Embedded Files
Belly Button
Belly Button
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: 4 or more
Supplies: 2 soft objects for tossing (bean bags, stuffed animals, balls, etc.)
Instruction: You'll need 2 different soft objects such as bean bags, stuffed animals, balls, etc. Group up in a circle & before you start go around the circle and have campers introduce themselves. To begin, one person tosses the bean bag to another, and as they toss they say “Here you go, ___!” The camper that caught the bean bag must say “Thank you, ___!” Campers need to cross their arms if they’ve already had the object. Continue until everyone has had the object. Challenge campers to repeat the same pattern. Once they have mastered it again you can add in additional objects or have one object start the pattern in reverse. Alternatively, after saying “Here you go, ____ and Thank you _____” you can have each camper answer a question about themselves. When you challenge them to repeat the pattern, you can give them a new question to answer. Serves as a name game and an icebreaker!
Dance Move!
Dance Move!
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: Any
Supplies: None
Instruction: Learn each other's names and have a dance party! Ask each camper to say their name and show off their signature dance move. After each person performs, go around the circle and have everyone mimic the dance move of each camper while saying their name.
My Name is ____ and I like to _____
My Name is ____ and I like to _____
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: Any
Supplies: None
Instruction: Great way to learn a bit about your campers! Ask each camper to say their name and one thing they love to do. Add in some movement by asking them to act out the activity. For example, a camper says "My name is Jeff, and I like to mountain bike!" while pretending to ride. Once someone says and acts out their activity, everyone will repeat "Your name is ___ , and you like to ___!" while mimicking the action." After everyone has a turn, test their memory and see if a camper can go around and repeat what everyone’s name and activity was!
Tarp Drop/Waterfall
Tarp Drop/Waterfall
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: Any
Supplies: a tarp, sheet, or blanket big enough to hold between two groups of people
Instruction: Split the group in half, with groups standing on opposite sides of a tarp held so that they cannot see each other. Each group quietly chooses someone to come stand close to the tarp, while everyone else stands farther away. The instructors holding the tarp count down, and drop the tarp, so that two people should be looking at each other. Whoever says the correct name of the other person first, wins, and brings that person to their team.
Write your name with your hips!
Write your name with your hips!
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: Any
Group Size: Any
Instructions: Start by getting the entire group loosened up. Have the group stand in a circle with at least an arm length of space between each person. Instructor, introduce yourself and demonstrate how to draw your name in the air with your hips. Then, ask the whole group to do this at the same time! Get everyone wiggling around.
Now, go around the circle and ask each person to introduce themselves and draw their name (or their first initial, for time’s sake). Have the whole group say “Hi, ____!” while drawing that person’s name or initial with their hips as well.
Continue until everyone has introduced themselves. This game can also be used throughout the week as a quick energizer!
Bean Bag Toss
Bean Bag Toss
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: 4 or more
Supplies: 2 soft objects for tossing (bean bags, stuffed animals, balls, etc.)
Instruction: You'll need 2 different soft objects such as bean bags, stuffed animals, balls, etc. Group up in a circle & before you start go around the circle and have campers introduce themselves. To begin, one person tosses the bean bag to another, and as they toss they say “Here you go, ___!” The camper that caught the bean bag must say “Thank you, ___!” Campers need to cross their arms if they’ve already had the object. Continue until everyone has had the object. Challenge campers to repeat the same pattern. Once they have mastered it again you can add in additional objects or have one object start the pattern in reverse. Alternatively, after saying “Here you go, ____ and Thank you _____” you can have each camper answer a question about themselves. When you challenge them to repeat the pattern, you can give them a new question to answer. Serves as a name game and an icebreaker!
When the Wind Blows
When the Wind Blows
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: 4 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: Have the campers sit in a circle and choose one camper to be in the center. The camper in the center of the circle will say, “when the wind blows…” followed by something that (s)he likes to do (“I like to swim in the ocean”). If the campers on the outside of the circle also like to do the same thing, then they need to get up and find a new spot in the circle. The person in the center will also look to find a spot in the circle. The camper that is left without a spot in the circle then becomes the one in the middle. Use this game as a way to have the campers get to know one another better and find points of connection.
