Sneaky Strategies To Make it Work

Struggling to teach a game? Banging your head against a wall because the kids/students/teens are just not getting it?

Well you are not alone, I have stared down a group of about 60 kids all not interested in anything I had to say or any game I had to teach them. Did I get nervous, YUP! Did I stop and forget myself? Nope! And neither will you, they are just kids, yes, there are a lot of them, but you are not alone when you lead the group. And neither was I.

So here are some sneaky ways I got my games taught, the kids engaged and had so much fun I was sore from laughing and running.

PLAY!!!

I cannot stress this enough! Play the game. It doesn’t matter what game it is, or how easy and little and silly it is. Play it. Do you want your audience to play, then shake off your pride and your attitude and get playing. Fastest way to teach a game is to cover the rules, listen to their questions, and then play the game with them. The harder you engage and play and get into the game the more everyone will get involved.

10 Mins

This is not a guarantee to work all of the time, but it has helped me work with some really stuck in people that do not want to do anything, or listen to anything you have to say. I always just ask them to give me 10mins. You do not have to play every game or do everything, but you should try, honestly try for 10 mins. I even offer to place a timer on and when it goes off if they want to stop they can. Normally the timer goes off and they do not even notice, because they are playing and loving the games. For the ones that honestly don’t I do honour my 10 min promise and we find a solution for how they would like to spend the rest of the time.

Be the “IT”

Anytime I am teaching a new game or introducing a game to a new group, I always offer to be the first one “IT”. This engages the kids and it gets me playing, it also helps to iron out any issues that might happen the first few rounds. (There is always a little confusion or unclear play that can happen) But if I am in the thick of the game it is easy to sort out any disagreements or issues and keep the game rolling with less bumps.

Rock/Paper/Scissors

This is my quickest and easiest method to handing in game issues. If someone feels they were tagged unfairly, or if they did not feel the tag, they have an issue with a rule they did not understand, (or didn’t want to abide too) etc.. I listen to both sides of the situation and then I ask, do you want me to decide or would you like to do Rock/Paper/Scissors and get back to the game. Mostly they pick the Rock/Paper/Scissors so they can keep going. So I get them and the one calling them on it to do Rock/Paper/Scissors, winner is right, not winner accepts and moves on. It works for simple things like missed tags or people who are not clear on the rules, no one is mad, everyone is calm and you continue on. There will be times where it is a bigger issue and that I know, but for little disagreements it can be helpful.

Its not Wrong, its Learning

Kids have it pretty hard, and they get told they are wrong a lot. I am not against correcting someone, but there is a better way then just saying they are wrong. Just correct the person with, “They are not wrong, they are learning, so help them learn.” This can ease the defensive person, and calm the angry one, by just asking them both to explain, and learn the way it is meant, not about right and wrong.

Rob the Nest

This is a great game for those looking to have some fun with Basketball skills and to get kids moving about and getting comfortable with dribbling.

In a basketball court or a gym, set up 4 hula-hoops in each of the 4 corners of the court/gym. Place an upwards of 10 basketballs in the center of the court/ gym. Divide the students into 4 equal teams. The hula-hoops are the “nests”, the teams send one student at a time to the middle to dribble the ball back and place it in the nest. Once all the balls are gone from the middle, then students can steal basketballs from the other teams. The team with the most basketballs wins the round.

How to Play

On “GO” one player from each team runs to the balls
They pick up a ball then dribble it back to their teams’ hula-hoop.
Then the next player in the team goes (1 at a time)
When all the balls are gone from the middle, students can rob the nest! (Everyone runs around to steal the other teams’ balls).
They must get the ball from the nest and dribble it back without having the team tag them.
When time is up, the team with the most balls safe wins

The Mods

Choose 2 players to become defenders, who can try to knock other peoples’ balls away to stop them.
Students can no longer tag the attacking players to get them to release the stolen ball, they need to dribble it away from them.

Featured

Huckle Buckle

This is a great goofy game! If you crave the random and you have a large group then you will have some fun. There is a lot of running and you can change it up as much as you need to tailor to your groups.

The Breakdown

Set up a space where you can have a wide space and a centre line, then get the group into pairs. (Yes, pairs if you need an extra person, guess what, you’re playing!)

Line up the pairs with the partners facing each other on opposite sides of the centre line. then the leader (You) will call out “HUCKLE BUCKLE ___________ ” and you pick a body part they have to touch to their partners, i.e., “HUCKLE BUCKLE KNEES“. The partners must run to the centre line and touch their knees to the knees of their partner as fast as they can. Last pair to connect is out of the game and must go back and sit down.

Once everyone has connected, they run back to their line and the Leader (You) picks another thing for them to touch.

Elbows
Knees
Toes
Heels
Back
Shoulders
Right Hand
Left Foot

The Modifications

Here are some Modifications I use to keep the game going and shake up things.

Instead of having the pairs be eliminated, have them take a step back from the line, make them run a little further the next round.
Make up combos, Elbows to Knees, Foot to Hand, Foot to Knee
Have them run, connect, and run back to their line as fast as possible