Supplies

General:

• A music device 
• Portable speaker
• A stopwatch
• Hula hoops
• Chairs
• Spot markers
• Obstacle course materials

Freeze Dance

• A music device that you can pause and unpause easily

The Balloon Games

• Balloons
• String
• Chairs

Tic-Tac-Throw

• Two sets of colored bean bags or stuffed animals
• Sidewalk chalk or tape

The Popcorn Mess Around

• A parachute or large sheet
• Bean bags, ping pong balls, stuffed animals, cotton balls, or any other small objects that you can find
• A basket 

The Ground is Lava

• At least 5 sheets of paper in 5 different color (Construction paper or any other colorful paper will work)‍
• A hat

Pillow Fight Dodgeball

• Tape
• Pillows and/ or stuffed animals
• Blankets

Buried Treasure

• A space with lots of hiding spots
• “Treasure” that will be easy to hide and find (e.g. stuffed animals, coins, etc.)
• A stopwatch to keep time

Ping Pong Shake

• Ping pong balls or cotton balls
• A stopwatch to time the game

Fashion Show Relay

• Oversized clothes (Two to three silly outfits for each player)‍
• Any fashion accessories you can find at home to add to the outfits!

Stack Cup Castles

• A couple dozen plastic party cups
  • The more the better!

Fill The Boxes

• Playing indoors: A sheet of paper and different colored markers for each player

Clean Your Room

• At least 10 balls, stuffed animals, or other toss-able objects
• Sidewalk chalk or tape

Running Charades

• Paper
• A writing utensil

Instructions

Freeze Dance

• Number of Players:
  • Two or more players
  • A referee
• Where to Play: Indoors
• How to Play:
  • Round One: Freeze In Place
    • The referee plays music out loud and players dance along. When the referee pauses the music, all the players must stop dancing immediately and freeze in place. Any player that keeps moving or falls over once the music stops is out.
  • Round Two: Freeze Poses
    • The referee plays music out loud and players dance along. The referee strikes a pose as they pause the music and all players must match the pose and freeze in place. Any player that fails to match the pose or falls over once the music stops is out.
  • Bonus Round: Double Speed
    • The referee plays music out loud and players dance along at double the tempo of the music. When the referee pauses the music, all the players must stop dancing immediately and freeze in place. If a player can’t keep up with the tempo, keeps moving when the music stops, or falls over, they’re out.

The Balloon Games

• Number of Players: Two or more players
• Where to Play: Indoors or Outdoors
• How to Play:
  • Round One: Balloon Pop
    • Attach a balloon to the seat of a chair for each player and have them stand in front of their chairs as though they were about to sit down. When the referee says “go,” players attempt to pop their balloons without using their hands in any way (including using their hands to pull themselves down onto the chair). The first player to pop their balloon wins the round.
  • Round Two: Balloon Tag
    • Using a bit of string, tie an inflated balloon to each player’s ankle. When the game starts, players attempt to pop their opponents’ balloons while protecting their own. The last balloon standing wins!
  • Challenge Round: Balloon Wars
    • Divide into two even teams, each with its own base, and assign each team its own balloon color. Inflate five balloons for each team to gather at their base. When the game starts, teams attempt to pop their opponents’ balloons while protecting their own balloons. The first team to successfully pop all of the opposing team’s balloons wins the game.

Tic-Tac-Throw

• Number of Players: Two players
• Where to Play: Indoors or Outdoors
• How to Play:
  • Setup: Draw a Tic-Tac-Toe board using sidewalk chalk or tape, then take 5-10 big steps back (fewer steps for an easier game, more steps for a challenging game) and draw a line that players will stand behind while throwing.
  • Playing the Game: Each player takes turns tossing their bean bags onto the Tic-Tac-Toe board. If a player throws their bean bag into a box that their opponent has already claimed, they remove their bean bag and lose their turn. The first player to toss bean bags into three boxes in a row wins. Add an extra challenge by taking three steps back after each round. 
    • Don’t have bean bags? Use a few stuffed animals instead! Just use tape to tag your stuffies with your team’s color.

