This is a sitting down mobile games. On the count of 1, everyone slaps their right knee. On the count of 2, everyone slaps their left knee. On the count of 3, everyone puts their Right Index Finger in the air. On the count of 4, put your left hand hovering above the person to your left’s finger. On the word “Go”, try and grab the person on your left’s finger, while trying to stop the person on your right grabbing your finger!! This game may sound complicated, but it is not!
Alternative: On 1 = raise finger, 2 = hover other hand flat above neighbour’s finger, 3 = try and grab.
Balloon Breaking
Before the game begins, a message is put inside a balloon and the balloon is blown up. The balloon is passed around the circle until the leader says stop or the music stops. The Child with the balloon then has to burst the balloon and do the required action/forfeit e.g. be a dog or do a dance.
Alternative: Put words from memory verse inside a number of balloons.
Branches
The Children form a circle (stream) with one beaver left outside. The circle beavers then pass a rolled newspaper (branch) around and the odd beaver has to try and catch it. When the Child catches the branch to build his dam, another child takes his place.
Chair Bigamy
Organise chairs in sets of 3 around the room. Children get in sets of 3 and sit on a set of chairs. Organise it so that one group is only a pair of kids + an empty chair. This pair has to leave their chairs and grab a person from another triplet take them back to their set of chairs. Then the group who now have 2 people have to grab someone else from another group. When the music stops, the last set of 3 to run are out. The game continues until there is only one group left.
Chair Relay
Children are divided into teams, and they lay their chairs out in a line in front of them. There should be one extra chair for each group. They stand on the chairs, leaving the last one empty, and on the word “GO”, the team have to race to the other side of the hall, by passing the empty chair to the front of the line of chairs, and then stepping onto it (then they have a free chair that they can pass to the front.
Clock in the Tower
Everyone stands in a circle and is numbered one to four. One person stands in the centre. The players say the rhyme “The clock in the tower strikes the hour”, and the person in the centre claps his/her hands 1,2,3 or 4 times. If e.g. 3 is clapped, then all the 3’s run around the circle and the first into the centre takes the place of the clock.
Alternative; with a big group of kids increase numbers to 6 or 8 etc.
Do You Love Your Neighbour?
This is a sitting down circle game. One person does not have a chair, and stands in the middle. They choose someone, and ask them “Do you love your neighbour”? If that person says “No”, then the people at either side, have to swap chairs, before the person in the middle sits down in one of their chairs. If the answer is “Yes”, then everyone has to swap chairs.
Alternative: Leader in middle asks question. If answer is “No” neighbours must run in opposite directions around circle and back to place. Last one is out – better without chairs.
Duck, Duck, Goose
This is a sitting down circle game. One child is selected to go round the outside of the circle, patting everyone on their heads and saying “duck”, when they come to a person who they want to chase them, they shout “goose”. Then they have to run round the circle, while being chased, and try to steal the space which has just become available. If the person is caught, then they have to run again.