RAINBOW AND BROWNIE GAMES Cat and Mouse Circus Theme Game Colour Tag Daddy Bear etc Duck Duck Goose Everyone's it Heads down, Thumbs Up Knives Forks and Spoons Mars Bar Game People to people Rainbow Tag Sun and Frost The 5 pennies Traffic Lights Witches GUIDE FUN GAMES Drawing Board Four Corners String Puzzle Animal Ice Breaker Cooperative Gadgets Winds they are a blowin' Group Walk Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves Drivers Relay Bubble Car Ice Flow Summer Sledge Race Five pennies Giants, Wizards and Trolls Chairs Spud

GUIDE GAMES WITH AN INTERNATIONAL FLAVOUR A game from Egypt Australian Circle Game Build the leaning tower Cable cars game from Switzerland Canadian Guiding Trivia Pursuit Crystal Palace Rally Wide Game Drapeau Guide promise or law relay History of the movement relay International Shopping It Law Colours Newspaper Laws Rock Tree and Bridge Slapping Game The Great Canadian Snowshoe Race

                                                                                                                             
BALLOON FUN

Equipment: inflated balloon (have a couple of spares), four bean bags.
To play: The players are in two teams, facing each other, behind two lines, at least six metres apart. The balloon is on the floor in the middle. Each side has two bean bags.

The object of the game is to get the balloon over the opposing team's line by hitting the balloon with a bean bag. Bean bags must be thrown from behind the line. A point is scored for each successful goal. Bean bags may be retrieved only by the team which throws them. If a player touches the balloon, a point is given to the team.

RAINBOW TAG

A British game, but very popular with Sparks (Rainbows in Canada)

• 2 girls are designated "it."

• Everyone else holds a strip of any coloured card in their hand.

• The "its" chase the others and try to tag them.

• When tagged, you have to give "it" your card, then go to the leader for a new one.

• The first "it" to have collected 3 DIFFERENT colours of card yells, "Stop!" and the round is over.

Having to go back to the leader for a replacement card keeps the girls in the game, & keeps them from running too far away!

CIRCUS THEME GAME

Divide the girls into four groups by numbering them 1, 2, 3, 4, etc and then ask all the 1st to stand together , all the 2's etc....then you have four mixed up qroups. One group are told they are the acrobats and they have 15 minutes to practice their act. Another group are to be clowns....give them a box of props.....another group were to be the animals and the fourth group are the band. They will have great fun coming out with their acts and dressing up. You could have a Ring Mistress start the show......have fun....the girls will love it.

COLOUR TAG  

                                                                                                                                            
Pick about 4 people to be 'taggers'.
Then set boundaries (you want an open space ie: school gym).
Then someone calls out a colour (everyone wearing red for example) and then everyone wearing that colour (or can do patterns, ie: stripes, tartan etc) has to run across. If they are tagged, they sit out.
If the caller calls out: "colour tag" then everyone runs.
If the caller calls out "energizer" then everyone sitting out can rejoin in the game.

 DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE

Duck, Duck, Goose is fun. 1 person is "it". Everyone else sits in a circle. "It" walks around the outside tapping people on the head as she says "duck, duck, duck," etc. When she says "goose" instead of "duck" that person has to jump up run around the outside of the circle while "it" runs the other way around the circle. Whoever gets back to the empty spot last is "it".

THE FIVE PENNIES

Get the girls to sit on the floor in 2 parallel lines with a reasonable space between each line. Number them 1 - ? along one line and then the same starting at the other end with the second line.

(If you ask them to choose a partner first and then sit them diagonally opposite their partners i.e. the two number 1s being partners, etc, it is easier to make sure that they are equally matched.)

In the middle of the space between them, put 5 coins on a chair and an empty chair at each end of the space. As you call out a particular number both those girls dash up, pick up one penny and place it on the chair at the end. You will already have told them which chair belongs to each side! They do the same for the second penny while the first girl to pick up the third penny and get it to her chair gains a point for her side.

