Line of Continuum

Stick a long piece of marking tape along the floor in a straight line. Write ‘strongly agree’ and ‘strongly disagree’ on a piece of paper at opposing ends of the line. Call out controversial statements for children to consider their views, then physically place themselves onto the line, eg

Zoos should be banned.

All cars should be powered by electricity.

Children should rule the world.

School dinners should always include ice-cream.

If they’re not sure they could stand away from the line, if they’re indifferent they stand in the middle.

Unfortunately/Fortunately

Tell a story between you that begins with these words alternately, eg

Unfortunately, there’s nothing for dinner.

Fortunately, I’m not hungry.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to go to the supermarket.

Fortunately, this will be the perfect opportunity for me to buy sweets and chocolate.

Unfortunately, sweets and chocolate are banned.

Fortunately, I can still have biscuits…

What’s the time Mr Wolf?

A traditional favourite that’s great for listening. One person becomes the wolf and stands at the end of the garden. Children stand a reasonable distance away, behind the wolf and call out, ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’

The wolf will answer, ‘Two o’clock, Three O’clock etc…’ The children then have to take the equivalent number of steps – Four o’clock would be four paces towards the wolf. The wolf remains with their back to the rest of the children as they continue to ask the time and make their way closer to the wolf. The wolf can answer the children with ‘Dinner Time!’ at any point, and then the children have to run away while the wolf tries to catch them. If a child manages to touch the wolf on their shoulder before they turn, then they get to play wolf next time.

Big Chief, Little Chief

Better in a larger group. Sit in a circle, select one person to be the guesser – they need to go outside of the room and wait while the Big Chief is selected within the group. The Big Chief must carry out repeated actions for the rest of the group to follow, eg clapping your hands, clicking your fingers, patting your head. Every now and again, the Big Chief will change the action, and everyone else must follow suit. The guesser must work out who the Big Chief is.

Jumping Beans!

Each type of bean called out has a particular action that the children do (this is also a good one to do on the trampoline):

Broad bean – stretch as far and as wide as you can

Runner bean – Run on the spot

String bean – Reach as tall and high as you can

Baked bean – curl up into a small ball

Jellybean – Wobble your whole body

French bean – say ‘ooh, la, la!’

Frozen bean – Freeze like a statue or shiver

Traffic Lights!

A great listening game that can be played with small or large numbers of children. Ask the children to spread out into a space and follow the orders:

Red – stop/freeze

Amber – walking

Green – running

Roundabout numbers – Roundabout 3 (children form a group of 3, link arms and go around in a circle), Roundabout 4, children get in groups of 4 and so on.