Making children at camps play some of these games will help them break the ice, and also augment good team building skills in them. These camp games for large groups of children are a lot of fun and can be played at any place and at any time.
There are many outdoor games which are very popular in camps. Being surrounded by a large group of children and being charged with the task of entertaining them is not a very nice situation to be in. When such a moment arises, you would be expected to spontaneously come up with some novel and exciting games, and being well-versed in the knowledge of a few of them would be advisable. There are many games that you can come up with, and most of them are very easy to understand and do not require the use of any props. Given below are a few of them that everyone can have a great time participating in.
Amoeba Tag
This is a classic game that has been played by almost every child at some point in time. It requires no props and is a lot of fun for the children involved. At the beginning, two people are ‘it’. They must hold hands and chase people in order to touch them. Whoever they touch, joins the chain and must link their hands with the chasers. The chain can be split into two groups if there are an even number of people in the chain. The game carries on in this way until nobody is left.
Burst the Balloon
Balloons can be a great prop. These can be blown up and scattered all over the floor, and the participants should be asked to stand anywhere across the floor in a random manner. Once the time begins, the participants should try and burst as many balloons as possible, being awarded points for each balloon that they manage to burst. There can be many variations to this game, as the participants can be asked to burst the balloons in many different ways.
Cat and Mouse
This game involves two people who are chosen as the cat and the mouse, and is a lot of fun. All the remaining people stand in a circle, and the space between each person should be sufficient for the cat or the mouse to run through. But they should not stand so far that they are unable to hold hands and close the circle. The cat then chases the mouse inside or outside the circle, and whatever space either player passes under, is then closed by the two adjoining players by joining their hands. The game continues till the circle is entirely closed or till the cat catches the mouse.
Ducks and Cows
In this popular game, all the players stand with their eyes closed and a designated person walks around tapping each person on the back and telling them if they are a duck or a cow. The players must keep their eyes closed and locate another duck or a cow by making a “mooing” noise or a “quacking” sound. The game ends when all the cows have found a corresponding cow and all the ducks have found a corresponding duck.
Elbow Tag
The entire group is divided into pairs and all the pairs must link their arms together. Now, one pair is randomly chosen and they split up. One person of this pair is then chased by the other person. The one being chased can now link their arm with any person he/she wants, and the person at the other end of this link now gets free. The person doing the chasing, now chases this person who just got free. As a variation of this, the person who gets freed from the link can start chasing the person that was originally doing the chasing.
I Have Never …
This game acts as a great ice breaker for large groups, and helps them learn more about each other. Everyone sits in a circle, and one person sits in the middle. This person must then say something that he has never done. For example, I have never been to Hawaii. Anyone else who has done this must now get up and switch seats with each other. The purpose is for the person sitting in the center to grab one of those seats.
These are just a few common ones. There are many more games that can also be played, and these provide not only fun and excitement, but also serve as a great platform for children to get to know one another and develop their team building skills.
