Outdoor Games for Teenagers to Play

Blindfolded Animals

• DECA suggests this game in its "Team Building Games and Activities."
  Players: At least 20.
  Materials: None.
  Directions: Have teenagers number off. Smaller groups may only need to number off by counting to four; use a larger number for a larger group. Assign each group an animal (e.g., 1's are cows, 2's are monkeys). Then tell participants to close their eyes. The groups must find all of their members simply by wandering around and making the sound of their assigned animals.

Group Juggling

• Players: At least 10. Groups larger than 30 may need to split up.
  Materials: Something to toss, such as tennis balls or bean bags (three per group).
  Directions: Have all group members stand in a circle, facing each other, about half an arm's length from the nearest neighbor. Assign one member of the group to be the starter. This person calls the name of another person in the group (not the person immediately to his left or right) and throws the ball to her. She then calls the name of someone else and throws the ball to him. This continues until everyone has caught the ball and the ball returns to the starter. (It is helpful during the first round to have players sit down after they catch the ball. This practice ensures everybody gets the ball exactly once.) The starter then begins the cycle again. Once the group has a good rhythm with one ball, introduce a second. To do this, let the first ball get to the third person, then have the starter toss the second ball. Once the group has a good rhythm with the second ball, introduce a third. If the group size is large enough, you may want to keep adding balls to see how many they can handle.

Crossing Chocolate River

• Players: At least 20, divided into at least two teams. The total number of players is virtually unlimited, depending upon space and availability of supplies. Two players per team will leave their teams to serve as "sharks."
  Materials: 5-by-7-by-3/4-inch blocks of wood (30 per team). Rope or other material to mark starting and finishing lines.
  Set-up: Mark starting and finishing lines about 100 meters apart. Line up the teams along the starting line. Place a stack of blocks in front of each team.
  Directions: Each team member must cross Chocolate River (the 100 meters from the starting line to the finishing line) without falling in (touching the ground). Team members may only step on "marshmallows" (blocks of wood). Any marshmallow in Chocolate River that is not secured (i.e., no one is standing on it) is vulnerable to attack by sharks. This game works best if you have really aggressive sharks.
  Bonus: This is a game about cooperation. The teams aren't really racing against each other; they just assume that because of the way things are set up. If the teams worked together, they could construct a marshmallow path across Chocolate River that everyone could use.