROOMS. ( Active.)
Put 12-15 plaster casts of mushrooms on the floor. Three players are blindfolded. They must gather in their baskets as many mushrooms as possible in 3 minutes. The player who manages to gather the greatest number of mushrooms wins the game.

108. ACCURATE TURN. ( Active.)
Put a chair or a stool on the playground. The player who wants to participate in this game sits down on a chair. Then he/she is blindfolded. After that he/she stands up, makes 5 steps forward, turns to the right, makes 5 more steps forward and again turns to the right. On having walked the perimeter of the playground in this way, the player stops and sits down on the chair again. The player who manages to do it wins the game.

109. CUTTING OFF THE PRIZES. ( Active.)
Hang some prizes by string from the ceiling. Wrap up the prizes with the many-colored paper so that the players cannot guess what kind of prizes these are. The player who wants to get a prize is blindfolded and given scissors. The player comes to the string and cuts off one of the prizes.

110. BLACK AND WHITE. ( Active.)
The players are divided into 2 teams: "black" and "white". The teams stand in lines facing each other. The leader throws a cardboard disk (one side of which is black, the other is white). Depending on the side of the disk which faces up (white or black) the players of one team try to catch the players of the other. The team which has the greatest number of captives wins. The players may begin catching their rivals only at the leader's command "White!" or "Black!"

111. PROHIBITED MOVEMENTS. ( Active.)
The players get into a circle. They stand at the distance of stretched arms from each other. The leader is in the center of the circle. He/she makes different movements and the players repeat all of them exactly. But there are 2 movements that the players mustn't repeat. Instead of them they must make other movements. Upon these movements the players agree beforehand c.f. When the leader puts his/her hands on the back of the head the players must squat, or when the leader bends forward, the players must clap their hands etc. The player who makes mistakes is out of the game.

112. FETCH AN APPLE. ( Active.)
Two teams take part in this game. Each team consists of 6 players. The teams form up in lines. The first 2 players in each line are given the tea spoons. At the distance of 8 m from the teams there are 2 chairs. On each chair there is an apple. The first players run to the chairs with their spoons and put the apples on them without using the hands. Then they run back, put the apples onto the spoons of the second players and give their spoons to the third players of their teams. If the apple falls down the players must pick it with the help of their spoons and continue the game. The winners and the conquered get apples as the prize.

113. NIGHT PATROL. ( Active.)
Two players are chosen as scouts. They stand in the center of the room at the distance of stretched arms from each other. All the rest players must go through the room so as not to be caught by the scouts. The scouts are blindfolded. They mustn't leave their places, they may only bend, and move their hands. The players who are caught by the scouts are out of the game. They must pay a forfeit. Repeat the game 2 times. Change the scouts. The scouts who don't cope with task play the forfeit.

114. PROBLEM BURDEN. ( Active.)
The players (2 of each team) are given 2 sticks (0,5m long) and a board (70-75cm long) with a little flag fortified on it. The players of each team stand hand in hand, holding their sticks parallel to the ground. On the sticks they put a board. They must carry this board to the agreed place. If the board falls down the players must pick it up and go on their way.

115. WHO IS FASTER? ( Active.)
Put 2 chairs with their backs to each other at the distance of 2m. Put a long string under the chairs. The ends of the string are between the feet of the players sitting on the chairs. Tie a little sac with some sweets or nuts to the middle of the string. At the leader's command, the players must stand up, run over the chairs of their rivals, sit down on their own chairs and haul up a prize on the string. The player who manages to do it the first gets the prize.

116. MERRY COOKS. ( Active.)
You'll need 2 cook's caps, 2 cook's robes and 2 aprons. All these put on the stools near each team at the start line. On each opposite stool put a mug with water, a bottle with a wide neck and a spoon. Divide the players into 2 teams. Each team forms up a line at the start line. At the leader's command the first players of each team run to the 1st stool, put on a cap, a robe and an apron and run to the opposite stool. There they take spoons, ladle some water from the mugs, pour it into the bottles. Then they run to their teams, take off the caps, robes and aprons and give them to the next player. The second player of each team quickly puts on the clothes and does the same task, etc.

117. MANY COLORED GARLANDS OF BALLOONS. ( Active.)
Each team is given many-colored balloons, lace and string. At the leader's command the team must make a many-colored garland of balloons. So they must blow up the balloons, tie them with the string and make a garland. Who'll make it better and faster?

118. FROM 1 TO 5. ( Active.)
You'll need plastic balls (different in size) and 2 plastic hockey sticks. Two teams (5 players in each one) compete in this game. The first players of the teams must pass one ball each with the help of the stick to the finish-line. At the finish line there stands a chair. The player must pass the ball round it and return back to his team with the ball. The second player of each team passes 2 plastic balls, the third - 3, the fourth - 4, the fifth - 5. It's very difficult, but amazing. The team which manages to pass the greatest number of balls wins the game.

119. MERRY PORTERS. ( Active.)
You'll need 10 balloons for this competition. 2 players of each team participate in it. Their task is to take 5 balloons (not by the strings) and to carry them to the opposite wall of the room.

120. WHO SEWS FASTER? ( Active.)
Two teams take part in this game. The players of each team must "sew" the players to one another as quickly as possible. Instead of the needle they use a spoon with the long thread or string tied to it. The players may be sewed to each other by the belts, straps or loops on the clothes.