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Paper Pat-a-cake
To add an interesting variation and challenge to Pat-a-cake, two
Beavers can attempt to support a sheet of paper between their two
hands as they go through the clapping actions. Each Beaver
extends one hand and the sheet of paper is slipped between them;
they then try to separate their hands and connect them again
without dropping the sheet of paper. If successful, they can
switch hands or go through a variety of other Pat-a-cake hand
sequences.
Little Beavers
In groups of three or four, they are asked to make the letters of
"Sharing" with their bodies. Each group works together to make
an S; then after a suitable time for the leaders to view the S
and praise their efforts, they make an H, and so on.
Toesie Roll with Control
Partners lie stretched out on the floor feet to feet with soles
touching. Once you decide in which direction you would like to
roll, hook your foot on your rolling side over your partner's
foot. The top of your toes on that foot will be hooked over the
top of your partner's toes. Roll in one direction and then try
reversing the direction of your roll, but first unhook your toes
on one side and hook them on the other side.
Dog Bone
Beavers remain seated except for one Beaver selected to be the
dog. The Dog sits with eyes closed, facing away from the group.
A "bone" is placed behind the Dog and in front of the group.
Select one Beaver at a time to try to slip up quietly and get the
bone. If the Dog hears a sound, he barks like a dog and the
would-be bone thief returns to his seat. If a Beaver is able to
take the bone without being heard, the Beaver returns to his seat
and hides it. The rest of the group then chants "Dog, Dog,
where's your bone." The Dog then turns around and has three
chances to guess who has the bone. If the Dog guesses
incorrectly, the group says 'No !' If the guess is correct, the
group applauds. In both cases, the one who stole the bone
becomes the next Dog.
Balloon Soccer
All players sit in rows evenly spaced throughout the room. Two
goalies sit at opposite corners of the room. Both goalies have
pushpins, safety pins, or other instruments that will break
balloons. The rest of the group is divided into two teams by
counting off. To begin, the leader drops an inflated balloon in
the center of the room. Each team tries to hit the balloon to
its goalie, who remains in a corner. The goalie who gets the
balloon and pops it scores a point for the team. This game is
also fun without keeping score.
Who's There ?
One Beaver is chosen to be 'It'. He covers his eyes or is
blindfolded. The other Beavers tiptoe around him and one of them
taps the chair. 'It' calls "Who's there ?". The Beaver who
tapped then replies with some Mother Goose character trying to
disguise his voice, then 'It' tries to guess who tapped and the
game continues.
Newspaper relay
Divide the group into two teams. Fold several sheets of
newspaper into quarters to create a solid pad on which to step.
Each team will need two pads. Give the first Beaver on each team
two folded newspaper pads. Define the starting line behind which
teams must stand, and select a goal across the room. When the
leader signals, the first player on each team must put down a
newspaper pad and step on it, then put down the other newspaper
pad and step on that one, then pick up the first and put it
farther ahead to step on, and so on, until the player reaches the
goal. The process is repeated while returning. On returning,
the first player touches the next player in line. The next
player continues in the same fashion.
Last Detail
Place several simple objects in a box. Let the Beavers study the
box for several minutes. Turn away and remove an object, then
see who can guess what is missing.
Tails
Beavers are divided into groups of 5 or 6 and form lines holding
on to the waists of the Beavers in front of them. The last
Beaver has a cloth or paper 'tail' tucked on the back. The
object of the game is to travel as a group and try to get the
other group's tail before they get yours.
Chain Tag
Like tag, a chaser tries to catch others. Once he has touched
somebody, they join hands and become the chasers linked together.
Each Beaver touched joins the chasers, taking the hand of the
Beaver who touched him so that there is a long 'chain' of
chasers.
Farmer, Farmer, May we cross your Golden River ?
One Beaver is named the farmer and stands at some distance away
from the lined-up Beavers. The lined-up Beavers call out
"Farmer, Farmer, may we cross your golden river?' and choosing a
colour, the farmer replies, "you may cross if you are wearing
(colour)." The Beavers who have this colour on can cross without
being harmed, but the others have to dash across without being
caught by the farmer. If a Beaver is caught, he helps the farmer
catch the rest of the Beavers. This is usually repeated several
times with different colours.
Letters
A Beaver is chosen to stand in front and he then calls out a
letter from the alphabet. The lined-up Beavers then jump forward
according to the number of times that the letter is in their
name. Sometimes the Beaver in the front turns his back to the
rest and when he thinks that another Beaver is nearby, he screams
out a certain word and the dash for the starting line.
Co-operative Tale
The leader begins the first line of a story, e.g., 'Once upon a
time, there was a giant frog,". The next Beaver is to continue
the story, then it is the next Beaver's turn and so on until the
story is finished or when you would like to finish it.
