Games

On this page you will find Running Games, Walking/Standing Games, Sitting Games and Paper Games.
New games that I learnt at Our Chalet are highlighted in blue!

RUNNING GAMES

LADDERS
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
Get the girls to line up in a double line. Number each pair of girls off (or give them each names), and have the pairs face each other and sit down, legs out straight in front of them, so that their feet touch their partner's feet. Make sure there is at least 2-3 feet of space between each pair of girls. The effect of this arrangement is to create a "ladder" of girls, with their legs as the rungs.
Call out pair numbers (or names) in a random order. When a pair's number (or name) is called, they must stand up, run up the "ladder" of legs to the start of the line, down the outsides of the ladder, and then back up the middle of the ladder again to their seat. You can play each half of the ladder as a team, so that whoever of the pair gets to their seat first, their team wins a point.
If "Ladders" is called, then the first pair gets up and runs, when one girl is back to her place, the person next to her may go. This continues until one 'team' has finished and they get a point.
Two or more pairs may be called at any time.
Also, instructions may be given as how they have to do the running down the outside (eg. hopping, skipping, jumping, etc).
Because this is such an active running game, it should be stressed to the girls that while people are running up and down the ladder, everyone else should keep their legs right down on the ground to avoid tripping people. This is also a game where shoes (instead of stocking feet) are a must!
You can also play Adding Ladders - where each pair are given a number and the leader calls out addition or subtraction questions - if the answer is their number, then they run.

LIFE
Equipment:
Tennis ball, large outdoor area.
Explanation:
One girl starts as "It". She must throw (or bounce) the tennis ball straight up and call out the name of another girl. That other girl (who is now It) must try to catch the ball before it bounces.
If she does catch it, then she immediately throws the ball up and calls out someone else's name.
If she does not catch the ball, everyone else runs away from her as fast as they can. When she picks the ball up she calls "freeze" and everyone must freeze. She must roll the ball at someone and try to hit them. If she does hit them, then they are 'out' and must sit on the sidelines. If she does not hit them, then they are It and they have to throw the ball up and call out another name.
(An alternative to having girls sitting out is to award a point every time someone would be 'out' and then at the end it is the person with the least points who wins).

THREE LEGGED SOCCER
Equipment:
Soccer ball, large outdoor area, rope or bandages for tying legs together.
Explanation:
Put the girls in pairs and have them tie their legs together, as if they were entering a three-legged race.
Play an ordinary game of soccer.

FARMERS AND COWS
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
Two girls are chosen to be the Farmers, and the rest of the unit are the Cows.
First run:
All the Cows line up against one wall and on the word "go" they have to run to the opposite wall. Any girls that are tagged by the Farmers have to stand still where they were tagged. The remaining Cows wait at the opposite wall.
Second run:
On the word "go" the Cows try to run back to the original wall without being caught by the Farmers. The girls that were tagged in the first run are "Fence Posts" (stage 1) and have to stand perfectly still with their arms by their sides. if a Cow runs into a Fence Post then they are 'tagged' and must stand still.
Third run:
On the third run, those who have been Fence Posts become "Fences" (stage 2) and have their arms spread out. Those who were tagged in the second run are now Fence Posts. Any new Cows who are tagged by either the Farmers, the Fences or the Fence Posts must stand still where they were tagged.
Fourth run:
Those who were Fences during the third run now become "Electric Fences" (stage 3 - final stage) and can move their arms and body around as long as their feet stay still. Those who were Fence Posts become Fences, and those who were tagged become Fence Posts.
Fifth run:
Those who were Electric Fences stay as Electric Fences, those who were Fences become Electric Fences and so on...
The game ends when only two girls are left running. They become the two new Farmers and the game starts again.

TEEPEES & INDIANS
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
All the girls must find a partner and form one big circle - one partner sits in front and the other partner stands behind. The girl sitting in the front is the Indian, and must sit with her knees crossed and her arms folded in front of her (like an Red Indian chief). The girl standing behind has her legs wide apart and her palms together above her head (she is the Teepee).
If the Leader calls "Indians", all the Indians have to crawl through their partners' legs, run clockwise around the circle and back through their partners' legs. The last Indian sitting up straight is out (and so is her Teepee partner).
If the Leader calls "Teepees", all the Teepees step backwards and run clockwise around the circle. The last Teepee who is back at her place with her arms above her head is out (and so is her Indian partner).
Girls who are out sit in the middle of the circle.
The game continues until just one pair are left and they are declared the winners.

HOTELS
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
Girls must get into groups of three and form 'hotels'. A 'hotel' involves two girls in the group holding hands, facing each other, and the other girl stands in between them. There are also two girls left over - one is Chaser and the other is the Chasee. The Chaser chases the Chasee and the Chasee can duck into one of the 'hotels'. The girl who was in the middle of the hotel becomes the new Chasee and continues trying to evade the Chaser. If the Chasee is tagged by the Chaser, then their roles are reversed. Girls who are part of a 'hotel' must switch every so often so that the girl who are holding hands get a chance to be in the middle of the hotel and hence get a chance to be Chasee/Chaser.
Variation: 'Links' - where girls in groups of three link elbows and when the Chasee links onto the end of one group the girl who is on the other edge becomes the new Chasee.

