from Katie Barron
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The Name Game:
Supplies: If you do this outside, you need paper plates, if you do this inside you need masking tape.
Preparation: Have everyone make a circle with the leader in the middle. Everyone in the circle marks their place (with a paper plate or an "X" of masking tape). There is now one less marker than there are people.
Play: The person in the middle says her name and something she likes. Ex: My name is Katie and I like dogs. Then everyone else who likes the same thing (ie, dogs) has to run to another plate. The person in the middle also runs to a plate. Whoever is left without a plate ends up in the middle for the next round.
Rules: (1)You can't just move to the plate next to you.
(2) You can't push anyone off a plate.
This keeps going until everyone has had a turn. You may get to a point where one person has been in the middle multiple times, so you just have that person pick someone who hasn't been in the middle and they switch places.
Rope Cooperation Game (this game was taught to me by Lorena, a great Girl Scout leader!)
Take a piece of rope (length = number of people * 1.5, so if you have 20 people you need about 30 feet of rope) and tie the ends together so you have one big loop. Have the people stand around the outside of the loop, holding it. Then ask them to make different shapes. Start easy, with a circle, move up to a square, triangle, heart, 5 pointed star, 6
pointed star, etc. To make it really challenging, have them do it without talking!
Cat and Mouse (also called Elbow Tag)
Note: You will need an even number of people (If you have an extra person, get the adults involved!). It can be played indoors if there is a little room to run.
Each player picks a partner and links arms (one person's right arm through the other person's left arm, the opposite arms free). These couples space themselves out in the playing area. Split one couple. One person is the Cat(who will chase the mouse), and the other is the mouse (who runs from the cat). The object of the game is for the Cat to catch
the Mouse.
When the leader says "Go", the Cat chases the Mouse. If the Mouse is about to be caught, she can link arms with the nearest couple (making a threesome). Since a group can only have 2 people, the person whose arm is not linked with the Mouse must let go and this person becomes the new Mouse. The new Mouse runs away from the Cat and can link arms with a couple when about to be caught; again, the person in the couple whose are is not linked with the mouse lets go and becomes the new mouse.
When the Cat finally tags the Mouse, they trade places (Mouse becomes Cat, Cat becomes Mouse) and immediately the Cat tries to catch the Mouse.
The game usually continues until everyone loses track of who's who!! (Not hard to do!)
Suggestion: The first time you play, have the cat and mouse walk as you demonstrate how to play. Once everyone is sure of the rules, speed things up. Game play can be very fast!!
Cooperative Juggling
You will need some soft items to toss around. I like to use beanie babies because they don't roll when the get dropped! Have everyone stand in a circle. The leader starts with one item and throws it to a person across from her. That person throws to someone
else, until everyone has had the beanie baby; the last person throws it back to the leader. Note: People need to keep track of who they are throwing to and who they are receiving from because this won’t change throughout the game. After you do one cycle, do it again just so everyone knows who they are throwing to. Then do it again, but add another item. After they master 2 items, add a third. With 10-12 kids, we usually max out at 4 items, 5 is really hard!
Here are some websites for you to check out:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Woods/4864/games.html#Human%20Knots
[http://northonline.sccd.ctc.edu/eceprog/games.html - link gone bad?]
http://www.team-creations.com/toolbox.htm#Games - link gone bad?
http://www.geocities.com/gsgreenneck/coopgames.html
http://teachers.net/archive/noncompetitive.html
http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Glade/6694/cooperat.html
http://www.kudu.net/outdoor/games/b-p/index.htm
http://www.geocities.com/gsgreenneck/games.html
http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/puppet/989/ipc/