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Game Name: Zip Zap Zop (Zoing!)
Game Type: Movement, sound, impulse
# of Players: 3-20
Ideal Setting: A big clear open space for lots of movement
HOW the game is played:
Players stand in a circle and make a Z-sound & directional move or gesture, and the move is 'passed' or repeated by each player around the circle until someone messes up. The order of the Z-sounds are: 1) Zip, 2) Zap, 3) Zop, 4) Zip, 5) Zap... and so on until the group gets good at it. Then you can add more elements such as Zoing! (this sound creates a nice reverb effect) following the Zop, or a Block! move where the recipient of the Z-sound creates a shield-movement (for example, holding up their forearms), which bounces the Z-sound back to its giver, at which point they explode or have to pass it to someone else.
Variations: 'blah' or impulse pass, which is a more free form version, and suggests any sound and movement, do do it without thinking about it at all and letting your voice and body be free to react on impulse.
Tips: Keep it fast and impulsive, throw in silly moves.
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Game Name:Tiny Toe Tag
Game Type: Tag variation for smaller spaces
# of Players:5-10
Ideal Setting: on a large clear rug indoors, everyone taking their shoes off
HOW the game is played. Played like normal tag except that the 'it' player can only tag other players with their toes, on to their toes,
Tips: emphasize agility and nimbleness, don't allow stomping, and stop if anyone gets hurt, light fast touches work the best anyways.
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Game Name: Jumping Toe Tag
Game Type: Tag variation for smaller spaces
# of Players:3-10
Ideal Setting: on a large clear rug indoors, or on the grass outdoors. Make sure either everyone is wearing shoes, or no one is wearing shoes.
HOW the game is played: Players begin in a circle, standing with their feet shoulder-length apart. The order players are standing in establishes the turn-order of the game (i.e. one person starts, the person to their left goes next, and so on— it's tricky because the circle soon dissolves.) The first person starts by jumping with both feet simultaneously (this is the only way anyone can move in this game) at someone else's feet; their objective is to jump ontop of one of that person's feet. It's easier said than done because the person you're jumping at is allowed to jump away. Then, it's the next person's turn to try jumping on someone's feet. You're out if you get jumped on.
Rule clarification: you are only allowed to jump with both feet simultaneously; you are only allowed to jump if 1) someone seems to be jumping at you (defense jump) or 2) it's your turn (offense jump).
Tips: emphasize agility and nimbleness, don't allow stomping, and stop if anyone gets hurt. No shoes or all shoes.
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Game Name: What are you Doing?
Game Type: pantomime
# of Players: 3-10
Ideal Setting: a clear space with players in a circle
HOW the game is played: the starting player pantomimes and activity, and the player next to them asks 'what are you doing?' the first player responds with any activity other than the one they are pantomiming. The player who asked immediately begins to pantomime the activity that the first player said they were doing. This continues around the circle.
Variations:
Tips: Emphasize impulsive answers, and instantly beginning the pantomime, don't let the players 'think' too much about it. Let the miming player have a second or two to mime the action before they are asked 'what are you doing?'
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Game Name: Guess the Leader
Game Type: Movement, guessing
# of Players: 7-15
Ideal Setting: in a clear space with group seated in a circle.
HOW the game is played: One player is chosen as the 'guesser' and is sent out of the room or somewhere where they can't hear or see the group for a moment. While the guesser is gone, the rest of the group decides on a leader. The group is to follow the movements of this leader, but try not to let the guesser know who it is. The leader starts a movement, and the whole group joins in. The guesser returns and stands in the middle of the circle, watching the group to see who is leading it. The leaders goal is to keep changing up the movements without the guesser guessing that they are the leader. The guesser gets three guesses at who is leading the movement.
Variations:
Tips: Remind the group not to all watch the leader, to be conscious of their eye contact. Tell the leaders to keep changing up the movements, its impossible to guess the leader if the movement is just staying the same continuously.
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Game Name: Atom
Game Type: Energizer, partner sorter, introductions (getting to know one another)
# of Players: any
Ideal Setting: open space indoors or outdoors
HOW the game is played: One staff member takes charge to be the caller (big voice). Jammers mill around the space; exploring, changing directions...etc. The caller, at any time, shout outs "ATOM (any number) !" Jammers then group together in groups of whichever number was called.
Variations:
To make it a "get to know each other" game, instead of numbers, the caller can shout:
~Find everyone with a birthday in the same month as you.
~Group together with everyone who's the same age as you.
~Join hands with some one who is the same height as you.
...and so on...
It can become a game of elimination, by simply asking those jammers who couldn't find a group to sit down, become viewers...
Tips: If the "get to know each other" version is played it is very easy for the game to get really noisy (with every jammer yelling out their height...ect) so a suggestion would be for the caller to also announce the challenge of finding them silently. Ex: "Without speaking find someone who is the same height as you," and "By using your hands see if you can find everyone who is the same age as you without talking."
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Game Name: Human Machine Game
Game Type: Movement, vocal, cooperative, silly, symbolic
# of Players: Between 3-15
Ideal Setting: In a clear space with a group that is comfortable being in each others personal space, touching, and being silly.