PRISONERS
Equipment:
One chair for every 2 girls.
Explanation:
The chairs are placed quite a tight circle. Girls must get into pairs - one of the pair sits on the chair, the other stands behind them. One chair is left empty, but it does have a girl standing behind it. That girl is 'it' and has to wink at any girl sitting in a chair. If a girl is winked at she must try to run from her chair to sit in the empty chair. But if her partner taps her on the shoulder before she leaves her chair, then she must sit back down and 'it' tries to wink at someone else.
If the girl does manage to make it to the empty chair, then her former partner (who is now behind an empty chair) is the new 'it'.
After a while, have the partners swap over so all girls get a chance of sitting and trying to run.
This game really encourages the girls to be observant.

HOCKEY
Equipment:
Small soft ball, large area, 1 hockey stick (a roll of newspaper taped tightly) per girl, 4 cones to form the 'goals', a scarf for every second girl.
Explanation:
The girls form two teams - one team wears the scarves, the other team are the 'no scarves'. Each girl has a 'hockey stick'. Each team picks a goal keeper to stand in front of their goal. The game starts with one girl from each team in the middle of the hall with the ball - they tap their sticks on the floor then tap the other stick chanting "hockey one, hockey two, hockey three". On "hockey three" the game begins and each team tries to hit the ball into the other team's goal. Any girl who raises her hockey stick above her waist has to sit out for a minute. Each time a goal is scored, a new goalkeeper for each team is picked and two new girls start off in the middle.

OCTOPUS
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
One girl starts as the Octopus, and she stands in the middle of the hall. The rest of the unit line up against one wall and try to run to the other side of the hall without being caught by the Octopus. If the Octopus catches someone, they must hold hands and run together. Other girls who are caught also join the Octopus. Once there are about 5 girls as the Octopus, you can divide the Octopus into two Octopi. The last girl to be caught is the new Octopus.

SHIP TO SHORE
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
All the girls stand in a line going down the middle of the hall. The Leader is the caller, and calls out various directions. The girls must follow the directions, and the last one to follow each direction is out.
Port - run to the left side of the hall
Starboard - run to the right side of the hall.
Bow - run to the front of the hall.
Stern - run to the back of the hall.
Lifeboats of (number) - form a group with that number of girls and sit down in a row. Any girl who is not part of a group is out.
Captain's coming - stand straight and salute.
Captain's gone - stick out your tongue, make a silly face.
Captain's daughter - tilt your head and curl your hair around your finger.
Scrub the deck - down on hands and knees, pretending to scrub the floor.
Climb the rigging - make climbing motions.
Cannonball - curl into a ball on the ground.
Man overboard - lie flat on the floor.

RATS AND RABBITS
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
The girls must form two teams, and stand in two straight lines, parallel to each other. One team is the Rats and the other team are the Rabbits. The Leader stands at the front and calls "Rrrrr.....RATS" or "Rrrrr....RABBITS". If 'Rats' is called, all the Rabbits must run away from the Rats. Any Rabbit who is caught by a Rat becomes a Rat as well.
The girls reform their lines (with the new Rats included in the Rats line). The game continues until just one girl remains on one of the teams.

FRUIT SALAD
Equipment:
Chairs - one less chair than number of girls.
Explanation:
The girls are seated in chairs in a circle around the girl who doesn't have a chair. Each girl sitting down (and the girl in the middle) gets the name of a fruit (the number of fruits depends on the number of girls - each fruit should have about 3-5 girls). The girl in the middle calls out the name of one of the fruits and everyone who is that fruit must get up and run to a different chair while the girl in the middle tries to sit in one of the chairs. One girl will miss out on a chair and she is now in the middle. The girl in the middle can also call out "Fruit Salad" which means everyone has to stand up and run to a different chair.

FROG!
Equipment:
One toy frog (or change the name for a different toy animal).
Explanation:
The girls must form two teams. Team A starts in a line with the Frog held by the girl at the back of the line. Team B starts standing in a tight circle. On the word 'go' Team A has to pass the frog alternating over heads and under legs until it gets to the front of the line. The girl at the front of the line then throws the Frog as far away as she can, yelling "Frog!". Team B, meanwhile, stands in a tight circle and one girl from Team B runs laps around the bunch of girls while the other girls keep count of the number of laps completed.
When "Frog!" is yelled, Team B form a line and one girl runs to collect the Frog and starts passing it over and under from the back of the line. Meanwhile, Team A have formed a tight circle and one girl is running laps.
See which team has done more laps after 5 minutes.

DODGE
Equipment:
A soft ball.
Explanation:
The girls must form two teams. Team A forms a large circle while the Team B all stand inside the circle. Team A roll the ball back and forwards trying to hit the girls in Team B. Anyone in Team B who is hit by the ball below the knee is out and joins the circle to roll the ball as well. When only one girl from Team B is left, swap the teams over so Team B form the circle and Team A is all inside the circle.