EVERYONE'S IT

  Everyone is 'it'. When you are tagged you put a hand on that spot and keep trying to tag other people without moving that hand. If you are tagged a second time, then you must put your other hand on that spot. You are not 'out' yet though. You continue to tag other people (with your elbows) until you are tagged a third time. Then you sit down.

A variation on this, will allow some one to be the Doctor and that person will go around and rescue the people who are sitting down. Once the Doctor has been tagged three times, the game is over.

Ages: All ages
Number of children: Any number from 5 and up
Category: Definitely rowdy, large space required

MARS BARS GAME  (three or four)

You will need: a knife
2 Dice (more may be needed if the group is particularly large)
Old clothes (jumper, trousers, hat)
For younger girls use Fun-size Mars Bars or the smaller sweets version instead of the large bar and the knife.

HOW TO PLAY:
Girls sit in a circle.
Place one bar, the knife and the old clothes on a chair / table in the centre of the circle.
Give the dice to 2 girls sitting facing each other in the circle. Each girl throws the dice and passes it on in a clockwise direction. If a girl gets a 6 then she jumps up, runs clockwise around the outside of the circle, through her space into the centre of the circle where she puts on the clothes and then cuts a slice of the bar. However there may be someone after her and if she is tagged by another girl before she cuts the bar she must take off the clothes as quickly as possible to allow the other girl put them on. If she cuts the bar she is allowed to eat it.   Only an untagged girl may eat the bar, continue till finished.                                                                                                    

PEOPLE TO PEOPLE
Category: Outdoor, or large space
Age: 5 - 12 years
Number of participants: A lot.
 
Everyone gets into pairs, except for one leader. The leader yells out, "Toe to toe", "knee to elbow", "head to knee" etc. Partners TOUCH these body parts together until the leader yells out "People to people." Then everyone changes partners and the leader tries to find a partner. The person who is without a partner, becomes the leader. (In the event of an even number of children, an adult can be the first leader and participate in the game thereafter!)
 

CAT AND MOUSE

One girl is selected to be the cat, another girl is chosen to be the mouse and one girl is selected to be the caller (this could also be a leader).

The purpose of the game is for the cat to catch (touch) the mouse.

Arrange the remaining girls in lines as shown. It doesn't matter how many girls there are, just make sure they are evenly spaced out. To begin with, all girls are facing the front of the playing area. The girls are standing with their arm outstretched at their sides so that they are touching the hand of the girl next to her. This has created streets.

(The X represent the girls and the -- represents their arms outstretched)

--X----X----X----X----X--

--X----X----X----X----X--

--X----X----X----X----X--

--X----X----X----X----X--

--X----X----X----X----X--

The cat chases the mouse down the streets. When the caller yells "Alleys", all the girls turn to their right so they are now facing the side wall and touching the hands of the girls who were previously in front of and behind them. This has now created Alleys. Initially, the cat and mouse will be trapped but they will soon maneuver themselves around and continue the chase down the alleys.

WITCHES

One person is the witch. There are glue pots marked on the floor (about 5 circles spread around the area). We use hoops to mark these out. When you say go, the witch tries to catch the other Brownies. When a Brownie is caught she must stand in the nearest gluepot. She can reach out (but not move out) and catch other Brownies.

TRAFFIC LIGHTS

 There are only three commands Green - run around.. Amber - sit down.. Red - stop.   Good game to do as girls arrive for the meeting.  After everyone has arrived and the girls are starting to get tired I usually say that anyone who gets it wrong is out.

DADDY BEAR, MUMMY BEAR, BABY BEAR

This needs the girls to be in threes, but if you don't have a multiple of three then you can have a four in which case 2 people double up, or a two in which case you improvise a bit, or drag in your long suffering young leader. The girls nominate a daddy, mummy and baby bear for each group. The girls get into a circle standing next to the other members of their group. The guider then calls out one of "daddy", "mummy" or "baby" bear followed by one of "tunnels", "arches" or "bridges" e.g. "Daddy Bear arches". Whoever is that "bear" has to run round the circle anticlockwise. Meanwhile the other two get into a "tunnel" (stand in front of each other with legs apart), an arch (join hands above heads in arch formation), or tunnel (sit down with legs straight out in front, soles of feet together as in "Ladders"). When the girl running round the circle gets back she has to go through the tunnel, under the arch or over the bridge and then grab and item (we usually use a bean bag) in the middle of the circle. First one to get there wins.