Numbers Change
The Beavers are seated in a circle and each Beaver is given a
number. One Beaver stands in the centre. He calls two or three
numbers. The Beavers whose numbers are called must change places
quickly while the Beaver in the centre must try to get one of
their seats. Whoever is left without a seat must stand in the
center and be 'It' for the next round.
Bean Bag
The Beavers form a line with the Leader a short distance away
facing the line. The Leader then throws the bean bag to each
Beaver in the line who, in turn, throws it back to the Leader.
Any Beaver failing to catch the bag goes to the end of the line.
If the Leader misses, he/she goes to the foot and the first
Beaver in line becomes the Leader. The distance of the Leader
from the line may be varied as the game progresses.
Blind Cat
The Beavers form a circle with one blindfolded Beaver, The Cat,
standing or sitting in the centre. The Beavers circle around to
music and as the music stops, The Cat points to any part of the
circle. The Beaver pointed to must meow like a cat. If The Cat
guesses correctly who is making the sound, that Beaver becomes
The Cat.
Catch the Handkerchief
The Beavers stand in a circle with each Beaver having been given
a number. (The Beavers' names could be used instead of numbers.)
The Beaver who is 'It' stands in the centre holding a large
handkerchief. As he throws it into the air, he calls a number.
The Beaver whose number is called must catch the handkerchief
before it falls to the ground. If he fails to catch it, he
becomes 'It'.
Green
The Beavers form a circle. One holds a utility ball. As the
ball is tossed to someone else in the circle, the thrower calls
out a colour such as sky blue or fire engine red. The receiver
must catch the ball and then take a turn calling out a colour and
throwing the ball to another Beaver. However, if the colour is
green, the receiver must be careful not to catch the ball but let
it fall to the ground. If he does catch the ball when green was
called, they must run twice around the outside circle before
being allowed to participate again.
Keep It Out
The Beavers stand in a circle with legs apart so that a utility
ball could fit through. One Beaver outside the circle runs
around with the utility ball and tries to surprise the Beavers by
tossing it through their legs. The Beaver in the circle may not
kneel down etc., but can stop it with their hands. The ball can
only be tossed between the legs. When one gets a ball through,
he changes with the one who let it through.
Sun and Moon
Two Beavers are chosen to be the sun and the moon. The other
Beavers bend over and make an arch. The sun must pass under all
the arches but when he has been through an arch that Beaver can
run off within the agreed boundaries. The Moon has to try and
catch them. When the Sun has passed under every arch, the Moon
tries to catch the Sun. The game ends when everyone is caught.
The two last Beaver caught get to be the Moon and the Sun next
time.
Vegetable Soup (Fruit Basket)
Everyone is seated in a large circle and given a name of a
vegetable (or fruit). Other Beavers will also have this same
name. When their vegetable name is called, they must switch
places with someone of their own kind. The last one to be seated
is out and can help call the names. When you call 'vegetable
soup', everyone must get up and switch seats with someone.
P.I.G. Game
Get two objects that are the same (two for each Beaver, i.e.,
baby food jar lids, painting the inside of the lid). Have the
Beavers it in a circle and handout the lids to the Beavers (two
each). When you say 'go', they pass their one lid to the Beaver
on the left until a Beaver gets a pair of colours that match.
The Beaver then puts finger on their nose and the rest of the
Beaver will do the same. The last Beaver will get a 'P' until it
spells P.I.G. and they are out of the game.
Mr. Muffet and The Spider
One Beaver is chosen to be Mr. Muffet. He sits in the centre on
a low bench while the other Beavers stand in a circle around him.
Mr. Muffet covers his eyes and another Beaver is chosen to be the
spider. The spider creeps up towards Mr. Muffet. When Mr.
Muffet hears the spider, he chases him away. If he can catch him
before he reaches his place in the circle, he must become the new
Mr. Muffet and he joins the circle but if he cannot catch him, he
must return to his bench and try to catch the next spider.
Wet Sponge Relay
Two or more teams are needed with at least four members (the
longer the better). The first Beaver sticks a sponge in a pail
of water and soaks the sponge. When they say 'go', the first
Beaver passes the sponge over her head to the second Beaver in
the row. The second Beaver passes the wet sponge through their
legs to the third Beaver and so on alternating the passing over
and under. The last Beaver runs to the front and drops the
sponge in the pail and they all sit down.
Fruity-Tooty Game
Have each Beaver pick a fruit, only one per Beaver. One Beaver
it 'It' or stands in the middle of the circle with a magazine or
something soft to hold on to. One Beaver starts by calling out
their fruit first, and another fruit from the circle, i.e., apple
then orange. The 'It' will try to touch that Beaver whose fruit
was called before that Beaver calls out another fruit.
