Games Descriptions (H-J)
Heads Down, Thumbs Up
Quiet, Non-Active
Time - medium (10 minutes)
Group Size - any
Equipment Needed - none
Choose 4-6 people to be in, then ask everyone to put their heads down and their thumbs up.
The people who are in squeeze the thumbs of one person each, before returning to the front. If someone feels their thumbs be squeezed, they put their thumbs away, but don’t look up.
Once everyone has chosen, the leader calls “Heads Up, Stand Up,” and anyone who was chosen stands up, and each person guesses who they think picked them, with the people who are in replying with “Maybe, Maybe Not.” If they guess correctly, they are now in and the person who chose them returns to the group.
The leader then says “Heads Down, Thumbs Up,” and a new round begins.
Heads or Tails
Non-Active, Icebreaker
Time - Short (5-10 minutes)
Group Size - any
Equipment Needed - a coin or two coins
The group chooses if they think a coin will land on heads or tails when flipped. A coin is flipped, and anyone who guessed wrong is out. This continues until there is a last man standing.
Variation
Two Coins - add a second coin, and people can also guess One Head, One Tails, as well as Both Heads or Both Tails
Honey If you Love Me
Non-Active, Circle
Time - Medium (10 minutes)
Group Size - small to medium
Equipment Needed - none
The group sits in a circle. A leader begins the game by asking someone “Honey if you love me, won’t you give me a smile?” with the person having to respond, “Honey I love you but I just can’t smile,” with a straight face with no smiling or laughing. If they succeed, then the original person must ask the question to another person. If they can’t keep a straight face, they are now in and ask the question to someone else.
The person who is in can put on a voice, move around the circle, or anything else they think will help make the person they are asking laugh.
Hoola Circle
Team, Active
Time - Short (5-10 minutes)
Group Size - any
Equipment Needed - enough hoola hoops for the number of groups
Split the group into even teams of between 4 and 7, and have each team stand around a hoola hoop. Each team member places their pointer fingers under the hoop, and as a team they must raise the hoop with no one losing contact with the hoop. If they lose anyone, they have to start again from the bottom.
Once everyone is standing up straight, the team must lower the hoop back down, once again without anyone losing contact. The first team to get their hoop back on the ground wins.
Human Statues (Cookie)
Non-Active, Team
Time - Medium (10-15 minutes)
Group Size - any
Equipment Needed - none
Get everyone into pairs and have each pair designate a Person A and Person B. The leader running the game can also have a partner for demonstration purposes.
Everyone who is a Person A turns and faces away from the leader. The leader then arranges their partner into a particular pose. Person B must instruct Person A into that same position, however they can only use one word, usually Cookie.
After a minute, the leader calls Time’s Up, and Person A can turn around to see how close they were able to get. The pairs then switch roles for a new round.
Japanese Whispers
Non-Active, Team
Time - Medium (10 minutes)
Group Size - Any
Equipment Needed - none
Split the group into even teams of 4 or 5, and have them sit in columns all facing the same way. The back people of each row are taken away and given a short phrase. They return to their group and tap the person in front of them on the shoulder and act out the phrase without saying anything. Once the person thinks they know what the phrase is, they turn around and tap the person in front of them, and acts out the phrase.
This continues until the phrase makes it to the person at the front, who then goes and tells the leader what they think the phrase is. Whichever team is closest wins.
An optional addition is that another leader stands in front of everyone and tells a story to make sure everyone stays looking forward until it is their turn.