The Popcorn Mess Around

• Number of Players: Two or more players
• Where to Play: Indoors or Outdoors
• How to Play:
  • Round One: Pop the Popcorn
    • Place five small objects onto a parachute and have each player grab a side. Shake the parachute to make the “popcorn” pop without letting any fall off. Every 30 seconds, have the referee add another object to the parachute and keep going until stuff starts flying. How long can you last before the popcorn explosion pours over? Time it and see!
  • Round Two: Serve the Popcorn
    • Place 10 small objects onto a parachute and have each player grab a side. Using a basket, set up a “bowl” for the popcorn about three feet from the players. Shake the parachute to make the “popcorn” pop off into the bowl. See how many pieces of popcorn you can get into the bowl within 60 seconds. Add an extra challenge by moving the basket further and further away.‍

The Ground is Lava

• Number of Players:
  • Two or more players
  • A referee
• Where to Play: Indoors or Outdoors
• How to Play:
  • Setup: Spread several sheets of different colored paper on the ground. (You may want to use tape to keep them down.) These are the “safety stones.” Rip off a corner from each different color sheet and throw them into a hat.
  • Playing the Game: A referee starts the game by yelling out “THE FLOOR IS LAVA!” and everyone scrambles to stand on a “safety stone,” regardless of color. Then the referee pulls different color pieces of paper from the hat and players must hop from their space to the nearest safety stone of the corresponding color. If a player can’t reach a safety stone from where they are or if any part of their body touches the lava, they’re out. The last player standing is the winner!
  • Additional Challenges: When you tear the corners off each colored sheet, write down an additional challenge on each one, like having players hop on one foot or spin around three times before they jump each round.

Pillow Fight Dodgeball

• Number of Players: Two or more players 
• Where to Play: Indoors
• How to Play:
  • Setup: Use tape to divide a big room in half and have players separate into two equal teams. Make sure each side of the room has an equal number of pillows and/or stuffed animals, as well as a blanket. Each player starts the game in a sleeping position.
  • Playing the Game: When the game starts, players “wake up” and start throwing their pillows and stuffed animals across the room at their opponent(s). If a player gets hit on any part of their body, even if they catch the incoming object, they’re out and need to lie down and go back to sleep. Players can use a blanket as a shield and still remain in, even if the blanket gets hit. The last player standing is the winner!

Buried Treasure

• Number of Players:
  • Two or more players
  • One referee per player
• Where to Play: Indoors or Outdoors
• How to Play:
  • Round One: Hot-and-Cold Treasure Hunt
    • Before playing, a referee hides treasure (small stuffed animals or coins) around your house or outdoor space. When the game starts, players need to search for the treasures while the referee lets them know if they’re hot or cold, depending on how close they are to finding something. The player that collects the most treasure after five minutes wins!
  • Round Two: No-Hints Treasure Hunt
    • Round two is played just like round one, except this time the referee doesn’t tell players if they’re hot or cold or give any other hints. The player that collects the most treasure after five minutes wins.
  • Challenge Round: Blindfold Treasure Hunt
    • This round requires two players and two referees. Each referee hides just one piece of treasure this time and both have a blindfolded player as a partner. When the game starts, the referees must shout at their blindfolded teammate and tell them if they’re hot or cold, depending on how close they are to finding their treasure. The first player to find their treasure wins, but players can also attempt to tag out their opponent’s referee to win too.

Ping Pong Shake

• Number of Players: One or more players
• Where to Play: Indoors and Outdoors
• How to Play:
  • Setup: Cut two vertical slits into the back of an empty tissue box and thread a belt or scarf through it. Secure the box around the player’s waist and fill it with ping pong balls or cotton balls.
  • Playing the Game: Players take turns hopping, wiggling, and dancing around while trying to shake all the balls out of the tissue box without touching it with their hands. Use a stopwatch to keep time and see who can empty their box the fastest!