HOW the game is played: Players one at a time add a repeating sound and movement to a machine made up only of human bodies and voices. The facilitator encourages players to watch each other and to let each person go one at a time, and incorporating yourself somehow into the movement of the other parts of the machine when you feel comfortable to. once all the parts are added the facilitator can change the speed of the machine, it can creak to a slow stop or it can be going so fast it explodes and all players blow apart and fall over. before, after or during the game the group can decide what the machine is making.
Variations: This works well as a symbolic game; for example at a bay area childcare collective retreat we wrote down various reasons why childcare is important on strips of paper, passed them out, and had each participant condense their sentence into a phrase & motion. Then we built a Perpetual Radical Childcare Machine, and it was awesome!
Tips: Let people add themselves when they are comfortable, don't make an order, or put people on the spot. Encourage movements and sounds that are repetative short, and sustainable to be doing over and over again for 2-3 minutes.
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Game Name: Human Knot
Game Type: movement, problem solving, cooperation
# of Players: 6-15
Ideal Setting: clear open space
HOW the game is played: Players all stand in a circle. All players put their right hand in the circle, and find somebodies hand to shake across from them. without letting go of their right hand hold, they put their left hand into the circle and grab onto someone elses hand. In the middle of the circle should be a knot of arms. the goal is to untangle the knot without anyone letting go of each others hands.
Variations: Can be played with talking or silently, can be played blind folded.
Tips: Make sure the group knows each other and is comfortable being in each others personal space and touching.
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Game Name: Dox-En-Eye (taken from Rediscovery, condensed)
Game Type: silly, creative
# of Players: 4 - lots
Ideal Setting: open space
Supplies: a stick
HOW the game is played:
Two equal size teams stand or sit facing each other 5 to 10 metres apart. One member from each team comes forward to compete for the Dox-En-Eye stick, a straight stick one metre long. Decide who has first turn by placing hand over hand until there is no room left on the stick. The winner returns to hi/her team, and begins pounding on the ground with the stick, shouting: "Dox-En-Eye, Dox-En-Eye, send us Shirley." The person named on the opposite team must turn stone-faced and slowly cross the clearing to take the stick away from the opposite team, and return to his/her original position WITHOUT SMILING. The opposing team can do any and everything short of actually touching the person to make them lose their composure. If the person called smiles or laughs, they become a member of the team that called them. Another person is then called by the same team. If the person called gets the Dox-En-Eye stick back to the team from which he/she came, that team does the calling. The game continues until everyone is on one team.
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Game Name: Deer Ears (AKA Deer Fears?-ed.) (Rediscovery 194, condensed & adapted)
Game Type: Learning, sensory, fear/adrenaline
# of Players: 4 - lots
Ideal Setting: open space
Supplies: blindfold (bandannas/etc); antlers optional
Introduction:
Have you ever wondered why a deer's ears are so big? Have participants cup their hands behind their ears to simulate a deer's. Without changing your tone of voice, ask participants if they think you are talking louder now. The apparent change in volume is dramatic.
HOW the game is played:
To demonstrate how important a deer's hearing is, one person is blindfolded & kneels like a deer grazing at night (with hand-cupped ears). *Be sure to keep the deer's ears exposed when tying the blindfold. *Small branches (antlers) tied to the deer's head adds to the role-play. The rest of the group becomes predators, wolves or cougars. Predators start at least 15 metres away from the deer. When instructor gives signal to begin stalking, predators slowly and silently pursue their prey. If the predators get close enough to snatch a cloth 'tail' from the deer's back pocket, then the deer is dead. If the deer hears you coming and points in your direction, saying "starve!", then you return to the starting line.
"Now a deer can't stop eating & flee with every little movement it hears, or it would probably starve itself. So to make the situation more realistic, the deer can only point as many times as there are predators (plus 2 extra)."
The person who kills the deer becomes the next deer.
Variations:
Tips: I would start without the point-limit for the deer, and add it if the deer is living for too long. Ps. This game sounds terrifying to me. Gauge the comfort-levels of the kids, and check in. No traumatizing kids! Another idea is to have adults start as the deer.
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Group poems
This is a nice activity to capture the energy in heightened moments - on a cliff over a beautiful view, after an intense shared experience. Everyone writes 1 line on a certain topic (where you are, an experience you all shared, etc.)...read out one after another. (One person can read all of the lines, or each person can read the line s/he wrote.
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Game Name: Dancing Freeze Tag Pom Pom Snatch
Game Type: Tag Variation for less space
# of Players: 3-9
Ideal Setting: in a room with some open space, obstacles make for fun
Supplies: 1 pom pom (or bandanna or scarf)
HOW the game is played: Divide the space into two zones: Safety Zone and the Frozen Wastes. One person is It; they live in the Frozen Wastes. They put the pom pom in their back pocket. They are protecting it. Everyone else tries to get the pom pom and bring it back to the Safety Zone. The person who does becomes It next. If they are tagged in any way by the person who's It, however, they freeze, until a comrade tags them. ALSO: Dancing only.
Variations: We played that you could run in between songs when the music stopped. That was fun. Could try this outdoors with running. P.S. thanks to the kids & friends at the 2010 Femme Conference for (re?)inventing this game and playing it for hours.
Tips: Varied terrain makes for a more interesting game (tables/chairs to circle, etc).
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