KNOTTING RELAY
Equipment:
Rope for knotting
Explanation:
The girls must form two equal teams. Team A stand in a line and Team B stand in a circle. The Leader tells the first girl from Team A what type of knot she has to tie. While she ties it, the first girl from Team B has to run laps around the outside of the circle - 1 point is scored for every lap. Then the next girl from each team takes their respective turns. Once all of Team A have tied one knot, the teams switch and Team B ties the knots while Team A runs the laps.

PRINCESS AND DRAGON
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
Girls must find a partner, link at their elbows and find a space to stand. One pair do not link up, but instead one girl becomes the ‘Princess’ and one girl becomes the ‘Dragon’. The Dragon must roar with her arms above her head and chase the Princess, who runs away squealing “eeeeeee”. To avoid being caught by the Dragon, the Princess can link up with a girl who is already in a pair. The other girl in the pair is then released and she becomes the Dragon, and the girl who was the Dragon becomes the Princess and must run away. If the Dragon does catch the Princess, then they swap roles and continue chasing.

KATI
Equipment:
Soft ball
Explanation:
Girls are organised into two teams. Team A stands in a group in the middle of the playing area, and Team B forms a large circle around them. Team B throws the ball back and forwards between themselves and try to hit members of Team A. If a member of Team A is hit, they must sit out of the circle. But Team A can also earn points to allow members of their team to come back into the game. If a member of Team A catches the ball, they earn 5 points for their team. If they do a star jump so that the ball passes between their legs, they earn 10 points. For each 50 points that Team A earns, one of their players may return to the circle. When all of Team A are out, the two teams switch over so that Team A forms the circle and Team B are inside the circle.

MOUSETRAP
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
Two girls hold hands to form an arch, and the rest of the girls run around in a circle, so that they pass through the arch. When the leader calls “Mousetrap”, the girls making the arch bring their arms down and catch as many people as possible within their arms. The girls who are caught join hands with the two original arch girls, and a larger arch (or circle) is formed. The remaining girls continue running in a circle and passing through the arch. The leader again calls “Mousetrap” and the girls caught inside the arch or circle must form part of the arch. This continues until only 1 girl is left as the winner.

LAY THE TABLE
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
All girls stand in a line down the centre of the room. The leader may call out one of four different instructions. If she says “Forks”, girls must run to the left hand side of the room. If she says “Knives”, girls must run to the right hand side of the room. If she says “Spoons”, girls must run back to the centre of the room. If she says “Lay the Table”, girls must sit down exactly where they are. The last girl to obey each instruction is out.

SHARK ATTACK
Equipment:
One sheet of newspaper per girl.
Explanation:
Lay all the sheets of newspaper out on the floor. These are islands, and the rest of the floor is water. One girl is picked to be a ‘shark’, and the rest of the girls are swimmers. The swimmers must ‘swim’ around the room until the shark calls “Shark Attack!”. The swimmers must all try to get on an island to avoid being ‘eaten’ by the shark, and therefore out. During each round, several sheets of newspaper are removed by the shark, so more and more people are forced to share islands. Eventually there will only be one island left, and several winning girls.

NON-ELIMINATION MUSICAL CHAIRS
Equipment:
One chair for every girl, music (eg CD player).
Explanation:
Each girl sits in a chair, and when the music plays, everyone gets off their chair and dances around the room. When the music stops each girl must sit on a chair. During each round, several chairs are taken away, and girls are forced to share chairs (by sitting on top of each other). Nobody is ‘out’, it is just fun to pile as many girls on one chair as possible. Stop when it looks like getting dangerous!

BEAR FAMILY
Equipment:
A soft object to be grabbed (eg. teatowel).
Explanation:
Girls form groups of three, and within each group of three nominate one Father Bear, one Mother Bear and one Baby Bear. Form a large circle, with each ‘bear family’ standing together, and place the soft object in the middle. The leader calls out either “Father Bear”, “Mother Bear” or “Baby Bear” and the appropriate member of each family has to run all the way around the circle (clockwise). While they are running around, the other two members of each family have to hold hands to form an archway. The runner must run through their family’s archway and into the middle of the circle to try and grab the object. Families earn points for each time they grab the object.

AUSTRIAN DUCK DUCK GOOSE
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
All girls stand in a circle, except one girl who is “It”. She walks around the outside of the circle and taps one girl on the shoulder saying either “come with me” or “run away”. If she says “come with me” the girl who is tapped must chase “It” around the circle and try to tag her before “It” gets back to the empty place. If “It” says “run away” the girl who is tapped must run the opposite way around the circle and try to beat “It” back to the empty place. The girl who does not get back to the empty place becomes “It”.