HEADS DOWN, THUMBS UP

This is a good game to help new ones learn the other girls names. All girls sit in a circle. The guider selects 4 girls who stand outside the circle. The command "Heads Down, Thumbs Up" is given and the girls in the circle have to put their heads down, shut their eyes and hold their thumbs up. The 4 selected girls then go round and squeeze the thumb of one girl each. Anyone who's had their thumbs squeezed puts them down so they don't get squeezed twice. When all 4 girls have squeezed some one's thumbs they go back to their original places. The guider then says "Heads Up" and the girls who have been squeezed stand up. The guider then asks each girl in turn to guess who squeezed them. If they are correct then they change places, if not they stay where they are. This can go on ad nauseam.

KNIVES, FORKS AND SPOONS

All line up against one wall of the hall. When "Lay the Table" is called, run to the opposite side of the hall. "Clear the Table" run to the side of the hall you started. "Knives" - stand to attention (Like the blade of a knife) "Spoons" - crouch down small "Forks" - stand up straight with your arms above your head (like the prongs of the fork).

SUN AND FROST

One player is the Sun and another is the Frost. Everyone has to run around, and the Frost has to catch them. When they are caught they stand still, until the Sun comes and defrosts them. Periodically change over, so everyone has the chance of being Sun and/or Frost.                                           

GUIDE GAMES SECTION 

DRAWING BOARD

 

Equipment: A picture on a large piece of paper stuck up on a wall somewhere outside the meeting room. For example, the picture that we had was a picture of a face with long curls and a crown with points and jewels on the crown. It was drawn with a marker on white paper. Also a piece of paper and a marker for each team.

Number of Players: In teams of at least 4. One person is the drawer.

Category: Quiet, indoor.

Age: 9 and up.

In the first variation, one person is chosen as the drawer for each team, and that person is not allowed to talk at all. One of the members of the team goes out to the hallway to look at the picture, but she is not allowed to say anything except yes or no, to the rest of the team, who must ask her questions about the picture. The person with the piece of paper must draw the picture, as they hear it described to them, without asking any questions herself.

In the second variation, each member of the team can go look at the picture except the drawer, one at a time. Then the drawer can ask each team member one question, and they can only answer the question yes, or no. This continues until the picture is drawn. (I'm not sure I have explained this well, so I will provide an example. Kathy is the drawer and she has Natasha and Heather on her team. Heather goes to look at the picture. Kathy asks her if it is a picture of an animal, Heather says Yes. Natasha goes out to look and Kathy asks her if it is a dog, Natasha says No. Kathy asks Heather if it is a person, and Heather (who can remember this) says Yes. Kathy asks Natasha if it is a boy, and Natasha can't remember, so she goes to look and then comes back and says No. And so forth until Kathy feels she has enough information to start drawing - she might then ask if it is a whole body, just a face, in profile or straight on, long hair, curly hair, smiling, etc)

This game in either version tends to take awhile. And you can change versions partway through if you'd like.

 

STRING PUZZLE 

Take a string/yarn about 3 foot long.  Tie one end to the wrist of
a girl, tie the other end to her other wrist.  Now, take a second
string, same length, tie one end to the wrist of her partner,
again, tie the other end to her other wrist - BUT make sure that her
string goes through her girl's string.  Its hard to explain, but they
are now connected (their strings cross) - facing each other.  Then
just tell them to get untangled - but they CAN NOT take the string
off of their wrist (or cut / break it).  Also tell them that if they
figure it out to not tell the others.  Most will NOT figure it out. 
And I never tell them how - I may want to use it again... Cut the
strings on those that can't do it.  Tell them to go home and try it. 

