Please do
. As an ex-outdoor instructor I used to know heaps of these games, some for part of sessions and others for killing time between sessions or while students were waiting for turns at activities.
I now play them with my kids when we're out and about but I can't remember half as many as I used to know so reminders and new ones are always welcome.
I hadn't heard of the Predetor/Prey game so thanks for sharing that one.....every day's a school day
Thanks
Oh, also....drum stalks are always good value, although daytime ones are safer to start with
That's a thought. Darkness/night time. Glow sticks are good fun. Treasure hunts (for food) in the dark, searching using glow sticks. Also a bat detector is always a hit, regardless of whether there are bats about, because kids just love to try to make noises that get picked up on the detector.
If it has to be daytime, then a crawl tunnel is a nice exercise. You can put things in it for them to retrieve on the way through, or just to count and remember (otherwise you have to keep putting things back!). A couple of tarps over some willow hoops works well, especially if you don't make it a straight line. You can make it part of a bushcraft obstancle course if that is appropriate, using ropes and perhaps a stream crossing or even just a stile.
Use a compass to do a simple pseudo-navigation exercise. Along give a person a compass and ask them to walk a certain number of paces on a certain bearing. Then again on a different bearing. etc, until they end up at a destination.
Blindfold walking with a partner. One person is blindfolded and just walks. Their companion is sighted and gives directions. I tend to keep the commands simple, basically Left, Right, Stop. The blindfolded person has to trust, and has an interesting experience, as they don't know where they are going, the sighted person is responsible for making sure they don't hit hazards. Emphasis is placed on the sighted person not deliberately walking them into things for the fun of it. Obviously you need a third person supervising, and an enviroment with not too many hazards, but simply walking across a field in interesting as the ground is uneven.
If you have long grass available, then lie own in the grass. there are listening and observing activities that can be done there.
Plant hunts to find flowers of particular colours. If there are no flowers then take lots of scraps of brightly coloured cloths (you can make them have different textures) and use those instead. For really young children I do a bug hunt using cuddly toys instead of real creatures (but then I have a collection of cuddly toy bugs acquired at car boot sales for this purpose. Charity shops are also good for this).
Putting up a tarp is a great team activity, as there is a role for everyone (holding corners, fetching tent pegs, propping up the middle etc).
My favourite group coordination game is 'walk like an earthworm', a variation on the insect game. Line everyone up, shortest to tallest at the back. Hands on shoulders of the person in front, but arms bent so people are standing almost touching body to body. Person at the front steps forward, so the pserson behind now has arms out straight. Then that person steps up to them. Then next person steps up to them, and so on down the line. The trick is to make the front person step again before the first wave has reached the tail, and lo and behold, you have an earthworm! Show a real earthworm afterwards.
I've tried doing this to create a millipede movement, with a wave of steps down each side of the animal, but it has never yet worked. Teams of four for a spider (legs 1 and 3 together).
The other one to use is disposable cameras or a small digital camera, so they can take pictures of finds and each other. Always a hit.
If you know any simple or silly songs (worm at the bottom of the garden?) then sing them around a campfire. And on the subject of fires, if you are doing this soon, as you suggest, then take your own supply of dried firewood, to minimise smoke. Foraging for firewood is a good activity, but you will end up with a lot of smoke.
Simply making a hot drink and some bannock is a great winter activity, especially at the end. When boiling water, leave the lid off the pot. I know it takes longer, but they can see when it is boiling. Most children don't see boiling water as it is inside a kettle, so it is a novelty. Serve the bannock with jam (tell them about fruits) and or honey because it is messy! Take a frying pan and fry slices of apple.
The key thing is to make the exercises as cooperative as possible, so that everyone does something, even if it is just holding something or passing something to someone else. They get a feeling of participation and reward for their successful actions. Finally, draw up a certificate of participation to give to each child attending at the end.
a dart case made by one of the clients and a wallet made by another
