Active Team Games Animazione di gruppo

Elves, Wizards, Giants 

"Elves, Wizards and Giants." is a team version of the old game of `Scissors-Paper-Stone’, but has funnier actions and noises which each team has to act out. Each character (Elf, Wizard, Giant) has a specific action or noise.

Elf	Squatting down and imitate pointed ears by holding two fingers up by your ears (similar to making bunny ears). Make "Eeeking" noises while doing this.
Giant	Standing on tip toe, arms raised in frightening posture making growling / roaring sounds
Wizard	Standing normally but with arms outstretched as if casting a spell. Make appropriate spell casting noises.

As with Scissors-Paper-Stone each character/icon can win against one character or loose against the other. In this case if wanted teams can make the appropriate actions for winning or loosing.

Each team finds a quiet corner and decides on a character to be as a team, after choosing their character each  team stands facing each other with hands behind their backs. On the count of three the whole team acts out their character with the points going to the team that chooses the winning character. If both teams pick the same character there is a draw.

Ape, Man, Girl Game
Posted on the Christian Youthworkers egroup

Another variation of the rock, scissors, paper game. Have people pair off. Then, when the signal is given each person strikes a pose like an ape, man, or girl. Be sure to demonstrate what each looks like ahead of time. The ape beats the girl, man beats the ape, the girl gets the man. Eliminate the losers and pair the winners until you get a champion.

Team Scissors-Paper-Stone
Credited to Pastor John Sim, Children's Pastor
Sent in by Joseph, Kingdom Kids, Childrens' Church Chapel of the Resurrection, Singapore

An active variation on the Scissors-Paper-Stone game that allows for a much larger group to play and since the whole group is jumping around trying to get their feet coordinated, it takes longer to get dull.

Game is played with using your legs instead of your hands.

Scissors - person stands up with feet crossed
Paper - person stands with feet wide apart 
Stone - person stands with feet together

To the chant of "Scissors, paper, stone.. " all players have to follow the chant with the corresponding action and then immediately after jumping feet together for stone have to jump into the symbol of chosen item. As with Elves, Wizards and Giants you can also play this as a team game with each team going off for a short while to choose which item they are going to be, before coming back and jumping as a team.

Kissing Game
Sent in by Becky

"This game is really all about wrestling, so a hard floor is best, to prevent carpet burns. It is one of the most hilarious games I have ever played."

Good for larger groups and probably better for older children / youth.
Divide the group into a team of boys and a team of girls (see [1] below if this is not possible). With both teams lined up facing each other a little distance apart (eg either side of a hall). Give each boy a number and each girl a letter. If you have more than 26 girls then start to use double letters, eg AA, BB, CC etc...

1 person (boy or girl) sits in the middle between both teams.
The leader then calls out a number and a letter.
If the person in the middle is a boy, then the girl has to try and kiss the boy on the cheek to win, while the boy who was called out has to try and kiss the girl on the cheek to win. If it is a girl in the middle, then the boy has to kiss the girl sitting down on the cheek, while the girl has to kiss the boy on the cheek before he kisses the other girl. Whoever wins the match, then sits in the middle.

Note [1]: Game leaders.. you need to know your group! Not all children/youth are happy about doing something like this. It is possible to play this game with relatively uneven numbers of boys and girls, but if you prefer to have more even numbers or find you have a group of only or mainly boys or girls you may prefer to come up with some other objective, rather than kissing on the cheek.

Elf Defense
Find this and other games at Jonathan's Resources.

Equipment: You need two sets of different coloured balloons. Around 25 to 50 of each for two teams of play.

Form two teams of elves. Each team must defend its treasure (a pile of balloons) while attempting to steal or destroy the other team's treasure. Use two different colour balloons, one for one team. Designate a time period (5 to 10 minutes) to play the game. When the time ends, each team's un-popped balloons count 100 points each. Stolen, un-popped balloons count 200 points each.

Exhaustion  

Find anything handy which would make good obstacles, E.g. chairs, tables, benches, skipping ropes, netting (for going under) or handy assault course if one happens to be near by :-) Then arrange the items in the most imaginative, safe but tricky and exhausting route possible. Either double up on equipment so that teams can compete against each other at the same time or do time trials with fastest team completing the route winning.

warning!: Items being used in ways they were not meant to can cause accidents so please be careful when designing the course that the risk of injury is kept to a minimum.