SPUD!
SPUD!
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: 2nd-7th grade
Group size: Any
Supplies: a dodgeball sized ball
Instruction: Campers stand in a circle with one person in the middle, who is holding the ball. That person throws the ball up in the air and yells a name. If your name is yelled, you have to retrieve the ball as quickly as possible and yell SPUD! If your name is not called, you run as far away from the ball as you can until you hear the person yell SPUD, when you have to freeze. The person with the ball is granted 2 big steps in the direction of their choosing, and then they throw the ball underhand to try and tag someone with the ball. That person they throw the ball at now gets to be in the middle of the circle and throw the ball up in the air to call a name. A new name must be called every time.
Pro-Tips: Campers often struggle to be loud enough for others to hear what name they yell or when they yell SPUD. As the instructor, stay close to the center of the circle, and repeat loudly the name of the camper that needs to get the ball, and help yell SPUD when a camper picks up the ball that’s been thrown. Also be clear that we are throwing the ball straight up in the air, not in a specific direction.
Zap!
Zap!
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: 2nd-7th grade
Group size: 6 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: Campers stand in a circle, with one person in the middle. The person in the middle turns around saying ‘zip zip zip zip’ with their finger pointed out until they stop and point at one person, and say ‘ZAP’. That one person they point at ducks down, and the two campers standing on either side of them have to look at each other and say the name of the other person as quickly as possible. Whoever says the correct name first gets to stay standing, the other person has to sit down. The person that was ‘ZAPPED’ can stand back up. At the very end when you have two campers standing on the outside of the circle left, they can have a ZAP off, where they face each other, both take a deep breath, then both say ‘ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP’ for as long as they can until someone runs out of that 1 breath.
Bippity Boppity Boo!
Bippity Boppity Boo!
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: 2nd-7th grade
Group size: 6 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: Campers stand in a circle with one person in the middle, who is the Fairy Godmother. The person in the middle points at someone and says 1 of the following directions (left, right, you, or me) then ‘bippity boppity boo!’ as quickly as they can. The person they point at has to say the name of the corresponding person (the person on their left, right, the person in the middle, or their own name) before the Fairy Godmother finishes saying ‘bippity boppity boo’, and if they can’t, they sit down. If the person does say the correct name in time, they then become the Fairy Godmother, and everyone gets to stand up.
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: 2nd-7th grade
Group size: 6 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: This is a great game to solidify remembering names once you’ve gone over them once or twice. Form a standing circle. Select one player to be the zookeeper, who will stand in the middle of the circle. The zookeeper will close their eyes and instruct other players how to move around the circle (skip, run, jump, etc.). Make sure to keep your distance. When the zookeeper is ready, they will say, "freeze," point to someone (with their eyes still closed), and shout out an animal. Whoever is chosen has to make the sound of the animal that the zookeeper said. Once the camper makes the sound of the animal, the zookeeper will have 3 chances to guess who made the noise (with their eyes still closed!). Whether the zoo keeper guesses correctly or not, the player who made the animal sound switches places with the zookeeper. This is obviously a very silly game with older kids so embrace that and encourage laughter!
Yee Haw!
Yee Haw!
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: 5 or more
Supplies: None
Instructions: Form a circle. The leader will start by giving their best, most enthusiastic “yeeee haw!” and send it around the circle by crooking their arm and pointing to either their left or right. That camper responds with another “yeeeee haw!” and continues to send it around the circle in the same direction. The louder the better!
Additions/Modifications:
Down little doggie: Campers can send it across the circle by kneeling onto one knee and pointing to someone across the circle while saying “down little doggie!” Then, that camper can either continue the “yee haws” from their place, OR send it back to the previous person by grabbing their imaginary belt buckle and saying “PING!” (asif ricocheting the call off of their belt buckle)
Barn Dance: If someone says this, the entire group has to gallop like a horse and find a new place in the circle. The caller then continues with another action.