ANIMAL ICE BREAKER

Everyone draws a slip of paper from a box that has the name
of an animal on it.  (For a group of 100, use about 8 different
animals.  We used duck, cow, pig, cat, rooster, horse, sheep, and dog.)  At
the signal, you start making the sound that the animal you picked makes.  You
must go around and find everyone else in your group by listening for their
animal sounds.  It sounds like a huge barnyard!  It is a great way to mix
people together and start off with something humorous.

COOPERATIVE GADGETS

Each group will have about 12 or so people.  Each group must come up with an
appliance, gadget, or machine that they will portray WITHOUT WORDS.
("Machinery noises" are permitted.  Example:  whirring, humming,etc.)
Everyone in the group must be a part of the portrayal, so no one gets left
out.  For instance, our group portrayed an electric can opener. The two
tallest people in the group stood next to each other with their arms up
together forming the lever of the can opener.  The rest of us formed a tight
circle in front of them.  When it was our turn to portray, the two "levers"
moved their arms down together like when you push the lever down on an
electric can opener and started making a whirring noise.  Those of us in the
tight circle then moved around in a circle, like the can does while the lid is
being removed.  I hope you get the visual idea here!

This game was lots of fun.  Groups portrayed popcorn poppers, toasters,
typewriters, and lots of other things.  It was great fun seeing the
imaginative ideas people came up with for their portrayals!

THE WINDS THEY ARE A BLOWIN'

Have everyone sit in a circle---either on a chair or on the floor.  One person
is in the middle and she says " The winds they are a blowin, for anyone
who.....(at this point she fills in something that may apply to some or all of
the members of the group ie: anyone wearing a necky, hairband or anyone who
likes the color purple or spaghetti)
Anyone who fits the description must jump up and trade places with someone else
who is on the move.  The girl in the middle must scramble for a seat, leaving
one person left without a seat--that girl becomes the new one in the middle.
As with all games,  make sure you stop when the girls still want to play!

GROUP WALK

Players line up shoulder to shoulder, each girl's right foot  next to the
left foot of the girl to her right.   The challenge to the group is to
'walk forward' as a group--with each group step every girl steps forward
with one (and only one) foot (keeping her feet touching the feet of the
girls on either side of her).  Not easy!

ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES

Girls line up shoulder to shoulder.  The LEADER is one of the end girls.
The whole group chants 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves' (over and over
again).  The LEADER begins an action on one chant  (such as clapping her
hands).  At the next chant, the girl next to the leader picks up the first
action, the leader starts a 2nd.  On the next chant, the 3rd girl in line
picks up the first action, the 2nd girl picks up the 2nd action and the
leader begins a 3rd action.

And so on...  Sounds easy? This is very funny to watch




DRIVERS RELAY

Divide girls into teams. Use a plastic/paper plate drawn to look like a
steering wheel. Write
on name of car - Porsche, Vauxhall, Ford, Mercedes, BMW whatever. Each girl needs to
know what number in the team she is as each number does a different action.
     

       1 Nervous Driver Three steps forward, 1 step back
       2 Broken steering wheel zig-zags
       3 Dead Battery gets pushed by #4
       4 Dead Battery pushes #3
       5 Flat tire runs dragging one leg
       6 Reverse runs backwards
       7 Teenage driver runs up and back as fast as possible

This is a normal relay type game. Girls run one at a time handing over
the steering wheel
to the next girl in line. You can add or delete "actions" depending on
the number of girls in
your group.

BUBBLE CAR

 

Category: Indoor/ Outdoor (on grass)

Equipment: None but 2 chairs per team if possible

Number of Participants: any number . The more teams the better. If teams are not even, one girl can take 2 names

To Play: Each team stands in a straight line behind a chair. The second chair is placed some distance away. Guider gives each member of the teams the name of a car e.g. all the number ones are Toyota, all the number twos are Ford, etc. The last person on each team is always Bubble Car. If the Guider calls the name of a car the team member who has that name runs from her place, around the far chair and back to her place. The first girl back to her place in the line wins a point for her team. The first person on each team could keep the score.