Creepy Crawly  

Divide players into teams. Each team takes a `corner’ standing in single file facing the center of the room where the object is placed. At command each team gets on all fours while the back member going legs astride over his/her team members to the front and where they then get down on all fours. Once in place the next rear player repeats the process until the team is close enough to capture the object. To ensure no cheating the front player must hold the ankles of the one newly crouching down in front of him/her. Players may stretch out to the full to reach the object.

Human Foosball

Divide into two teams and have both teams sitting down in a row (either on floor or on chairs) facing each other. If the group has arrived and is sitting in rows facing you can divide the group up and get both groups to turn their chairs to face each other. Using a balloon as a ball, teams remaining seated have keep the balloon in the air (unlimited hits each side). Points are scored when a team gets the balloon over all of the opposing team and hits the wall (indoors) or beyond a boundary (outdoors). Points also gained for when balloon lands on ground.

Chair Challenge / Stepping Stones
Sent in by Joseph, Kingdom Kids, Childrens' Church Chapel of the Resurrection, Singapore

"Here is a game that we have played at Children Service and it works amazingly well with adults too!!"

Equipment : 5 chairs (preferable with backs to prevent people from falling off), or 5 non-movable marked sitting spaces.

Preparation: Line the chairs in a straight line side to side. 
Form 2 teams and line them up on either side of the chairs. Teams do not need to be of equal numbers.

Objective : To get to the opposite of the line of chairs.

Moving : A player can only move forward by sitting down on each chair along the way.

Challenge : A challenge is resolved by the age old method of Scissors-Paper-Stone.

At the signal of the game master, the first person in the line of each team moves as many chairs towards the opposite end of the chairs as possible. When the 2 of them meet at any point, a challenge is created ( see above for resolution of challenge). The loser of the challenge must immediately get up, step away from the chair ( so as to not obstruct the challenge winner ) and go to the back of his/her team line. The next person in line of the challenge losing team now moves forward on the chairs. For the winner, he/she will immediately move as many chairs forward as possible before being challenged again. At any point in time, only one member from each team can be on the chairs. Each player that successfully makes it to the opposite end of the chairs earns a point for their team. The game can be played within a set time or for a predetermined number of points. The game master then signals the start of the next round.

Problems : 
Chairs tend to be displaced and have to be repositioned 
Challenge losers try to stall for time to delay the progress of the challenge winner 
Player trying to 'fly' over the chairs instead of sitting on the each chair.

Marching Madness

Teams can take turns to do this. Standing in file the front team member has his left or right ankle tied to the same ankle of the team member behind them. The second team member then has the other ankle tied to team member behind them. This continues alternately for all team members. On command the team/s must try to reach as many predetermined goals as possible within a set time limit. Team to reach the most wins.

Grab It

Equipment: Bucket of water with bar of soap in it
(Messy game! so anything else required to protect property, sanity, life... etc)

Divide into two equal teams sitting down facing each other and holding the hands of team member next to them. At the one end of the line put a bucket of water with a bar of soap in it (if this is on carpet, put a layer of towels down to protect it.) 

Stand at the head of the lines with a coin and flip it so only the first person in line can see the results as to whether its heads or tails. They are not to yell out how the coin landed or even look back at their team. If the coin lands on heads the persons in front are to squeeze the hand of the next team person who squeezes the hand of the next player in the team and so on communicating to the last person in the line that the coin was a heads. If the last person in line has their hand squeezed than they are to try to grab the soap out of the bucket before the last person on the other team does. The person successful in retrieving the soap gets to go to the front of the line. [Ed - If you have the space for a scrummage and an area you don't mind getting messy you might want to play it so that its not just the first person to grab the soap, but the first person to sit at the front of their line with the soap. The looser returning to their place at the back]

If there is a mistake and the message is wrongly communicated to the person in back so they grab the soap when the coin was actually tails. The person in front must go to the back of the line. The first team to get their entire team forward in line (back person to front- not front to back), wins.

Alternative... 

Ice Grab It

Use a huge bucket of ice/slush with a marble in it instead of bucket of water with soap. Not as messy as the original but less soap in eyes and everywhere. Plus they get really cold hands!