Fashion Show Relay

• Number of Players:
  • Four or more players divided into teams of two
  • A referee
• Where to Play: Indoors
• How to Play: 
  • Setup: Set up a race course with a starting line and finish line about 25 feet apart. Divide into teams of two players and line up for a relay race. Prepare two or three silly oversized outfits for each player and pile them up behind the starting line.
  • Playing the Game: When the race starts, the first player throws on an outfit as fast as they can and runs to the finish line. They then need to strike a pose, turn around, and do their best model catwalk strut back to the starting line as quickly as they can. When the first player returns to the starting line, the second player should quickly throw on their own outfit and repeat the process until every player has modeled each of the outfits prepared for them. The first team to go through all of their outfits wins!
  • Model Mary Bonus: The referee can call a “Model Mary” victory by choosing the winning team based on their catwalk struts and model poses.

Stack Cup Castles

• Number of Players: Two or more players
• Where to Play: Indoors
• How to Play:
  • Players take turns building towering castles out of plastic party cups. There are no rules to how a player can build their tower as long as it’s only made out of cups (so no tape, glue, or other building materials are allowed). The player that can build the tallest tower of cups before the whole thing falls over is the winner!
  • Scoring: Keep score by awarding one point for each new level of stacked cups. (For instance, a tower that’s three levels high is worth three points, even if it took six cups to build the tower up that high).

Fill The Boxes

• Number of Players: Two or more players
• Where to Play: Indoors or Outdoors
• How to Play:
  • Setup: Using sidewalk chalk or a marker, draw out a 10x10 grid of dots.
  • Playing the Game: Each player takes turns connecting two dots with a line. When a player draws a line that connects four dots and closes a box, they tag the box with their initials. Once the entire grid is filled with boxes, count up to see which player tagged the most boxes. That player wins the game!

Clean Your Room

• Number of Players: 
  • Two or more players divided into two even teams
  • A referee
• Where to Play: Indoors 
• How to Play:
  • Setup: Using sidewalk chalk or tape, divide a room or outdoor space into two “rooms” of roughly equal size. Each team starts with five balls in their “room.” Players can only stay in their own “room” and are not allowed to cross the line into the other team’s “room” for any reason.
  • Playing the Game: The referee starts a three minute timer and the game begins. Each team needs to frantically clear all the balls out of their room by tossing them into the other team’s room, all while their opponents do the same. When the three minute timer ends, the team with the fewest balls in their room wins the game.

Running Charades

• Number of Players: Five or more players
• Where to Play: Indoors
• How to Play:
  • Setup: Designate one person as the Clue Master. They need to come up with ten clues that other players will act out during rounds of Charades. Divide the remaining players into even teams with two or more players each. Send each team to a separate room where they can’t see the other teams, all about the same distance away from the Clue Master.
  • Playing the Game: Each team starts in their room and sends a runner out to the Clue Master to collect a clue. Then the race is on! The runners have to get back to their team and act out the clue until their team successfully guesses the answer. Players take turns running out and collecting clues. The first team to guess all ten clues wins!

Hula Hoop Teamwork - This can be used as a great team building activity — or with two teams competing. Explain that the hula hoop must not touch the ground, nor can the circle of hands be broken. The person on one end of the line then places a hula hoop on a teammate’s shoulder and the group joins hands to form a circle. Each person must maneuver through the hula hoop without letting it touch the ground to move around the circle until it reaches the beginning again.

Musical Hoops or Musical Chairs - Think musical chairs with hoops. If and when two students end up hopping in the same hoop, the student who touched a foot in the hoop first can stay.

‍Obstacle Course - Use objects you already own like jump ropes, boxes and hula-hoops to create a silly obstacle course. Encourage Campers to find ways to change up the course with their own ideas. Layer in challenges for bigger kid