FISHES AND WHALES
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
One girl is chosen to be the “Shark” and the other girls divide into two teams. One team is called “Fishes” and the other team is called “Whales”. Fishes and Whales line up on opposite sides of the room and the Shark stands in the middle. The leader calls either “Fishes”, “Whales” or “Under the sea”. If “Fishes” is called, then the Fishes run from their side of the room to the other side without being caught by the Shark. If “Whales” is called, then the Whales run from their side of the room to the other side without being caught by the Shark. If “Under the Sea” is called, then all the girls run to the other side of the room. If any girl is called by the Shark, they must stand where they were caught and become “Seaweed”. Seaweed cannot move their feet but can reach out their arms to make other girls become Seaweed too. When only one girl (Fish or Whale) is left, she is the winner and becomes the next Shark.

WALKING/STANDING GAMES

GRAB THE KEYS
Equipment:
A chair, a blindfold and a set of keys.
Explanation:
All the girls sit in a circle, except one girl who sits on a chair in the middle of the circle. She is blindfolded and there are a set of keys under her chair. One girl is chosen to try and sneak from her spot on the ground to the chair and grab the keys from underneath. The girl on the chair has three chances at pointing where she thinks the girl is sneaking. If she gets it right she stays on the chair. If she has three wrong guesses, or the keys are successfully grabbed, then the girl who was sneaking takes her place on the chair.

LIGHTHOUSE
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
One girl is chosen as the Boat and she is blindfolded. Another girl is chosen as the Lighthouse and she goes and stands anywhere in the hall. All the other girls are rocks and must spread out over the hall and sit down. The Lighthouse calls "beep beep" and the Boat must try to walk towards the Lighthouse. If the Boat comes near a rock, the rock must say "swish swish". If the Boat touches a rock, then the game ends. If the Boat makes it to the Lighthouse, then the game also ends. Pick a new Boat and a new Lighthouse and start again!

BLIND MAN'S BLUFF
Equipment:
A blindfold
Explanation:
One girl is blindfolded. She must try to catch the other girls as they move around the hall. When she catches someone, they are the next blindfolded person.

HEDGEHOG
Equipment:
A blanket
Explanation:
Give an instruction to all the girls such as "Skipping". All the girls must skip around the hall until the Leader says "Freeze". The girls must then freeze and close their eyes. The Leader approaches one of the girls and taps her on the shoulder. That girl sits down and curls up into a ball and the Leader covers her with a blanket. Then the Leader says "Open your eyes" and the other girls must open their eyes and try to guess who is under the blanket. As soon as they think they know who is under the blanket, they must sit down. When about 5 or so girls are sitting down, the Leader asks the first one who sat down "who is under the blanket"? If the girl does not know, the Leader asks another girl sitting down. Once the correct answer is given, the blanket is lifted off. The game begins again with a new movement instruction being given to the girls.

QUEENIE
Equipment:
A small ball.
Explanation:
One girl starts with the ball - she is called Queenie. She is standing with her face to a wall, and the other girls are all standing behind her in a group. She throws the ball over her head and the other girls must try to get it. When one girl gets the ball, she must hide it somewhere on her body. The other girls also try to pretend they have the ball hidden somewhere on their body. When the ball is hidden the girls call out "Queenie, Queenie, who has the ball?". Queenie turns around and must try to figure out who has the ball. She can give three directions to people (such as "show me both your hands Jane", "turn around Jean" or "do a starjump Joan"), and then she has one guess who has the ball. If she is correct, then she stays Queenie. If she is wrong, then she must swap places with the girl who did have the ball.

CIRCLE BALL
Equipment:
A medium-sized ball.
Explanation:
All the girls must form a circle, with their legs spread wide so that the sides of their feet touch the feet of the girls next to them. Everyone bends down and a ball is batted around the circle, with girls trying to make it go between the legs of other girls. The ball must be rolled along the floor - it cannot be thrown. If it does go through the legs of a girl, then she must put one arm behind her back. If it goes between her legs again she is out.

DROP/CATCH
Equipment:
A soft ball.
Explanation:
Everyone forms a circle. One girl (A) starts with the ball and they must say another girl's name (B), followed by either "Drop" or "Catch", and then throw the ball to B. If "catch" is said, then B must drop the ball. If "drop" is said then B must catch the ball. B then says another girl's name, and either "drop" or "catch" and throws the ball to her. Nobody gets out. It is a good game for learning names.

ELEPHANT
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
The girls must form a circle. One girl is It in the middle of the circle. It chooses someone and points at them. The girl who is pointed at must wave her arm like an elephant's trunk. The girl on her left must hold her arms out to her right in the shape of an elephant's ear and the girl on the right must hold her arms to her left in the shape of the other ear. If all these shapes are formed by the time that It counts to 3, then It stays in the middle. If someone makes a mistake or is too slow, then It swaps places with them and they become the next It.

SILENT BALL
Equipment:
A soft ball.
Explanation:
Each girl chooses somewhere to stand in the hall. One girl starts with the ball. The object is to pass the ball to all players without dropping it and without talking. Once a girl has passed the ball to someone else, she sits down and cannot be passed the ball again. If someone talks or drops the ball, everyone has to stand up again and the game begins again.