Capture The Flag
Sent in by Rachel W. (Angl56R)

"You can be playing this for hours or minutes, you never know!"

Divide into two teams and mark the middle of the playing area using a rope or chalk to mark the boundary between the two teams areas. Each team then hides a flag or handkerchief in their half of the playing area. The object is for each team to find/get the other teams flag without getting caught. A player can be caught when they are in the opposing teams area and are tagged by a member of that team. If a player is caught they are sent to a jail on the opposing teams side and are out of the game, unless they are released by a team member who has not been caught. The team that finds the other teams' flag first wins.

If playing in a large hall or gym, have a circle with few cones at the back of each teams territory in which to put to the flag.

Pursuits

2 teams. A cross between relay races and cycle pursuit on foot. Teams stand at opposite corners of the pitch with the first player of each holding the coit. On the word "go" each player has to run clockwise around the circuit/court trying to catch the player of the opposing team. As each team member passes their base they pass the coit onto the next team member who takes over. If a player manages to catch up with a player in front they score a point for their team and the opposing, `tagged’ team member returns to their base to hand the coit on the next player. Where it starts again.

Star Game

Equipment: Any small unbreakable object

Divide into any number of equal teams (4 are shown here) with each team standing in line legs apart facing the middle where the object is placed. Number each member of the team from the middle outwards so that all the 1’s are nearest the centre. When a persons’ number is called out they have to leave their position, run around the outside of the star to the back of their team where then have to tunnel/craw through their team members legs to reach the ball/object first.

Chunnel

Best with 2 teams although can be played using 4. Teams line up, single file, equal distances from the leader who stands arms outstretched towards the teams. At command players jump legs astride with the exception of the team member at the back who must crawl through the tunnel formed by the legs. Once at the front they stand up and the next team member crawls through the tunnel. This continues until one of the teams can touch the outstretched hand of the leader. To avoid cheating team members must be able to touch the shoulders of the person in front.

Stow the Cargo   

• Hopping
• Wheel barrel (one person holding a partner's legs while they walk on hands)
• Crab Walk
• Sprint
• Backwards Walk
• Skipping
• Crawling
• etc...

• All players have the option whether to actively participate at any point during the game. Players sit with crossed arms to indicate they are not active in combat.
• Non-combatant players can still be killed if their cup is hit by a foam ball or cotton bud projectile.
• Only those players who are sitting without crossed arms may be attacked by Coalition or Civilians.
• Coalition forces can only fire at Civilian targets… those shooting at them or known terrorists.
• Civilians can choose whether to fire on Coalition forces or against other Civilians if they suspect or know them to be a Terrorist.
• Terrorists are exempt from most rules and can fire at anybody whether or not those players are actively taking part. But their objective is to destroy all Coalition forces.
• Terrorists can make themselves known and force 3 other Civilian players to take up arms against the Coalition.
• When a Terrorist dies they put their hands on their heads to indicate who they were.
• Game stops either when all Terrorists are eliminated, or all the Coalition are eliminated.

• - No cheating, if the quarter drops, you have to start all over.
• - Human obstacles are not allowed to move or cause the Balancer to stumble.

• Two rooms One in which everybody can go to talk about ideas the other in which the puzzle is set (There’s a surprise switch made in the puzzle so going off into a corner of the same room or area to talk about it doesn’t work unless you don’t plan on it being a surprise.)
• A long string/hose or chalk (if you have a playing area you can draw on)
• Two sets of approx. 30 pieces of foam, sponge, cloth or even paper (the number of pieces is not particularly important). Number the first set of pieces with numbers (e.g. from 1 to 30) then label the second set of pieces with letters A-Z and perhaps any remaining pieces of the second set with numbers 27 – 30. You may prefer to perhaps randomly choose to replace certain letters e.g. A, B, C, 4, E, 6, 7, H, etc… (It’ll make them think, but don’t do this for particularly young players!!)

• Only one person can be inside the circle at one time
• You are not allowed to speak or make any noises with your mouth.
• Numbers must be touched IN ORDER (can be touched with hands, feet, whatever)

• How are you going to do this without speaking?
• How are you going to do this quickly?