Non-Competitive Group Games for Kids

Human Knot

• Direct the kids to stand in a circle shoulder-to-shoulder facing inwards. If you have more than 10 or 12 participants, you may wish to create two smaller circles instead of one large circle. Ask the kids to hold out their hands in front of their bodies and join hands with each other. Once every child is holding the hand of two other children, direct the kids to undo the large knot without separating hands.

  If your participants get too rowdy, tell them to perform the task in "super-slow motion." If the group just can't figure out the knot, allow a few kids to change hand position to encourage activity success.

Moon Ball

• Have the kids stand in a circle shoulder-to-shoulder facing inwards. Drop an inflated beach ball into the circle and direct the children keep the ball in the air for as long as possible. At first, the kids will probably hit the ball out of the circle and a few kids might jump in front of their peers to get a hand on the ball. After a few minutes, hold onto the ball and ask the group how they might do a better job of cooperating and sharing hits. Use a stopwatch to add a measurable goal to the mix and encourage the group with intermittent stopwatch readings. Give them a goal to aim for, like keeping the ball in the air for 90 seconds.

Zoom

• Tell the kids to stand in a circle shoulder-to-shoulder facing inwards. Have each child look at the person to his right. Direct one participant to say the word "zoom" to the person on his right, who will then do the same thing for her neighbor. The group's goal is to "pass" the word around circle as quickly as possible. Use a stopwatch to keep track of the group's progress. After a few attempts, ask the group what it can do to perform the task faster. For a fun variation, direct the kids to use a more complicated string of words, such as "wild wobbly weirdos."

Monkey See, Monkey Do

• Direct the kids spread out in a large room and dance to child-appropriate music. Ask them to create their own dances while maintaining a safe distance from each other. Select one child to stand in front of the others and perform his custom dance. Direct the rest of the group to imitate the dance for 10 or 15 seconds, and then ask another participant to lead the group. Repeat until every participant has a turn leading the group. This game usually creates loads of laughter and plenty of inside jokes between the participants.