EVOLUTION
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
Everyone starts off as an Egg. The girls walk around the hall with their hands clasped above their heads saying "egg, egg, egg" (as Eggs) and find a partner and play "Scissors Paper Rock". The girl who wins becomes a Chicken (squawking and making chicken wings), and the girl who loses stays as an Egg. The girls then move around again, looking for someone of their own type to play with (Chickens can only play against Chickens, Eggs can only play against Eggs). If a Chicken wins the game she becomes a Dinosaur (make T-Rex hands and roar). If a Chicken loses a game she becomes an Egg again.
The order is Egg (hands above heads, saying "egg egg egg"), Chicken (arms as chicken wings, squawking), Dinosaur (T-Rex hands, roaring), Monkey (hands tickling armpits, saying "ooh ooh ooh aah aah aah"), Human (walking around saying "hello"), Guide (saluting, saying "Be Prepared") , Guide Leader (wagging finger, saying "don't do that"), Superwoman (superman pose, saying "I'll save you").
The first girl to become Superwoman is the winner.

TORCH STATUES
Equipment:
A torch and a dark hall.
Explanation:
Two girls leave the hall. The other girls arrange themselves as statues around the hall however they like, but they must be standing up. The two girls return with the torch. Their aim is to catch one of the statues moving in the light of the torch. If they catch someone moving, that person has to sit down. The two girls can say anything they like to try and trick the statues into moving or laughing, but they are not allowed to touch them or shine the torch in their eyes. The last two girls standing leave the hall and the game begins again.

KANGAROO SKIPPY ROO
Equipment:
A watch.
Explanation:
All the girls form a circle, except for one girl who sits in the middle with a blindfold on. Everyone sings "Kangaroo Skippy Roo, dozing in the midday sun, comes a hunter run, run, run - guess who's caught you just for fun?" The leader points to one of the girls in the circle, who comes up to the girl in the middle, lightly touches her and repeats "guess who's caught you just for fun?" in as silly a voice as she likes. She then returns to her place. The girl in the middle removes her blindfold and has 3 guesses as to who 'caught' her. If she is correct, she stays in the middle. If she is wrong, she swaps places.

ANIMAL FAMILIES
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
Split the girls into three equally-sized groups. One group is the Dads, one group is the Mums and one group is the Babies. Allocate each girl in the group an animal name (best animals are those with distinctive sounds) - make sure exactly the same animals are used for each group. Start each group from a different corner of the hall. The girls have to make their animal noise and find the other two members of their family. Girls have to make their noises different enough to show whether they are Dad, Mum or Baby - and when they have found their family, they need to sit down in order of Dad, Mum, Baby. They are not allowed to make any noises other than that of their animal.

SPOTLIGHT
Equipment:
A torch.
Explanation:
At night, designate one place as 'home'. One girl (It) stands near home with the torch. The others all run away and have to try and sneak back and touch 'home' without being caught by It. If It shines the torch on them she must also identify them and call out their name before they are out. After 5 or 10 minutes, call all the girls back in. The girl who got 'home' first is the next It.

SARDINES
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
This is reverse Hide and Seek. One girl is chosen to run away and hide while everyone else counts to 50. When 50 is reached, everyone goes to look for the girl, and if they find her they must join her in the hiding place. When the last person finds the hiding place the game begins again with the first girl who found the hiding place getting to find a new hiding place.

SPACE JUMP
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
The girls form a circle. One girl (A) begins in the circle, doing a little improvisation on any theme she pleases (eg. doing some gardening). Another girl (B), standing in the circle, calls out "Space Jump" and girl A must freeze. Girl B then joins girl A in the circle and initiates a different improvisation that matches girl A's position (eg. girl A was kneeling down and weeding, so girl B uses her kneeling position to start an improvisation about a proposal of marriage). After a while, girl C in the circle calls out "Space Jump", girl A returns to join the circle and girl B freezes. Girl C then starts an improvisation based on girl B's position.

WALKING THE MINUTE
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
The leader picks two landmarks (eg two trees) and challenges the girls to take exactly one minute to walk between the two. The leader times the girls and the closest girl to the second landmark after 1 minute wins.

JUNGLE PHONE
Equipment:
One action card for each player.
Explanation:
This game can be adapted for many different themes. Here is an example based on a Halloween theme. The girls all stand in a horseshoe-shape. One end is designated as the ‘high’ end and the other as the ‘low’ end. The aim is to be the girl who is standing at the ‘high’ end when the game finishes (after a pre-determined period of time).
In front of each girl is an action card, which stays in the same place for the whole game. The game starts with the girl who is at the ‘low’ end performing her action, and then performing the action of another player (eg. Girl B). Girl B must then perform her own action, followed by the action of another girl (eg Girl C). If Girl B or C forgets to perform her action or gets it wrong, then she must step out of her place in the circle and take the place of the girl at the ‘low’ end. Everyone then moves up one place to fill all the spaces again (and thus has a different action to perform). After each mistake, the girl at the ‘low’ end always starts.
There needs to be one action for every girl playing. The actions for the Halloween game are as follows (starting with the action for the ‘low’ end and finishing with the action at the ‘high’ end):
Frog – squat down, say ‘ribbit’
Bat – flap wings, make high-pitched ‘eeeeee’
Cat – pretend to lick paw, say ‘meow’
Skeleton – shake body, say ‘dem bones, dem bones’
Ghost – raise arms, say ‘ooooohhhh’
Vampire – pretend to bite person on your right, say ‘yum’
Wizard – raise pretend wand, say ‘abracadabra’
Tombstone – raise arms above head, say ‘rest in peace’
Zombie – arms straight out in front, moan
Werewolf – arms straight down, howl at a pretend moon
Witch – ride pretend broomstick in a circle, say ‘wheeeeee’
Pumpkin – make circle with arms, say ‘Pumpkin King’

MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
Everyone stands in a circle and places their left hand, palm up, on their left side. Everyone then places their right hand, palm up, on top of their neighbour’s left hand. The first person to start moves their right hand to gently slap their left-neighbour’s right hand, and this continues around the circle. As the slap moves around the circle, the following rhyme is chanted:
“My mother and your mother were washing their clothes
My mother gave your mother a piece of cloth
Which colour was it?”
The person whose hand is slapped on ‘it’ names a colour and starts to spell it out as the slapping continues – eg:
“Blue. B. L. U. E.
And you are out of the game”
The person who is about to have their hand slapped on the word ‘game’ should try to pull their hand away so that they don’t get slapped. If they do get slapped then they are out and leave the circle. If they don’t get slapped then it is the person who tried to slap them who is out. Continue until one person wins.

SHOEING THE HORSES
Equipment:
Seven plastic cups, two chairs, two blindfolds.
Explanation:
Girls are divided into two teams and one girl from each team is chosen to be the first ‘Rider’. The remaining girls all sit in a large circle, with their knees touching (teams should be mixed up around the circle). The two chairs (‘Horses) are placed inside the circle, facing one another, and one Rider sits on each Horse. The Riders are blindfolded and then the seven plastic cups are placed randomly on the floor inside the circle. On the word ‘go’ each Rider gets off their chair and tries to find a plastic cup to place under one of the legs of their Horse. The Riders can only carry one cup at a time. The teammates of each Rider should be giving verbal instructions about where the plastic cups are, but are not allowed to physically interfere at all. Riders may steal cups from each other’s Horses unless there is a Rider sitting on the Horse at the time. The first Rider to have all four cups on their Horse’s legs, and be sitting on their Horse, is the winner. Another player from each team is then chosen to be the next Rider.

BANG!
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
All the girls stand in a circle, and one girl is the Shooter and stands in the middle. The Shooter points her finger at one player in the circle and says “bang”. The girl who was shot must duck down and the players on her left and right must turn to each other and point a finger while saying “bang”. The last girl to say “bang” swaps places with the Shooter in the middle and the game continues.

MEXICAN CIRCLES
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
Girls get into pairs so that there is one bigger person and one smaller person in each pair. The smaller girls all hold hands and form a tight circle. The bigger girls hold hands and form a large circle around the smaller girls’ circle. The leader can call out “One”, “Two” or “Three”. If she calls “One” then the inner circles starts to move in a clockwise direction, and the outer circle moves in an anti-clockwise direction. If she calls “Two” then the inner circle moves anti-clockwise while the outer circle moves clockwise. When the leader calls “Three” then all girls rush to find their partner, and the bigger girl goes down on one knee and the smaller girl sits on her knee. The last pair to do this are out. The circles are then re-formed and the game continues.

SCHLEP!
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
Girls get into a tight circle so that shoulders are almost touching. One girl starts and she says “Schlep!” as she touches one part of her body (eg elbow) to a body part of another girl (eg shoulder) – and keeps it there. That second girl then says “Schlep!” while attaching a body part (eg foot) to that of a third girl (eg knee). This continues until someone fallsover.

SITTING GAMES

BALLOON GAME
Equipment:
A balloon.
Explanation:
The girls are divided into two teams, and each team sits facing the other team - with their legs out in front so that their feet touch the feet of the girl on the other team opposite them. A balloon is released by the Leader in the middle of the two teams. Each time tries to bat the balloon over the heads of the other team. If the balloon touches the ground behind the other team, they score a point. If the balloon falls out of the end of the 'ladder' then no points are scored and it is just thrown back in by the Leader.

BALL PASSING RELAY
Equipment:
A small or squishy ball.
Explanation:
The girls are divided into teams of 4+ girls, and each team sits in a line. The first girl in the line has a ball and she must hold it between her feet and pass it to the next girl, only using her feet. The next girl must receive it by only using her feet. When each girl has passed the ball, they must run to the end of the line and be ready to receive another pass. The first team to make it to the other end of the hall wins.
If the ball rolls away, the girl chasing it can only scoot along on her bottom. Make sure that when the girls join the end of the line they are sitting close to the next girl (not far away as this makes the race too easy).