Rattlesnake: everyone jumps, one at a time, going around the circle in the same direction. When it gets back to the caller, the next camper makes another call.
Raccoon Circles
Raccoon Circles
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: 2nd-7th grade
Group size: Any. Larger is better!
Supplies: something to act as ‘raccoon circles’. This can be some bandanas, hula hoops, rope that is knotted into a circle on the ground, tarps on the ground.
Instruction: break everyone up so that there are an equal amount of campers at each raccoon circle (anywhere between 3-6 campers at each). You will ask the group questions, and they will choose one camper that fits that question best, and send that camper away to a new circle.
Good Questions: Who has the brightest shoes? Who is the tallest? Who is the shortest? Who has the biggest smile? Who has been on an airplane most recently? Who can do the splits the best? Who has the best singing voice? Who is the funniest?
Pro-Tips: Gauge your group well for this exercise. For more objective questions, some groups will stand around and argue with each other, and what was meant to be a confidence boosting question for a camper becomes a squabble session.
Wind in the Willows
Wind in the Willows
Type: Restful/Contact
Age: 2nd-7th grade
Group size: 4 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: Campers and staff form a tight circle around a person in the middle. The campers in the circle stand in spotting position with their hands out in front of them. The staff or camper in the center states, “One way that I could feel supported this week at camp is if you…” They then close their eyes and sway around (like a willow in the wind) while the rest of the group supports them and prevents them from falling. This can be a fun/silly yet meaningful demonstration of support after the camper shares something potentially vulnerable about how they would like support for the week.
Greetings, Buddy!
Greetings, Buddy!
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: 2nd-7th grade
Group size: 6 or more
Supplies: none
Instruction: At the beginning of each round, you will give instructions for a fun greeting, and then a topic for campers to discuss with that buddy. Instruct campers how to mingle (moving around throughout the group), making it as silly as possible (add a song to it! “Mingle, Mingle, Mingle!”). When you yell a certain word, they are going to stop moving around and look at someone next to them, and that is their buddy (everyone should have a partner). Once everyone has a partner, the campers will perform the fun greeting you shared with them, and then share their answers to the question you provided at the beginning of the round. Come up with some fun topics for them to talk about! You can play as many rounds as you’d like.
Examples of ‘fun greetings’ include: high five, Top Gun high five, fish flop friend (flat hands ‘zipper’ together, then you clap the hand of your buddy, it sounds like a fish flopping around), Thanksgiving (turkey high five), and secret handshake. You can make these greetings no contact if necessary.
Examples of fun topics to discuss: favorite movie, least favorite food, preferred superpower, dream job.
Pro-Tips: This is a great way to help campers get into pairs later in the week. Ask them to remember who a certain buddy was, and pair up with that buddy.
Hot Seat
Hot Seat
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: 4 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: At the beginning of each day at camp, pick 1 or 2 campers to put in the "hot seat". During morning circle, in the van, during lunch, and/or any other suitable moments during the camp day, have each camper come up with a question to ask each person in the "hot seat" (instructors can also ask questions too). By the end of the day, each camper should have asked each person in the "hot seat" one question. Share with campers that the purpose of the "hot seat" is to have campers creatively come up with questions that will allow the whole group to get to know each other better. Explain to the group that if a camper does not want to answer a question, they do not have to. By the end of the camp session, all campers should have had the opportunity to be in the "hot seat". Instructors may include themselves in the "hot seat" if they'd like.
Important Note: Questions should be age appropriate and should encourage campers to practice sharing about themselves and being curious about their fellow campers while not crossing any boundaries. Make sure the questions are asked in a controlled group setting so the session can be mediated by an instructor. Instructors should set boundaries for questions and give examples of suitable questions (while still leaving room for creativity from the campers).
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