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.

Line Tag

Name: Line Tag
Number of players: 10+
Age: 5+
Necessary equipment: An area with multiple intersecting lines (eg. a sports hall)

How to play

• Nominate one person (or more, if the group is large) to be the tagger.
• Everyone in the game (including the person who is in) must only run on the marked lines.
• If someone is tagged, they can:
• be out of the game (meaning the game goes on until the tagger has caught everybody)
• become the tagger instead of the person who is in (meaning that the game goes on indefinitely)
• become the tagger as well as the person who is in (meaning the games goes on until everyone is a tagger)
  

Bench Ball

Name: Bench Ball
Number of players: 14+
Age group: 10+
Necessary equipment: benches, 4-10 balls, cones

How to play

• Set up a playing area with a bench at either end, and a line of cones down the middle.
• Split the group up into two teams.
• Each team stands one one side of the playing area.
• One member of each team stands on the bench opposite their team's area.
• Each team is given an even number of balls.
• Teams aim to throw their balls to their teammate on the bench, while at the same time defending to stop the other team from getting balls to their team member.
• For each ball they catch, the team scores one point.
• The player must remain on the bench when catching; if they fall of in the process the point does not count.
• Play ends after a certain number of points or a certain amount of time.
• Larger teams may wish to have multiple players on the bench, and use longer benches.
  

Variations

Bench Team Ball
Instead of scoring points, when the bench player catches the ball, the player who threw the ball joins them on the bench. The game stops when one team gets all their players onto the bench.

End Ball
Instead of benches, a row of cones is placed at each end of the playing area. This variation is safer if the players are not confident on the bench. It also gives players more space to move around.

Skills
Ball handling
Teamwork
Strategy

Paper Scissors Rock Champion

Name: Paper Scissors Rock Champion
Number of players: 20+
Age group: 5+
Necessary Equipment: none

How to Play

• Players split into pairs.
• Each pair plays one game of paper scissors rock.
• The loser of the game must then follow around the winner of the game as their 'cheerleader' ("Go Jason, go Jason, go Jason...).
• Any two winners get together and have another game of paper scissors rock.
• The loser of that game, and any of their cheerleaders, now become cheerleaders for the new winner.
• Game continues until one Paper Scissors Rock Champion is found. (At this point, all other players who started the game will be cheerleading for this single player.)

This game is great for large groups, and requires very little input from a facilitator. It is also a good "get-to-know-you" game as players are required to cheer for different people during the game.

Alaskan Baseball

Name: Alaskan Baseball
Number of players: 10+
Age group: 10+
Necessary Equipment: 1 Ball or other object that can be thrown (eg. rubber chicken)

How to Play

• Split players into two teams.
• One team starts off with the ball (Team A).
• Team A must make a line and pass the ball down their team, over-under-over-under (i.e. the first person passes the ball over their head, the second person under their legs, the third person over their head etc.).
• At the same time, the second team must get into a group (Team B), and nominate one person to run around the group as many times as possible.
• Every time Team B's player runs around the group, they get one point. (No half-points or part points.)
• When Team A gets the ball to the last person in line, they call out, "stop" and throw the ball as far way from Team B as possible.
• Team B must then run to get the ball and start the under-over pattern, while Team A gets into a group and starts a person running around.
• Play finishes when one group reaches a set number of runs, eg. 21.

This game is great fun, and somehow enchanced with the use of a rubber chicken rather than a ball. Rubber chickens are especially good as they are easier to hold on to. It is also an excellent game for teamwork, as no-one gets out, so teams must work together with all of their players.

Skills:

• Ball Handling
• Teamwork

Useful Words/Terms

There are a number of words that are used when describing game play. Here are a few of the common ones.

Offense/Offence: The team that has the ball
Attack: Same as Offence
Defence: The team that does not have the ball
Referee (Ref)/Umpire: The person in charge of the game (often has a whistle!)
Self-Replicating: A game in which no player is permanently out, i.e. there are ways to get back in if you are out
Self-Managing: A game that does not require a referee
It or In: A person or people who have to chase or tag other people

Ball Tag

Ball tag is a simple tag game where players must use the ball to tag people out. Vary the size of the playing area depending on the ability and number of players.

Name: Ball Tag
Number of players: 8 - 30
Age group: 7+
Necessary equipment: 1 ball
Possible other equipment: Cones (to mark off playing area), Bibs (to mark different teams)

How to Play

• Split the group into 2 teams.
• One team is given the ball.
• The attacking team must try to tag members of the other team with the ball. Players must be holding the ball in order to tag another player.
• Players may not move while holding the ball.
• The defending team can intercept the ball at any time. They then become the attacking team.
• Players who are tagged are out.

Alternatives:
To make this a self-replicating game, allow players who are out to return to the game when their team gets an intercept.

Skills/Applications:

• Ball Handling
• Teamwork
• Strategy: Let the game play for a few minutes, then stop the game and ask the teams to get together to strategise.
• Netball

Welcome to Big Big Box

Big Big Box is a resource for people who want to play a game. Any game.

The idea behind Big Big Box is to bring together all types of games. Ball games, maths games, icebreaker games, team games, drinking games...you name it, we game it.

One day, we would like Big Big Box to be a repository for games from all around the world, a pick 'n' mix of any and every game you can imagine.

Let the game(s) begin!