WINK MURDER
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
One girl is chosen to be the Detective and she is sent out of the room. The other girls form a circle and one of these girls is chosen to be the Murderer. The Detective is allowed back in the room. The Murderer must try to 'kill' other girls by winking at them (or blinking if they are unable to wink). When a girl is winked at, she must 'die' by lying down (accompanied by appropriate noises) and stay still. The Detective has three guesses. If she guesses correctly she remains the Detective, but if she is wrong then the Murderer becomes the new Detective.
Make sure girls do not stare continuously at the Murderer, otherwise it will be obvious for the Detective.

CHINESE WHISPERS
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
All the girls sit in a circle. One girl is chosen to think of a short message and she whispers it to the girl next to her. The message is passed around the circle, with each girl repeating exactly what she heard. When it gets to the last girl, she says what she heard out loud and then the original message is revealed and compared.

MRS MCGEE
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
All the girls sit in a circle. One girl is chosen to start and she says "Mrs McGee is dead". Everyone else replies "how did she die?". The girl chooses something that Mrs McGee was doing at the time of death - eg "with her finger up her nose" (accompanied by appropriate action). The next girl says "Mrs McGee is dead", everyone asks "how did she die", she replies "with her finger up her nose AND (eg) blinking her eyes (appropriate action)". This continues around the circle - the last girl has to remember all the words and actions from everyone in the circle.

POOR PUSSY
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
All the girls sit in a circle. One girl is chosen to be the Cat and is sitting in the middle of the circle. She must crawl up to someone and say "meow" (in whatever tone she likes). That girl has to pat the Cat on the head 3 times, saying "poor pussy, poor pussy, poor pussy" without smiling or laughing. If she laughs or smiles, she must change places with the Cat.
With older girls, the phrases change to "Honey if you love me won't you please please smile?" and the reply is "Honey I sure do love you but I just can't smile".

SHEET GAME
Equipment:
A large sheet.
Explanation:
Divide the girls into two teams. Have two leaders hold up a sheet. Each team sits on one side of the sheet so that the other team can't see them at all. Each team picks one girl to sit at the front - right near the sheet. The leaders count to three and drop the sheet. Both girls at the front of their teams try to say the name of the other girl before her own name is said. The girl whose name is said first has to join the other team. Put the sheet back up and have each team pick a new girl to sit at the front.
This is a good game for learning and practicing names.

DEAD FISH
Equipment:
Lots of plastic cups, and some water.
Explanation:
Divide the girls into their patrols (or small teams). Each patrol picks one girl to be the 'dead fish'. She has to sit or lie on the ground, and the other girls have to put as many half-filled cups of water on her as they can. See which dead fish can have the most unspilled cups of water on them.

ONE MINUTE
Equipment:
A watch.
Explanation:
All the girls lie down. Explain that they have to sit up when they think a minute has passed by your watch. No talking is allowed. See who sits up closest to the minute, but don't stop the game until about a minute and a half has passed.
This is a great game to settle girls down.

PILE-UPS
Equipment:
One chair per girl.
Explanation:
Have the girls form a large circle, sitting on their chairs. The leader then asks a series of questions, such as "Do you have a brother?". Any girl who would answer yes to the question has to move one chair to the left. If there is someone sitting there already, they have to sit on their lap. If the girl would answer no then she stays seated where she is. Anyone who has to move, but has people sitting on them, has to wiggle out from underneath in order to move chairs.

SMILE TOSS
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
All the girls sit in a circle - they all must have straight faces. The leader smiles, then wipes her hand down her face, removes her smile, and throws it to someone else in the circle. They then smile, wipe their face and pass the smile on elsewhere. Make sure everyone gets a turn.

PASS THE SQUEEZE
Equipment:
Something to be grabbed (eg teatowel).
Explanation:
Form the girls into two teams, and each team must sit in a line and hold hands. The teatowel is placed in the middle of the two lines at the end. All girls, except the girl at the head of each line must close their eyes. The leader shows the two girls her fist. As soon as her thumb flicks out, each girl must squeeze the hand of the girl next to them. The squeeze travels down each line, and as soon as the girl at the end of the line receives the squeeze, she must reach out and grab the teatowel. The first team to grab the teatowel wins a point. Then rotate all the players up the line one place.

FORTUNATELY/UNFORTUNATELY
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
All the girls sit in a circle. One girl says a statement that starts with 'fortunately' - eg. "fortunately when I woke up this morning it was sunny". The next girl must add another sentence to the story starting with 'unfortunately' - eg. 'unfortunately, it then started to pour down with rain". Continue alternating between fortunately and unfortunately until the story gets too silly!

ELEMENTS
Equipment:
A ball.
Explanation:
All the girls sit in a circle. One girl starts with the ball and must throw it to another player and say either 'air' or 'water' or 'earth'. The player who catches the ball has 3 seconds to name something that lives in the air, the water or on the earth. If she cannot do that, she gains a point. The girl with the least points at the end of the game is the winner.