If the Guider calls Bubble car the last person on the team must crawl under the legs of all the members of her team before she runs to the far chair. The first girl back to her position at the end of the team wins the point. The winning team is the one to get to a certain number of points first e.g. 15!

ICE FLOW

The idea is to race across the floor without touching the floor. Each person (or team) is given 2 pieces of newspaper (or substitute - like the plastic placemats). You put one down, step on it, put the second one down, move to it, pick up the first one, move it up front, step onto it, move the second one in front of the first, step forward onto it, etc. thus progressing across the floor. If you are playing in teams, all of the team has to get onto one square so that the other one can be moved ahead.

Girls must be on an ice flow at all times, but you have to progress, so you need to move the ice flows ahead, one step at a time. 

SUMMER SLEDGE RACE

Equipment: A toboggan per team, a tow rope if your sled doesn't already have one (or a magic carpet, or a piece of tarp) AND a bucket, a chair or marker for the other end.

Ages: 5 and up

Number of Participants: Teams of 4 or 5

Source: Calgary Area Training

Category: Outdoor

Each team needs a sled dog to pull the sled. The bucket must ride on the sled, so the rest of the team runs along behind to put it back as required. (Each team can be given something to put in the bucket to weight it down, if you think that'll help!) The sled must go down to the other end, around the chair (ice berg) and back to the starting line. If you'd like to make the game longer, or you have girls with lots of energy, then have them do it like a relay, with the first girl the dog, and the 2nd one the bucket watcher, then the bucket watcher becomes the dog, and the 3rd girl is the bucket watcher, then she becomes the dog and the 4th does the watching. When the last girl on the team pulls, the first is the bucket watcher.

 

FIVE PENNIES

Get the girls to sit on the floor in 2 parallel lines with a reasonable space between each line. Number them 1 - ? along one line and then the same starting at the other end with the second line. (If you ask them to choose a partner first and then sit them diagonally opposite their partners i.e. the two number 1s being partners, etc, it is easier to make sure that they are equally matched.)

In the middle of the space between them, put 5 coins on a chair and an empty chair at each end of the space. As you call out a particular number both those girls dash up, pick up one penny and place it on the chair at the end. You will already have told them which chair belongs to each side! They do the same for the second penny while the first girl to pick up the third penny and get it to her chair gains a point for her side.  

 

GIANTS, WIZARDS AND TROLLS

This game is very similar to the ever-popular "Paper, Scissors, Rock", but much more active! The game is best played in a gym or other similar room. Divide the girls into two teams. The teams gather at opposite ends of the gym and decide which creature they want to be for the first round: either Giants, Wizards or Trolls. The whole team must be the same creature. When both teams have decided, they line up, facing the other team, in the middle of the gym. Everyone together yells "Giants! Wizards! Trolls!" and then whatever creature their team has decided to be. For example, a team who is Giants would yell: "Giants! Wizards! Trolls! GIANTS!"

Now here's the catch: Giants step on Trolls (i.e. Giants beat Trolls), Trolls tickle Wizards, and Wizards zap Giants. In each round, whichever team "beats" the other team must chase the losers back towards their side of the gym. (For example: If one team yells "Giants!" and the other yells "Trolls!", the Giants have won (remember Giants step on Trolls). So the Giants chase the Trolls back to their side of the gym.) Anyone on the losing team to be tagged before they can touch their wall of the gym now belongs to the other team. In rounds where both teams end up being the same creature, consider it a tie and start over. Play the game until most of the girls are on one team.

In addition, there are actions to do for each of the creatures during the yell that starts off each round. Giants: raise arms high overhead; Wizards: arms in front of body as if throwing a magic spell; Trolls: hunch down curl arms inwards.

If the questioned player answers "no", then the players on either side of her need to stand up and switch places as fast as possible. Meanwhile, the player who began in the middle of the circle is also trying to grab one of the seats.

If the questioned player answers "yes", then she goes on to state something like "Yes I like my neighbors, but I don't like people who wear white shoes." In this case, everyone in the circle who is wearing white shoes has to get up and switch places. The player who began in the middle of the circle is also trying to get a seat at the same time. Whomever is left standing at the end of the mad dash will have to begin the questioning again.

