The 175 Best Camp Games: A Handbook for Leaders

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The 175 Best Camp Games: A Handbook for Leaders

Why we play games

Games are the most useful tool we know in aiding childhood development. They help children develop hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, listening skills, and the ability to think, respond and strategize. They encourage children to work together as a team to achieve a common goal. They allow children to experience success and failure in a positive and supportive environment. They help children communicate with each other and with adults. They teach children valuable life lessons, such as “if you break a rule, you have to deal with the consequences,” or “if you brag about winning the game, nobody will want to play against you next time.”

Today, as children’s time in front of various “screens” (television, computer, video game) is increasing, it is more and more important to encourage children to play games with other real, live kids. Particularly for children who do not have brothers or sisters, and children who do not live in child-friendly neighborhoods, playing games at camp, at a recreation program, or at school may be the only time that they get to interact socially with other children in their age group without the structure of learning a specific sports drill or vocabulary word.

In addition to the social benefits of game playing, the health benefits of daily physical activity are well documented. Play is extremely important in developing healthy children who will go on to become healthy adults. By getting kids up and moving, we teach them the importance of physical activity in living a healthy and long life.

Chicken Fight

PLAYERS 8 or more

EQUIPMENT Two pieces of fabric (for example, pinnies)

GAME PLAN With only one hand and one leg to use, steal your opponent’s piece of fabric before they steal yours.

HOW TO PLAY

Have players seated in a circle with a large space in the middle.

Select two players to tuck a piece of fabric into the back of their shorts (or clothespin the fabric on).

With one hand holding one leg bent behind them, and hopping, they must try to seize the other player’s fabric with their free hand.

The winner can continue and face off against a new opponent, or two new players can be picked for a new round of fighting.

Human Ladders

PLAYERS 8 or more

EQUIPMENT None

GAME PLAN Race through the human ladders and make it back before your partner.

HOW TO PLAY

Assign each player a partner. Have the children sit in two long lines, partners facing each other, legs outstretched and feet touching. Their legs are the “ladder rungs.”

Assign each pair a number and then call out one of the numbers. The pair with that number must stand up and race each other down the center of the ladder, avoiding the rungs.

Once a player reaches the bottom of the ladder, he must run around the outside of the ladder to the top and then head back down the center until he returns to his original space.

The partner who arrives at his space and sits down first earns his team a point.

The game finishes when players on one side of the ladder have earned a set number or points or when the game has peaked.

King’s Keys (aka Pirate’s Treasure)

PLAYERS 5 or more

EQUIPMENT Any small object that can make a sound, such as keys or a rattle.

GAME PLAN Steal the keys from the King without getting caught.

HOW TO PLAY

Have the group sit in a circle and choose one player to sit in the middle of the circle with a blindfold on or eyes closed. That player is the King (or Queen, or Pirate). Near the King is an object, usually one that will make a sound when moved.

Pick another player from the circle to quietly sneak into the circle and try to steal the object from the King.

The King has to listen for noises and point in the direction he thinks the noise is coming from. If he points at the sneaking player, she has to return to her spot in the circle. Keep picking children to try until the keys are stolen. The successful thief becomes the new King.

Human Machine

PLAYERS Any number

EQUIPMENT None

GAME PLAN Form a human machine to resemble a real machine.

HOW TO PLAY

Divide players into even teams of at least four to five players. If you have fewer players, or if you are looking for an extra challenge with a large group, consider having one group.

Go round to each group and whisper a type of machine that the players should be familiar with. Examples could include a hole puncher, a pasta or sausage maker, a bicycle, a laundry machine, a computer or television, a car, a boat, a sewing machine, a stapler, a vending machine and a toilet.

Each group has five minutes to figure out all the parts of their machine, and assign roles. For example, if your group was a hole-puncher, three people could be the punchers, and one person could be the piece of paper.

The groups should practice making the machines “work,” complete with sound effects.

The groups present their machines and the other groups can guess what type of machine they were.

Murder Wink

PLAYERS 6 or more

EQUIPMENT None

GAME PLAN Find the murderer.

HOW TO PLAY

Have the players sit in a circle. Pick one player to be the Detective and have her turn away from the group or go behind a tree. Ask the rest of the players close their eyes.

Stand up and pat a different player on the head: he is the Murderer.

Tell the players to open their eyes and have the Detective come back to the group and stand in the middle of the circle. When the Murderer is ready, he can begin winking at other members of the group.

If a player has been winked at, he or she has to melodramatically pretend to die (for example, making gagging noises, screaming, etc.) and fall over.

The Detective must try to stop the murders from happening by guessing who the Murderer is. The Detective has three guesses. If she has not figured it out by the third guess, the Murderer is triumphant and becomes the Detective for the next round.

Pass the Slap

PLAYERS 10 or more

EQUIPMENT None

GAME PLAN Pass a slap around a circle without missing a beat.

HOW TO PLAY

Have the players lie on their stomachs in a circle with their hands out in front of them.

Have the players overlap their hands, so that the hands of their neighbors are in between their own hands. (If the players are Marisa, Robert and Kevin, the hands would be: Robert’s left hand, Marisa’s right hand, Kevin’s left hand, Robert’s right hand.)

First practice passing the slap clockwise (to the left). You — or a chosen leader — slap the

ground with your left hand, and the hand next to your hand clockwise slaps the ground (note that this is not the next person clockwise!). And then the next hand clockwise slaps the ground, and so on. The slap continues clockwise around the circle.

Next, practice going counter-clockwise. The leader slaps the ground, and the hand counter-clockwise to (to the right of) the leader’s starting hand slaps the ground.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Boston Mills Press; Illustrated edition (August 24, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1550465058
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1550465051
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.55 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.5 x 11 inches