Party Games Collection #1 (220 children's party games)

81. POLAR BEARS. ( Active.)
Outline the playing ground (approximately 10m x 12m) - "the sea". Near it outline the less ground - "the ice - floe". 2 players are "polar bears", whose place is "the ice - floe". All the rest players are "the bearcubs". They take up their positions on the large playing ground - "the sea". On hearing "the signal" "the polar bears" begin to catch "the bearcubs" ("The polar bears" link their arms and catch "the bearcubs "so that they are between their linked arms). The captured "bearcub" is led to "the ice - floe". When there are 2 "bearcubs" on "the ice - floe" they may also catch "the bearcubs". The game continues until all 'the bearcubs" are caught. The player who is caught the last is considered to be the deftest. The rules of the game. The players who run out the playing ground are considered to be caught and they must go to "the ice - floe". "The polar bears mustn't grab the players at their clothes or hands. They may only encircle them. The captured "bearcubs" mustn't tear themselves away from "the polar bears".

82. CROSSING ROADS. ( Active.)
One player chases the other. But the chased player may be "saved", if one of the players crosses the line of run between the chaser and the chased. According to the rules of the game the chased turns to chase the player who "saved" his/her fellow-player.

83. FISHING-ROD. ( Active.)
The players get into a circle. The leader is in the center of the circle with "the fishing-rod" in his/her hands. "The fishing-rod" is a 3-4m long string with the sac full of sand attached to the end of it. Standing in the center of the circle the leader spins round "the fishing-rod". While gliding the floor the sac may touch the players' feet. So their task is to jump up as the sac does not touch them. The player touched by the sac is out of the game.

84. HUNTING WITH THE BALL. ( Active.)
Divide the players into "animals" and "hunters". Give " the hunters" the balls. "The hunters" try to hit "the animals" with them. "The animal hit by the ball is out of the game. The task of "the animals" is to catch the ball on the spot.

85. TAG. ( Active.)
There are several variants of the well-known game.
The first variant - to catch the running player only (not to catch players who squat)
The second variant - not to catch the players who hold each other by the hands
The third variant: Every player except the leader has a fillet hidden under the collar. The leader tries to draw the fillet out. The player whose fillet is drawn out becomes the leader.

86. LITTLE FISHERMAN. ( Active.)
Draw a circle (5-7m in radius) round the tree or the stake - "the pond". Tie a 3-4m long string to the tree. The leader - "the little fisherman "holds the end of the string in his hands. "The fisherman" tries to catch the players - "the fish" - who run within the circle. The players who are caught are out of the circle. The last player who remains within the circle becomes the leader in the next round.

87. SQUIRRELS, NUTS, CONES. ( Active.)
Divide players into groups of three. The first player in each team is "a squirrel", the second is "a nut", the third is "a cone". Each team, which consists of "a squirrel, a cone", and "a nut" links their arms, forming a little circle. The leader is in the center of the playing ground. The leader cries: "Squirrels!" and all the players named as "squirrels" must exchange their places. While they are changing the leader tries to occupy any of the vacant places. If he/she manages to do it he/she becomes "the squirrel" and the former "squirrel", who has no place becomes the leader. At the command "Nuts!" or "Cones!" The players exchange the places accordingly. When the game is in full swing the leader may command: "Squirrels, nuts, cones!" Then all the players must exchange their places. Here you may stop the game.

88. BLIND MAN'S BUFF. ( Active.)
The instructor holds an open umbrella in his/her hands.
- Children, my umbrella longs to fly away. It longs to travel. Those, who are not afraid, follow me!
All the children stand under the instructor's umbrella. They are whirling to the music with the leader. Then it gets dark. (The instructor switches off the light.) Strange sounds are heard. (The instructor imitates animals' cries.)
- Where we are? It seems to me we are in jungles. Let's listen to the sounds. The trees want to tell us something. Can you hear? They propose us to play blind man's buff. But this game is not a usual one. (The children are given the masks of animals - bear, wolf, panther, monkey etc.)
- Who are you now? What tale have you remembered?
- "Jungle Book"!
- Right you are! Your leader is Mawgli, all of you - are his friends. Mawgli must remember the masks of the players. When he catches one of the players he must recognize the player by his/her mask. All the players may attract leader's attention by the sounds. But the players may only utter the sounds of the animals the masks of which they have. e.g. "the panther" may utter "mew", "r-r-r", "the snake" - "sh-sh-sh" etc.
You may make this game more difficult. All the children take different noise making and musical instruments: pipes, rattles, bells, mouth organs etc. The leader must recognize the players by the sounds of their instruments. The players exchange the instruments every round.

89. CITIES. ( Active.)
Draw some circles (1,5 m in diameter) on the ground. The circles are at the distance of about 2 m from each other. Each circle has the name of the city: Moscow, Washington, Berlin etc. The number of the circles is less by one the number of the players. At the instructor's command the players take up their places in the circles. One of the players has no "the city" of his/her own. He/she is a leader. The object of the leader is to occupy any of the vacant cities. The object of the players is "to tease" the leader. They decide upon their exchanging the cities behind the leader's back with the help of the gestures and run to each other's circles. In this moment the leader can take up any of these circles. The player who "looses" his/her circle becomes the leader.

90. WOLF AND HARE. ( Active.)
The players choose the leader and sit down on the ground in a circle. The leader slowly walks round the circle from the outside. As he/she walks he/she touches each player saying "wolf" or "hare". If the player is called "wolf" he/she stands up and runs down the leader, while the leader tries to take up the vacant place of the "wolf". If the leader takes up the vacant place, "the wolf" becomes the leader.

Party Games Collection #1 ( 220 children's party games )