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Games Exchange 2016

Blind Potato
Everyone closes their eyes (or puts on a blindfold that worked better with Prep age
as they can cheat otherwise) so they are blind and they all hum as they do the
teacher taps one of them on the back and that means they are the Killer. From now on
the game is silent. They all move carefully around the space. If they meet someone
by touching them, they whisper potato? and the other whispers back potato but
when they come across the Killer, the killer responds with a dramatically whispered
scary Blood potato and the other person then dies a blood curdling, dramatic and
painful death; once dead they can open their eyes and crawl offstage. It can go on for
a while so you can gently move random potatoes nearer to the killer. If they hide or
fail to move much they are out.
Orchestra Game
All standing in a circle. The teacher starts off being the Orchestra Leader but this
soon changes to a pupil. The orchestra leader decides which instrument they are
playing, how they play and the sound they make-and everyone else copies them
perfectly. The leader invisibly changes instruments and everyone mimics so the
transition is seamless. Pupils must play in the style of the leader but keep one eye on
the Orchestra Leader watching for the next change. Now they know the rules the
teacher chooses a pupil to leave the room and then chooses a different Orchestra
Leader. When the pupil who has been outside re-enters the room they stand in the
middle and watches everyone and try to guess who the Orchestra Leader is.
Yee-Haarh!
All these actions get added in one by one as they become used to the game
Lasso Ho-down Dont point your gun at me Tumbleweed Saddle up
Yee-haah! All stand in a circle. You are in the Wild West! In front of a bar with a cold
beer in your hand. Send that glass sliding down the bar with a hand gesture and shout
Yee-haarh! The Yee-haarh! travels round the circle in a Mexican wave in
whichever direction it is sent.
Ho down this reverses the Yee-haarh! This gesture is the right hand in a fist pulling
down strongly as you bend your knees.
Dont point your gun at me is strong eye contact across the circle whilst raising
your gun with one or two hands and pointing it at the person you are looking at. This
makes the yee-haarh! jump across the circle- to the person who was on the end of the
point of the gun
Tumbleweed If a player calls this out it makes everyone jump one after the other
round the circle until someone decides to pick it up saying Ive got that and then
they start the Yee-haarh! starts again
Saddle up You make eye contact with someone across the circle and you both get
on your horses and canter across the circle changing places.

Lasso! You throw a lasso to someone and reel them in so they change from where
they were to being next to you.
If someone is out they can become jumps in the centre of the circle and the horses
have jump over the jumps
Venga Venga
As the leader does one of the actions the class do the opposite
1. Leader slaps their thighs class clap
2. Leader clasps class slap their thighs
1. Leader stands on tiptoe arms stretched and says high in a high voice
2. Class bend down low hands on the floor knees bent and say low in a low voice
1. Leader says Venga Venga and both arms do a tap tap dance gesture right and
left turning the body as they double tap
2 The class say Hoola Hoola and rotate hips in two circles with arms out as if
circling a hoop around their waist.
1. Leader says But darling I love you with an extravagant arm gesture of love
and real romantic intent.
2. Class say Im looking for the man who shot my pa! with a bandy legged Texan
walk into the centre of the circle - knees out with Texan drawl.
Food Chain Game
Everyone starts off as an egg and become large round heavy shapes on legs arms
out wide low and wide and plodding. Let them walk around as eggs for a while.
Then they meet another egg and play rock /paper/ scissors in silence if they draw
they both continue to be eggs but go off to find another egg to play rock/ paper/
scissors with. If they win they move up the food chain to become a chicken lots of
squawking and strutting about the space. They now need to find another chicken to
play rock paper scissors with and again, if they draw they stay as chickens and go
off to find a different chicken but if they win they move up the food chain to
become Foxes sneaking around with both hands snapping open and shut like a jaw
low and stealthy. The winner of the foxs rock/paper/scissors game move up the food
chain to become dinosaurs and roar around the space. If the dinosaur wins
rock/paper/scissors they have succeeded and have won their way out of the game.
Some never make it beyond eggs!
Catch the clap
All standing in a circle. The teacher decides on an emotion (hate, affection, jealousy,
tears/ fear etc) one person has to express say fear and sends a hate filled clap
across the circle transmitting hate to the person they are making eye contact with.
That person catches the clap- and we need to see a reaction from them shock/
sadness/ anger they respond to the emotion of hate as they catch it then they too
send the hate filled clap across the circle to someone elses they need to name the
person. They catch the clap and react then send it on. You can send the clap to

anyone. The teacher changes the emotion as and when. You can also play this using a
ball. I did this with Prep school age and they like physical things like clap the
wobble/ tears/ robot/ or accents and characters.
Blob
One person is the blob the blob cannot run but the rest of the class can. Limit the
space. If the blob touches you you become a blob and join hands with the other
blob- you must keep arms linked all the time the blobs can make a blobby sound
effect. Blobs can only catch others with their free hand or tentacle- anyone who is
caught joins the ever growing chain of blobs. Those who are not yet caught can run in
between the arms of the blob chain teasing the blob. The ends need to be aware that
they are the tentacles of fear and need to work with the other blobs to trap those not
yet caught rather than pull in opposite directions.
King of the Jungle
There are 8 chairs in a semi- circle. The rest of the class are sitting waiting for one
person to get it wrong so that one of them can enter the game.
These actions and sounds must be exact and accurate if you get them wrong you are
out so go through the actions and sound carefully- so they know them all.
1. The Lion - One roar with both hands as claws
2. Gorilla Beat chest with fists and gorilla noise x 2
3. Giraffe One arm stretched up high- fingers of hand snapping- saying chomp
chomp
4. Shark - One hand flat as a fin on top of the head saying der-rum der-rum
5. Crab say scabberty scab scab as both hands move side to side and fingers
open and close
6. Worm - one index finger points its way forward in a worm like motion saying
wiggle wiggle wiggle
7. Plankton (sorry I missed this one during the game I think it was Ah ah ah with
an action so you will have to make up one apologies)
8. Amoeba blubbering sound as you flop forward arms waving down to the floor
The lion starts every round the lion does the lion sound & action then anothers
sound and action- i.e. say the Crab, the crab then does their own crab sound& action
followed by a different one. They can keep firing it back to the lion to try and get the
lion to make a mistake. If the shark does their sound& action followed by the gorilla
the gorilla cannot send it straight back to the shark. The only one you can send it
back to is the lion.
The aim of the game is to get the lion the King of the jungle to make a
mistake and be out.
If anyone makes a mistake they are out the others all move one chair up the
food chain and one of the audience, waiting patiently in the pool of life gets to
come up and join in the game as an Amoeba.
All creatures are chair specific