Group Games
- Hot Potato
Players stand close together and pass (gently toss) a ‘potato’. You don't have to pass it in a circle. The ‘potato’ can be a ball or other object. There is a leader who must stand so they cannot see the other players. When the leader says ‘potato’, the player holding the potato is out. Keep playing until one player is left. If the potato is in the air when the leader says ‘potato’, nobody is out for that round. -
The Lonely Ghost Card Game
You will need: the same number of playing cards as you have players (one of the cards must be a joker) and five or more players.
Deal each player one card (face down). Everyone glances at their card without showing it to the others. The player with the joker is the lonely ghost. This player will try to make the other players into ghosts by winking at them. The trick is, wink so only that person sees you winking. If the lonely ghost winks at a player and they see the wink, they are out of the game. Once winked at, the player must count to five in their head and then say, “You Got Me”.
If a player thinks they know who the ghost is, they can ask “Are you the lonely ghost?” If they guess correctly, they win. If they don't, that player becomes a ghost and is out of the game. If the ghost makes everyone else into ghosts without being caught, they win the game. Only the ghost is allowed to wink. -
Simon Says
You will need four or more players. One player is ‘Simon’ and the other players stand in front of Simon. Simon tells the group to do different actions by saying “Simon says…(and whatever he wants them to do--like stand on one foot, or hop up and down or touch their nose).” The group then follows Simon’s command. If they don't do what he asks right away, they are placed out of the game. Simon can also give commands without saying "Simon says"’ to try and trick players. If players do what he asks without the 'Simon says', they are placed out of the game. Listen carefully! The last player out is Simon in the next game. -
Farmer in the Dell
10 or more players hold hands and dance in circle around one player who is the farmer. As everyone sings the song (below) the farmer picks someone from the dancing circle to be his wife. The wife then picks a child, the child picks a nurse, the nurse picks a dog, the dog picks a cat, the cat picks a mouse, and finally, the mouse picks the cheese. The player who is the cheese becomes the farmer in the next round.
Sing this song as everyone dances:
The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the Derry-O
The farmer in the dell
The farmer takes a wife (or wife takes a child, or the child takes a nurse, etc as the song goes on)
The farmer takes a wife (or wife takes a child, or the child takes a nurse, etc)
Hi-Ho, the Derry-O
The farmer takes a wife (or wife takes a child, or the child takes a nurse, etc) Human Knot
The more people you have the harder this one gets! Everyone stands in a circle and grabs hands with whatever hands they can. Once everyone has someone else’s hand in each hand, everyone slowly tries to untie the human knot to form a large circle. But don’t let go of anyone’s hand!-
Charades
One player acts out a word, phrase, movie title, person, or pretty much anything they can think of and the rest of the group tries to guess what they are acting out. The player cannot speak or make any noises while acting out their charade. The player who guesses correctly gets to act out the next charade.
Here are a few ideas to get you started: Drink, Swim, Driving, Man on the moon, Cat, Tree, Singing, Baby, Crying, Eating, School, Milking a cow, Making a cake, Birthday party, Fight, Snowman, Watching a movie, Building a sand castle -
Human Gumby
You will need four people. If you have more than four people, the extras can be the audience.
One player stands still (Gumby) while another player (the controller) comes up behind. The controller makes Gumby move by arranging Gumby’s arms, legs, and head. The other two players are a controller and a Gumby too. While the controllers are moving the Gumbys around, the two Gumbys try to have a conversation that makes sense with what their bodies are doing. -
Improv Freeze Tag
Improv or Improvisation is a form of drama/acting. Instead of having a script to tell the actors and actresses what to do, the actors and actresses make it up as they go. It can be silly and also very challenging!
You will need at least five people.
Two to three players stand on ‘the stage’ and start improvising a conversation or activity for the rest of the group. They may have been given a theme, activity or idea by the group to get them started. (Some ideas: a wedding, breaking up with a boyfriend, grocery shopping, meeting a new friend, digging a hole—it can be anything you can think of!) Once the group gets going, someone from the audience yells, “freeze!” The actors ‘freeze’ and the audience member who yelled ‘freeze’ replaces someone on stage and continues with the acting. The player they have replaced goes and joins the audience. There can be as many ‘freezes’ as the group wants or until the group wants to go with a new idea. -
Honey, Please Smile
You will need at least four people for this game. One player tries to make one of the other players smile. To do this they need to go up to someone in the group and say, “honey, if you love me will you please smile.” They are not allowed to say anything else, but they can be funny in other ways. The player who has been asked must reply, “I am sorry, but I don’t love you”. They cannot smile. If they smile, they have to trade places. -
Musical Chairs
Materials needed: music, chairs and at least five people
Place the chairs in a circle, with the backs of the chairs together in the center of the circle. One player is in charge of the music, the others try to find a chair to sit on when the music stops. Put out one chair for everyone, minus one chair. For example, if you have five people, one is in charge of the music and four are playing, so you need three chairs.
When the music person turns the music on, the players walk around the chairs. Without looking at the players, the music person randomly turns off the music. As soon as the music stops, everyone tries to quickly sit down. Whoever is left without a chair when the music stops is out. After each round, take one chair out. Keep playing until there is only one player left.
VARIATIONS: Squeeze in Musical Hula Hoop. Instead of using chairs, place a hoop or towel in the center. When the music stops, everyone tries to squeeze onto the towel or into the hoop. - Spoons
You will need 4 or more players, a spoon for each player (minus one player), and a deck of cards.
Spoons are placed in the middle of the players where everyone can reach them. One spoon per player, minus one player. So, if you have 4 players, put out 3 spoons. From the deck of cards, pull out 4 cards for each player. The 4 cards for each player need to be the same. (For example, pull out 4 jacks.) Shuffle all the cards together. Each player gets dealt four cards. Players look at their cards. If all four of their cards are the same, they grab a spoon. As soon as one player grabs for a spoon, everyone else does too. The player who does not get a spoon, is out of the game. If nobody happens to have been dealt all four the same, everyone gives away one card by passing it, face down, to the player on their right. They look a the card they have been given. They can keep it, or pass it along.
Variations: Players, once out, stay out until there is only one player with a spoon left. They are the winner. (As players leave the game, remove a spoon.) Or, players who didn't get a spoon can still play in the next round.