Bench Ball

Name: Bench Ball
Number of players: 15 - 40
Age: 10+
Necessary equipment: Two low benches (long enough for the whole team to stand on at once), 4-12 balls (any size) depending on the number of players

How to play:

• Have a playing area that has a central line. Place the benches 5 - 10 metres from the central line, facing each other.
• Split the players into two teams.
• One player from each team gets chosen to stand on a bench, facing each other.
• The rest of the team stands on the opposite side of the playing area. Team members can not cross the centre line.
• Players take it in turns to throw balls to the player on the bench. If the "bench" player catches a ball, the player who threw the ball joins that player on the bench, and may also catch balls from their teammates.
• At the same time, players on the ground may defend the passes made to the opposing team's "bench" players.
• Game ends when all players from one team are on the bench.

Touch & Freeze

Name: Touch & Freeze
Number of players: 10-20
Age: 5-10 (though older players may like it too)
Necessary equipment: none

How to play

• Players sit in a circle, with one person sitting in the middle.
• All the players in the circle must place one finger on the person in the middle of the circle. (Depending on the maturity of the players, rules may be needed.)
• When the supervisor calls "Touch and freeze!" the person in the middle must try and tag as many players as possible without moving from his/her spot.
• Players that are caught sit in the middle with the first player, back-to-back.
• Game continues until no players are left on the outside.

Fastball

Game: Fastball
Number of players: 10-30
Age: 8+
Necessary equipment: ball, cones, bibs/sashes

How to Play

• Determine the playing area. A basketball-court-sized area is good for up to 20 players; more than that you may need more space.
• Use cones to mark out two 2 metre x 2 metre squares, one at each end of the playing area. (Larger squares if playing area is larger.) The squares will need to be at least 1 metre from the edge of the playing area. (Alternatively, you can use pre-marked spaces on the playing area, such as the small circles on a basketball court.)
• Divide the players up into two teams. Give one team bibs/sashes so you can see which team is which.
• Each team starts on one side of the playing area. The ball is thrown into the centre of the playing area by the referee to begin the game. The aim of the game is to get the ball into your playing area without your team being tagged.

Rules

1. If you are tagged while holding the ball, it is handed over to the other team.
2. If you kick the ball, or touch it with your feet in any way, it is handed over to the other team.
3. If the ball is handed over, the other team must move at least 1 metre away from the person who is taking the ball. (This is to avoid them being tagged immediately.)
4. If the ball is thrown out of the playing area, the other team throws it in again from the point at which it went out.
5. Players may drop the ball and pick it up again, or throw it in the air and catch it again.
6. A player can only be tagged if s/he is holding the ball. To avoid a tag, a player may throw the ball into the air and then catch it again.
7. A team is awarded one point if they get the ball into their team's scoring area. To do this, it must be held by a player with two hands, and with both feet in the scoring area.

If necessary, the number of defenders and/or attackers in the scoring area can be limited.


Skills
Team work
Strategy
Ball handling

Where Do You Come From?

Name: Where Do You Come From?
Number of Players: 10+
Age: 7+
Necessary equipment: none

How to Play

• Split the group into two even teams, behind 2 'home lines' that are 5-10 metres apart.
• Team 1 starts ''whisper counting".
• Team 2 must decide on a country, and an action that comes from that country.
• When they are ready, they stand facing Team 1.
• Team 1 calls out, "Where do you come from?" and takes a few steps forward.
• Team 2 calls out, "We come from [eg. America]!" and takes a few steps forward.
• Team 1 calls out, "What do you do there?" and takes a few steps forward, until they are about 1 -2 metres from Team 2.
• Team 2 says, "Something starting with [eg. B]" and mimes the action that the chose.
• Team 1 must guess the action that they are miming.
• If they guess correctly, they must chase members of Team 2 and try and catch them before they are behind their home line.
• Any players that they tag must join Team 1.
• The roles of the teams now swap.
• The game ends if one team captures all the players from the other team.

People to People

Name: People to People
Number of players: 15+
Age: 5+
Necessary equipment: none

How to Play

• Players starts in partners, with one person in the centre. (The facilitator may have to step in as this game requires an odd number of players.)
• The person in the centre calls out instructions such as "back to back", "elbow to knee", "head to shoulder".
• The partners must carry out the instruction by placing the two named body parts together. (Obviously there is potential here for inappropriate combinations; the maturity of the players needs to be considered!)
• After a few instructions, the player in the centre calls, "people to people!"
• All players must run around the circle to find a new partner. The player in the middle must also find a partner.
• The player who ends up without a partner stands in the centre and begins the process again.

This game is self-replicating and generally requires little input from the facilitator. It can be used as an excellent 'get to know you' game, where players must introduce themselves to their new partner before the next round can begin.

Bump Tag

Name: Bump Tag (or Bump)
Number of players: 15+
Age group: 7+
Necessary equipment: none

How to play

• Get the players into pairs.
• Spread the pairs out in the playing area. Pairs must link arms.
• Split up one pair, and make one person the chaser and one person the chasee.
• The aim is for the chaser to catch the chasee.
• At any time, the chasee can "bump" into one of the pairs in the playing area.
• If the pair is "bumped" from the right, then the person on the left of the pair becomes the chasee, and vice versa.
• The original chasee must then link up with the person in the pair who is left to create a new pair.
• When the chaser catches the chasee, the roles are reversed.

The Blanket Name Game

Name: The Blanket Name Game
Number of players: 10-20
Age: 5+
Necessary equipment: A blanket or sheet

How to play

• Ensure that the group has had a chance to learn each other's names.
• Split the group into two teams.
• Two people need to hold the blanket up so that the two teams cannot see each other.
• Each team chooses one member to come to the front of the group.
• When both teams are ready, the helpers drop the blanket.
• The first person to say the name of the person on the other team wins.
• The person who loses must then join the opposing team.
• The blanket is held up again and teams select a new player.
• Play continues until one team has no players left.

This is a great game for learning names, and can be played multiple times so that everyone gets a chance to learn others' names. For groups that already know each other's names, the game is more about the speed of response.