This game can get wild very quickly!

CHAIRS

Everyone gets a chair and sits in a circle. The Guider has a list of items she reads out. If any of them apply to you, you move the appropriate number of seats clockwise.

Examples:

        1. Anyone with one brother, move one seat clockwise. If you have 2
             brothers, move two seats.
        2. Anyone with black hair, move one seat clockwise.
        3. Anyone who has been a Rainbow, move two seats clockwise.
        4. Anyone who lives in _____ Area move one seat clockwise.
        5. Anyone over the age of 21, move one seat counter clockwise.
        6. Everyone wearing brown shoes, move one seat.
        7. Everyone in Guides, move one seat.

The idea is to move all around the circle, and end up back where you started. It becomes fun because if you move, but your neighbour doesn't, you sit on her lap! Sometimes, you can have three people occupying the same chair!! Make sure you have lots of categories so that everyone gets lots of chances to move, e.g. all Branches of Guiding, all hair colours (at different times, of course), and so on.

 

SPUD

All you need for this game is a bean bag. Gather all the girls together in a standing circle, close enough that everyone touches elbows. Pick someone to stand in the centre of the circle with the bean bag. This girl then throws the bean bag up into the air and calls out someone's name. Everyone scatters as far and as fast as they can, except the girl whose name has been called: she grabs the bean bag. Once she has the bag, she yells "Freeze!" and everyone freezes in their tracks. The girl with the bean bag then picks someone to be her "target". She is allowed to take as many steps toward her target as there are letters in the target's name, spelling the target's name as she goes (don't worry too much about misspellings). Once she has taken as many steps as she is allowed, she throws the bean bag at her target. If she hits her intended target, that girl picks up a letter "S". This girl then becomes the next to stand in the centre of the circle and toss the bag up in the air. The game continues until someone has accumulated enough letters to spell the word "SPUD".

GUIDE INTERNATIONAL GAMES SECTION

BUILD THE LEANING TOWER (Spain)

Materials: Toothpicks and lots of miniature marshmallows

The Leaning Tower is one of the three parts which make up the Cathedral of Pisa. it was built over 700 years ago and today it leans over more than four metres.

       Give each team a supply of toothpicks and marshmallows and challenge them to build the Leaning Tower of Pisa. See which group can build the tallest, skinniest and the one which leans over the most without actually falling over.

A GAME FROM EGYPT

   Materials: For each group, a copy of the following story as well as a copy of the ten words (in Arabic only):

An Egyptian Bazaar is an exciting place to be. It is like an open-air market with lots of things for sale. You can buy yummy __________to eat, __________if you are thirsty, _______________to wear, _________________for your feet,_ ____________to use for making clothes, and _____________for your neck, hands and ears. There is lots of noise! _____________are yelling to attract customers,_ _________________argue about the cost of their purchases and_____________ and_____________________ are running all over the place.

WORDS: HILYA-T (jewellery), BAYYA' (shopkeepers), A'YILA-T (housewives), QAMAS (material). QUT (food), ALBISA-T (dresses), DAWWAB (animals), MARAKIB (shoes), MASRUBAT (drinks), ATFAL (children)

Each group chooses an Arabic word to fit into each blank in the story. They could try to read it out loud first. Then the leader gives the translation of each word and each group could then read aloud the story they actually wrote, filling in the English words they chose.                      

THE GUIDE PROMISE AND LAW RELAY

      All you need to do is write out three copies of the Promise or Law on a piece of poster  board. Write each copy in a different colour or on a different colour of board. Cut two of the copies into different phrases, such as I promise, that I will, do my best etc. Make sure  you cut them both the same way. Divide up into two teams. Each team gets a set of words. Mix them up. The girls take turns placing the parts of the Promise or Law at the finish line. The first team to CORRECTLY arrange their Promise or Law is the winner. Place the third copy of the Promise or Law at the starting line, so the girls can tell what phrase is next.    This game helps the girls learn while having fun.

HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT RELAY