Games Descriptions (N-O)
Naughts and Crosses Relay
Active, Running, Team
Time - Short (5-10 minutes)
Group Size - Any
Equipment Needed - 9 matching plates per game, stack of bowls in two different colours
Set the plates up in a 3x3 square, forming the nine spaces of a naughts and crosses board, and place the bowls either side of the board.
Split the group into two teams, with each team lining up the same distance from the board (this can be a long or short distance depending on the area.)
As the game begins, the first player from each team runs to the board and places one marker, then runs back and tags the next player, who does the same thing.
This continues until one team has three markers in a row, which wins the game.
Newspaper Hit
Active, Chair
Time - Short (5-10 minutes)
Group Size - Any
Equipment Needed - Blindfold, rolled up newspaper, chair
The group sits in a circle around a chair with a tennis ball or other small object under it, with someone sitting on the chair with a blindfold on and holding a rolled up newspaper.
People sitting in the circle take turns to sneak up on the person and try and take the object without being tagged by the newspaper. If unsuccessful, another person from the circle tries next. If successful, the person who grabbed the object becomes the person on the chair.
Nick Nack
Non-Active, Circle
Time - Short (5-10 minutes)
Group Size - Small to medium. Works well as a rotation
Equipment Needed - Objects to be nicks and nacks
Choose two small ordinary objects. Designate one as the nick and the other as the nack.
Sit the group down in a circle. The leader begins to hand the Nick to the person on their right, saying, “This is a Nick.”
The person receiving responds, “A what?”
The leader confirms, “A Nick.”
The person receiving the Nick takes it and says, “Thank you.”
The person then begins to pass it to the next person, saying, “This is a Nick.”
The next person responds, “A what?”
The person holding the Nick then also wants to know what they are holding and also says “A what?”
The leader confirms, “A Nick.”
And the person holding the Nick confirms to the next person, “A Nick.”
The person receiving the Nick takes it and says, “Thank you.”
The game continues in a likewise manner, with “A what?” always travelling back to the leader, and “A Nick,” returning to the person holding it. Eventually, the Nick will make it the whole way around the circle, back to the leader.
Playing with the Nick on its own is a good way to get kids familiar with the pattern and the phrases. When they seem comfortable with how the game works, start a second round, but after sending the Nick to the left, send the Nack to the right, with the goal of getting both around the circle while still using the pattern.
Ninja
Active, Circle
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE NINJA GAME
Time - Short (5-10 minutes)
Group Size - Small to medium
Equipment Needed - none
Everyone stands in a tight circle in the middle of the space, with a hand in the middle. On the count of three, everyone jumps outwards while yelling their ninja name. The person who makes it the furthest from the middle goes first.
Each person, going around the circle, takes turns to make one movement, where they attempt to get other people out by slapping them on the hand. A person being attacked is able to react to avoid getting out. A person is only allowed one movement on their turn, and each movement has to either be attacking or moving towards another player.
Play continues until everyone but one person is out.
The Ninja Game
Icebreaker, Non-Active
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH NINJA
Time - Short (5 minutes)
Group Size - Any
Equipment Needed - None
Everyone stands up to begin. The leader should run this game from a higher position, like a stage or standing on a chair.
The leader explains the actions to be used in the game, usually four but can be three when played with a group who isn’t familiar with the game. The actions are normally:
BEAR (hands raised like claws with palms facing forward)
CRANE (essentially the crane kick from Karate Kid)
SNAKE (right arm bent upwards with fingers pointing down and away from the body, with left hand supporting elbow)
DRAGON EGG (forearms creating circle shape over torso)
Each round, everyone chooses an action at the same time, which is counted in by the leader with two beats on their legs, with everyone revealing their action on the third beat.
The aim of the game is to avoid doing the same action as the leader, which results in being eliminated from the game. This continues until only one person remains.
Variations
This game has endless variations, as the actions can be chosen from any theme or category to suit a setting or theme of a night, e.g. Animals, Musical Instruments, Superheroes, Halloween, etc.
Over Under
Active, Team, Ball
Time - Short (5 minutes)
Group Size - medium to large
Equipment Needed - ball for each group, cones to stand behind optional
Split the group into teams of around 7-10. Each team needs a ball.
The ball starts at the front of each line, where the lead person passes it over their head to the next person, who then passes it under their legs. This continues until the ball reaches the back of the line, where the last person runs to the front of the line and begins again.
A team wins when the person who started at the front makes it back to the front again.