Frozen Bean Bag
All Beavers move around at their own pace with a bean bag on
their head. The leader can instruct them to skip, hop, go slower
or faster, etc. If the bean bag falls off a Beaver's head, he is
frozen. Another Beaver must then pick up the bean bag and place
it back on the frozen Beaver's head to free him without losing
his own bean bag.
Reverse Hide 'n' Seek
One Beaver hides while all the others close their eyes. Everybody
looks for the one Beaver that is hiding and when someone finds
the one hiding, he hides with him. Eventually, all the Beavers
are hiding together in the same spot.
Big Snake
The Beavers stretch out on their stomachs and hold the ankles of
the Beaver in front of them to make a two-Beaver snake. They
soon connect for a four-Beaver snake, and eight-Beaver snake,
etc. The Beavers can try making the snake roll over, go over the
'mountain', through 'holes' or curl up and go to sleep.
Chinese wall
Two parallel lines are drawn about a yard apart. One or two
Beavers stand between the lines and can't go beyond the lines.
The others try to run from one line to the other line without
being touched by Beavers in the middle. If they are touched,
they join the Beaver in the middle. It continues until everyone
has been caught. A leader calls out when Beavers should try to
cross from side to side.
Aunts and Uncles
One Beaver stands alone on one side of the Meeting Place. The
rest line up facing him on the other side to try and get across.
The Beaver on his own calls out an aunt or uncle name e.g., Uncle
Henry, and any Beaver who has an Uncle by that name moves a step
forward. The same applies for aunts. If you have two uncles by
that name, then you move two steps forward. You can include
mothers and fathers, grandparents, etc. The game continues until
someone passes the one Beaver.
Frozen Tag
One or two Beavers are 'It' and run around touching others. Once
a Beaver is touched, they are frozen and can't move until someone
goes under their legs or arms. The game goes on until the
Beavers grow tired.
The Train Name Game
All the Beavers should be standing in a circle. Five Beavers
make a train, and they move around the circle. Each train should
approach a Beaver and say, 'Do you want to be part of my train?'
Once the Beaver says 'yes', you then ask their name. Once you
know their name, you repeat it five times jumping right to left,
swinging their arms and legs in a jumping jack fashion. After
yelling their name five times, you yell reverse and you turn
around so the Beaver can grab on. Once you've found someone, you
move on to the next Beaver and repeat the procedure.
Red Light, Green Light
Green means Go and red means Stop. One Beaver at one end with
the others at the other end. The one Beaver faces away from the
other Beavers. He yells green light and the other Beavers start
moving up until the Beaver yells red light and turns around. The
other Beavers have to immediately stop and stay still. The
Beaver turning around checks to see if he can see anyone moving.
If he does, he can tell that Beaver to go back to the start. The
game continues until someone crosses past the one Beaver. The
Beaver at the head can turn around yelling red light as many
times as he wants.
Breakaway
Beavers form tight circles in groups of eight to ten. One Beaver
is designated at 'It' and stands alone in the centre. On a
signal, 'It' tries to escape from the circle in any way they can,
such as jumping over, crawling under, pushing through, etc. When
he breaks out, the circle disperses and 'It' must tag a new 'It'.
Shoes (hoops are needed)
One hoop in the centre and one hoop for each of the teams.
Several shoes should be piled in the centre hoop. Teams sit in
single file behind their team hoop. On a given signal, the first
Beaver in line steals a shoe from the centre and puts it in the
team hoop. The next in line steals a shoe from the centre hoop
or the other team's hoops. The game continues until one team
collects three shoes in their hoop.
Circle Game
"I sent a letter to my love and on the way I dropped it.'- Beaver
stands up and walks around the circle. "A little doggie picked
it up and put it in his pocket."- walks around until he finds
someone to give the letter to while this is sung: "Now I won't
stop here, and I won't stop here (sung three times) but I will
stop here." Each Beaver (letter bearer and receiver) runs around
the circle to race for the spot. The winner sits down and the
other repeats the game.
Balloon Duo
Divide Beavers into pairs. Give each pair a balloon to inflate
and tie. Mark start and finish lines about 30 or 40 feet apart.
Partners stand side to side at the start line, linking their
inside arms and holding the balloon in their free hands. When
the leader says "Go" partners work together hitting their balloon
to keep it in the air and making their way their way across the
playing field. If a balloon lands on the ground, partners may
stop and pick it up but may not unlink arms.
Passing the bean bag
With the Beavers in a circle, you start to pass one bean bag
around. After a couple of rounds, you add another and then
another until you have all the bean bags in the circle. The more
that are in the circle, the faster they go and the more Beavers
will love it. They love to see all the confusion with the bean
bags.
The A.B.C. Game
A Beaver is chosen to start. He must name a letter of the
alphabet. The next Beaver must think of a word beginning with
that letter within 15 seconds (or any time period). The above
steps are continued until each Beaver has a turn, then a new
Beaver is chosen to start the game. If a Beaver can't think of
something, then he's out. The last remaining is the winner. No
Beaver can use the same word twice. Variations: Not only could
they think of a word beginning with that letter but also it must
be a city, or an animal or something relating to the theme of the
week.
