Games during Office fun hour – Active games
(Always ask first when playing a game that might not be accessible to some participants. If running, jumping, etc. won't work, try getting through Jello, or only allowing walking, etc. Sometimes a game won't work for a group and it's good to find a game that everyone can play.)
1. Vampire
Parameters: 15 to 40 people and an enclosed, large space free of sharp objects This will help all of you Unitarians get back to your Transylvanian roots. Choose one person to be the referee. Everyone except the referee closes his or her eyes and begins milling around the room. The referee will keep you from colliding with anything but warm, living flesh. They will also pick one person to be the vampire and whisper it in her ear. The vampire keeps their eyes closed like everyone else, but when she bumps into someone, there's a difference. She snatches him and lets out a blood-curdling scream. Then he becomes a vampire as well. He is now on the prowl, seeking new victims. Only when two vampires snatch and feast on each other by mistake do they transform themselves back into regular mortals. Continue playing until your voices are hoarse.
2. Stuck in the Muck
Parameters: 15 to 40 people and a large space
Materials: Orange cones Also known as "Tunnel Tag" Ask the group to scatter about the space. If you are not in a space with natural boundaries like a field, create some boundaries. Ask for a volunteer to be "it." When "it" manages to catch someone, then that person is stuck in the muck and can only be released by another person crawling through her legs. The goal of the person who is "it" is to move fast enough so that everyone gets stuck in the muck. To pick up the pace and relieve the exhausted "it", you can have another person join him as "it."
3. Red Light / Green Light
Parameters: five to 40 people
Choose one person (the caller) and send them to the far end of the space. The caller remains stationary, turned away from the rest of the group. When they call "Green light!", the group moves towards them. When they call "Red light!", they have to stop. The caller turns around quickly and if she sees any members of the group still moving, those players have to return to the beginning. The goal of the game is to touch the caller without being seen moving.
Variation: Tie the group into pairs with rope and have them hop toward the caller. Try it with one of the pair closing his eyes.
4. Pelvis Ball
Form a standing circle. Tell the group you are going to make a ball of energy. Pluck an imaginary particle out of the air and roll it in your hands, making it larger and larger. Once you have patted it into the shape and size you want, place it squarely between your hips. Pass it to someone across the circle by winding up your hips and thrusting the imaginary ball into the air. Watch as it soars through the air and your friend catches it in their pelvis. Remind the group to think about how much the ball weighs, to experiment with sounds to compliment their pelvis action.
5. Sardines
Parameters: five to 15 people and a large outdoor or indoor space with plenty of places to hide.
This game is reverse hide-and-go-seek. The player who has been chosen to go first leaves the other players, who all cover their eyes for a few minutes, in search of a hiding place. They have a minute to find a space in which all of the players will be able to fit (just barely). Then all players set out in search for the missing one. Players can band together in teams or set out alone. When a player finds the selected person, they quietly join the found person in the hiding place. All players continue searching and hiding until all but one are crammed in the space. When the last player finds the rest of the group and confirms that was the last one out, he becomes the next "it" and sets out to find a new hiding place. The sardines (those packed tightly in the first space) wait a few moments and then charge out in
search of the new "it". This game is especially fun in the dark.
6. Balancing Act
Parameters: 15 to 40 people
Materials: two small items that can be easily balanced on the head. Rolled-up socks or chalkboard erasers are ideal.
Have the group spread out around the space and stand still. The person who is "it" puts one of the objects on her head. Another person puts the other object on his head. "It" chases them and tries to tag them. The chased person can escape by giving the sock to one of the standing people, who then becomes the chased one. If "It" tags the person they are chasing before the chased can pass on the sock, the relationship is reversed.
7. Calvin Ball
Parameters: 15 to 40 people and a large field
Materials: a beach ball, frisbee, baseball and bat, tennis racket and ball, or whatever assorted sports equipment you can find. This game has a few more rules than the one Calvin and Hobbies play, but it can be just as open to improvisation. Divide the group into 2 equal teams, called the Batters and the Fielders, and have each team stand in a loose circle opposite the other. Elect a referee to stop anything dangerous and to call for the teams to switch. When teams switch, the new Batters can make up new rules, but here are some to start: Fielders choose a pitcher, who can choose which item he is going to throw. Batters are up to "bat" (or catch and throw) one at a time. When the ball is hit, the batter must run around the entire group of Batters, while the pitcher retrieves the ball and it is passed through the legs of the entire group of Fielders. The last fielder to receive the ball holds it up and yells "Stop!" to the
batter. The Batters goal is to accumulate as many complete "runs" as possible.
8. Boomerang Fish
Materials: socks, beanbag, or anything that is soft and throwable to be the "fish." "It" stands in the center of the room with the "fish," spins and lets it fly. She makes up a rule to apply whenever the fish lands in the same corner of the room in the future. Some examples: When the "fish" lands in
Corner 1: Everyone pair up and piggy-back, and have a chicken-fight with everyone else. The last pair left standing gets to be "it."
Corner 2: The present "it" gets to tell everyone else what to do.
Corner 3: "It" closes their eyes and everyone else hides. The last person they find gets to be "it." Corner 4: "It" relinquishes their "itdom" to the person of their choice.
Center: The first person to grab the "fish" gets to be it. As the rules are created by successive "its," everyone has to memorize and follow them. \
9. Rattler
Materials: two rattles (soda cans with rocks inside, or bunches of keys) and two blindfolds
The group forms a loose standing circle. Two people are chosen to be in the middle. They are blindfolded and given rattles. They try to tag each other. The circle of people keeps them within itself. When they tag each other, they choose their replacements.
10. Ultimate Frisbee
Parameters: 14 to 40 people (an even number)
Materials: a frisbee and orange safety cones or anything else you can find to mark off the playing area Divide the group into offense and defense teams. Have the teams stand at opposite ends of the field and give the offense the frisbee. The object is to score a touchdown by catching the frisbee while standing in the other team's goal. Players may not run with the frisbee; the team must move it down field by passing it. Your team is on the offensive as long as one of your players has the frisbee in hand. Once the frisbee hits the ground or is intercepted by a member of the other team, the other team is on the offensive.
Entertainment, Sports	active games, Balancing Act, Boomerang Fish, Calvin Ball, office hour game, Pelvis Ball, Rattler, Sardines, Ultimate Frisbee, Vampire