SLEEPING LIONS
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
All the girls find a place on the floor to sit or lie in a comfortable position. One girl (or Leader) goes around trying to catch the girls moving. Any girl who is caught moving is out and stands up and helps to catch other girls out. No touching is allowed, but trying to make them laugh is permissible. The last girl to be caught moving is the winner.

ONE WORD STORY
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
All the girls form a circle. One girl begins a story by saying one word (eg 'the'), the next girl adds another word to the story, the next girl adds a third word... Saying 'full stop' is counted as a word and the next girl must start a new sentence.

VEGETABLE GAME
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
The aim of the game is not to show your teeth. The first girl has her lips over her teeth and says the name of a vegetable (eg 'carrot'). The second girl has her lips over her teeth and repeats the first vegetable, then adds her own (eg 'carrot, capsicum'). If someone shows their teeth (by laughing) while they are listing the vegetables, then they are out.

BUZZ
Equipment:
Nil.
Explanation:
Have all the girls sit in a circle. Start counting from 1, going around the circle (one girl says each number). Assign a number to be "buzz" (eg 2 - so for all multiples of 2 or any number with a 2 in it, 'buzz' must be said instead of the number itself). You can also add a "bizz" (eg 3 - so for all multiples of 3 or any number with a 3 in it, 'bizz' will be said instead). For numbers like 6 (a multiple of 2 and 3) or 23 (a number containing both 2 and 3), you must say "bizz buzz". If a mistake is made, that girl receives a point and the counting starts again from 1. The girl with the least points wins.

HANDSLAPPING
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
Girls get into a circle and lie on their tummies. Each girl places her elbows on the floor and her palms flat on the floor in front of her. Everyone places their left arm under the right arm of the girl on their left, and their right arm over the left arm of the girl on their right. This means that everyone has two hands in between their hands. One girl starts by slapping her right hand on the floor once. This slap travels in a clockwise direction (each hand slapping in turn) until it is interrupted in one of three ways. If someone slaps their hand twice, then the slap changes direction and travels back the way it had come. If someone slaps three times, then the slap continues in the same direction but skips the next hand. If someone makes a mistake by slapping at the wrong time (or not slapping), then that hand of theirs is ‘out’ and must be removed from the game. If the second hand also makes a mistake then the person is out of the game completely.

GRAND PRIX
Equipment:
Nil
Explanation:
Everyone sits in a circle. One girl starts by moving her fist across her body from right to left and saying “zoom”. The girl on her left repeats the action, thereby sending the ‘car’ onto the next person. This continues until interrupted in one of a number of ways. A girl may ‘put on brakes’ by pulling on an imaginary handbrake and making a squealing noise. This means that the direction of the ‘car’ is reversed and it is sent back the way it came. A girl may toot an imaginary horn, which means that the ‘car’ overtakes the next girl and starts again at the girl beyond that. Or a girl may clap her hands together and make a ‘crash’ sound which send the car back in the other direction AND skips the girl next to her.

WEREWOLF!
A very complicated game. See http://www.eblong.com/zarf/werewolf.html

PAPER GAMES

SCATTERGORIES
Equipment:
Paper, pens, sheet of categories (eg girl's name, town, vegetable, cartoon character), timer.
Explanation:
There is a good explanation here.

CONSEQUENCES
Equipment:
Paper and pens.
Explanation:
Have everyone sit in a circle. Everyone has a sheet of paper and a pen and writes at the top of their page "one day" then the name of a female person or character. Then everyone folds the top of their page down so that their writing cannot be seen, and passes the paper to their left. Continue this so it reads thus:
One day [female name]
Met [male name]
At/in/on [place]
She said [phrase]
He said [phrase]
And the consequence was [phrase].
When all the sentences have been written, have everyone fold up their paper and place it in the middle. Everyone then draws one sheet of paper and takes turns reading their story aloud.

PICTIONARY
Equipment:
Paper and pens.
Explanation:
Have everyone sit in their patrol corners. Have a pair come to the middle from each patrol. Person A in each pair has a paper and pen. The leader whispers to the Person A in each pair the name of an object. Person A tries to draw it so that Person B in her pair guesses what it is. No numbers or letters can be drawn. The first pair to guess right get a point for their patrol. Person B then becomes Person A, and ex-Person A returns to their patrol and sends up another girl to be the new Person B.

NEWSPAPER PAIRS
Equipment:
A pen and newspaper between each two girls.
Explanation:
Have everyone find a partner. Each pair takes one page of the newspaper and has 1 minute to find and circle as many occurrences of a given letter (eg 'k') as possible. When the minute is up, count up how many circles each pair has. Then pick a new page of the paper, and a new letter and start again. The game continues until 1 pair reaches a total score of 50.

CALENDAR THROW
Equipment:
One counter for each girl and a large wall calendar.
Explanation:
Have everyone stand in a large circle. Place the wall calendar on the floor in the middle of the circle. Each girl takes turns throwing their counter on the calendar and their score is represented by the date on which the counter lands. If the counter lands on two dates, the lowest scores. The first girl to reach 100 wins.