Timed games for groups of kids (from Kingpin to Guess A Minute!)

Feathers

The teams get together in a group. The leader throws a feather into the air above the team and each member has to blow hard to keep it in the air and prevent the feather from touching them. Maybe the time of each team.

Maintenance

You can time children to see how long they can keep a ball in the air using any part of their body other than their hands. Alternatively you can try to keep up using volleyball skills, for example you can use your hands.

pin king

This game is also known as Green Peace. There are 2 teams. A team wraps itself around one of its own and holds onto it as tightly as possible. The other team, at the word “GO”, has to try to separate all the other people from the “Kingpin” (person in the middle). The game ends when the person in the middle is separated from everyone else on his team. There are no rules on how to separate the equipment, so use your imagination. The teams then trade and it’s the other teams chance to steal the “Kingpin”. The game can be timed.

Alternative: The 1st team is given a balloon that they must protect while the other team tries to pop it.

Pictionary

All you need for this game are some sheets of paper and some colored pens. The cards are made up with suggestions of what to draw written on them. People on each team take turns choosing a card and then drawing what it says. They are given one minute to do this, and during this time, their team can make as many guesses as they like. If your team can’t guess what it is, then the other team gets to guess once. Points can be awarded for how quickly someone guesses what is being drawn.

guess a minute

Children sit in a circle, when the leader says NOW, start timing one minute. The children sit quietly until they think a minute has passed, then they get up. The winner is the child who guesses closest to one minute. Make sure children with watches don’t look at their watches.

pass the ball

The children stand in a circle. One of them has a ball. When the leader has their timer, they pass the ball to the person next to them until it starts back at the start. You will usually find that if you repeat this game again, the timing will get better and better. You can then introduce an object that is passed around the circle in the other direction to make the game more confusing!