Spud
Assign each Beaver a number that he is to remember. Gather in a
circle with one Beaver in the middle with a ball. (A leader
should start the game.) The Beaver in the middle is to shout out
a number as he bounces the ball once on the ground. While this
is happening, all the Beavers are supposed to run away from the
circle, but the one whose number is called must run to catch the
ball. Once he has it, no Beaver can move. If the ball holder
sees anyone moving, he takes two giant steps toward them. The
object of the game is to get close enough to a Beaver so that the
ball holder can roll the ball toward a Beaver so he can be tagged
by it. If the Beaver is tagged, then he is to call the next
number and the game continues. If a Beaver is not tagged, then
the ball holder must continue to try to tag someone else.
Bear Watch
Explain to all the Beavers that you are going on a bear hunt.
Tell them there is one thing they should do if they should meet a
bear, and that is to pretend you are dead. You have to be as
still as you can, and not move a muscle because if the bear
thinks you are dead, he cannot capture you. Appoint someone to
be a bear who will hide (e.g., behind a tree) and when the bear
jumps out, everyone plays dead. The last one left lying without
moving will become the next bear to watch and look for any
movements in Beavers lying down.
The Chocolate Game
You will need: a large bar of chocolate, a plate, a knife, a
fork, gloves, hat scarf, a dice. All the Beavers sit in a
circle. Put the knife and fork, hat, gloves, scarf, and the
chocolate on the plate in the middle of the circle. Dice and
shaker are passed round. Each Beaver throws the dice in turn.
When a Beaver throws a six, he goes into the middle of the circle
and puts on the hat, scarf and gloves. He then starts to eat the
chocolate using the knife and fork. He is not allowed to touch
the chocolate with his hands, or put his face down to the plate.
Meanwhile, the other Beavers go on passing and throwing the dice.
Whoever throws the next six goes into the middle of the circle
and the first Beaver goes out, after handing over the hat, scarf,
gloves, knife and fork. Some Beavers will have time to eat
several squares of chocolate, others may only have time to put on
the hat and scarf before another Beaver throws a six and they
have to leave the middle of the circle. The game continues until
the bar of chocolate is finished.
Button, Button
Have all the Beavers sit in a circle, except one Beaver who is
'It'. Have 'It' sit in the centre of the circle. The Beavers in
the circle have a button, which they keep passing from hand to
hand. They keep their hands in constant motion so that it looks
as if they all are passing the button at the same time. The
Beaver in the centre tries to guess who has the button. When he
guesses correctly, that Beaver trades places with him and guesses
who has the button.
Copy Cat
Beavers stand in a circle. Without letting anyone else know,
every Beaver secretly picks another Beaver to watch. Each Beaver
copies the movements of the watched Beaver, exaggerating them
very slightly. If no one seems to be moving, have Beavers spin
around once. While the group is still moving a bit, Beavers
should begin to mimic. The movements of the group will
eventually become larger and larger and usually everyone will end
up doing the same thing without ever knowing who started it.
Passed over
Beavers form two lines about four feet apart and face each other.
The Beaver at the start of one line tosses a ball across to the
Beaver at the start of the other line. After the Beaver tosses
the ball, he runs to the end of the opposite line. The Beaver
catches the ball, throws it to the next Beaver on the other line,
then runs to the end of the opposite line. This continues until
the Beavers on both lines are reversed. The game may continue
with both lines taking a giant step backward to increase the
space between them.
Row Race
Divide Beavers into pairs. Mark a short course with the start
and finish lines about 15 or 20 feet apart. Pairs line up.
Partner A sits on the starting line with knees together and legs
extended straight out. Partner B sits facing Partner A with
soles of shoes together, knees bent, and hands clasped. To move,
Partner B pulls Partner A into a bent-knee position. Partner B
then pushes back to straighten his legs. Next, Partner A
straightens his legs and pushes Partner B's legs into a bent
position. This pushing and pulling motion resembles rowing and
moves Beavers along at about a yard at a time.
Just in passing
Have Beavers stand in a circle. Begin by passing a ball around
the circle in one direction. Try passing the ball overhead,
through legs, and around backs. Get a rhythm going. Beavers may
want to chant "Pass, pass, pass" so that the ball keeps moving as
fast as possible. As Beavers master a one-way pass, heighten the
challenge by passing another ball in the opposite direction.
This will cause some silly confusion but insist that balls keep
moving no matter what. You can also yell "Switch!" and have
Beavers reverse the directions in which they are passing the two
balls. To keep things exciting, keep adding more balls so that
Beavers haven't time to think. Eventually, the game will end in
one free-for-all ball.
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