Holiday and Seasonal Games/ Activities
Ghost in the Graveyard
Equipment: 30 cones (or more), 25 white yarn balls (you can use any object that can go under a
cone), and 5 hula-hoops.
Set up: Make six rows with five cones in a row. The students sit in squads facing the graveyard.
Place a hula-hoop behind each squad.
GRAVEYARD X X X X X
X X X X X
X X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X X X X
S S S S S O O O O O
X = cones, S = squads, O = hula-hoops
Rules: This game is played like a relay race. The squad leader, or first student in line, goes out into the graveyard and lifts one cone. If there is a ghost (yarn ball) under the cone, they take it back to their group and place it in their hula-hoop. If there is nothing under the cone, that student puts the cone back down and immediately returns to the line and hi-fives the next person. After lifting a cone, always place it back down in an upright position. The game is over when all ghosts have been found.
* The team that has the most ghosts in their hula-hoop wins. – This is a good opportunity to
discuss sportsmanship with the students*
* For extra fun, turn off the lights and play some Halloween music!*
Haunted House
Equipment: 5 hula-hoops and 30-50 bean bags
Set up: Place 5 hula-hoops outside the white circle so they are approximately equal distance apart
from each other. Place all bean bags inside the center circle. Split the class into five equal teams and have each group sit behind a hula-hoop.
Hula hoops = trick or treat baskets and bean bags = the tricks or treats
Rules: The game is played like a relay race. The first person on each relay team goes to the middle (haunted house) and grabs a trick or a treat. They then return to their group giving a hi-five to the next person and placing the bean bag in their hula-hoop. The next player has two choices; either go to the middle and take a bean bag or take one from another team. There only two rules; one person per team is out getting a bean bag and only one bean bag can be taken per turn. If either of these rules is broken that team loses all of their bean bags and they go back to the middle. The game ends when there are no more objects in the middle.
* Music can be played during the game.
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Equipment: Tag balls (any color yarn ball) and rescue balls (white yarn balls), Taggers (3-5 depending on class size) Rescuers (1-3 depending on class size) Runners (these are the remaining students)
Rules: When a runner is tagged, they need to sit immediately in that spot. To get rescued, a student with a white yarn ball tags anyone who is sitting. That student can stand up and is back in the game. A student in possession of a white yarn ball is safe and cannot be tagged.
Variation: Have the rescuer give the ball away to the person they are freeing. That person who gave the ball away is no longer safe. The new person in possession of the white yarn ball is now the rescuer and is safe.
Pumpkin Patch
Equipment: None.
Set up: Pick one or two students to be the “ghost” of the pumpkin patch. The student(s) stand in
the middle of the gym. The remaining students start on the yellow line at one end of the gym.
Rules: The ghost challenges the students by saying, “I dare you to come through” or the teacher can use the “GO” signal. Students try to get to the other end (yellow line) without being tagged. If they are tagged, they sit in the pumpkin patch (becoming a pumpkin) with their legs crossed. As a pumpkin, you get to tag from the sitting position (your hands are the vines). Repeat the same thing by going back the other direction. One round equals down and back. After three rounds, choose new ghost and all pumpkins get to return to the
yellow line.
Safety: Students are not allowed to touch the walls behind their safety line. If they do, then 1)
they become a pumpkin out in the patch or 2) sit them out a couple rounds. Also, no tripping.
Variation: This game can be played as a regular tag game, where students are continuously moving
around the gym.
The Great Pumpkin
Equipment: Pumpkin Face Playground ball, 2 orange yarn balls and 5 Holy Moly straps (yellow), Taggers (3-5 depending on class size) Rescuers (1-3 depending on class size) Runners (these are the remaining students)
Rules: When a runner is tagged, they need to sit immediately in that spot (in the pumpkin patch).
There are two ways of being rescued: 1) The Great Pumpkin touches you with the pumpkin ball or 2) a rescuer gives you the orange yarn ball. The Great Pumpkin is safe at all times. However, once a rescuer gives their ball away, they are no longer safe. The boundaries are the black lines that go all the way around the gym. If a runner goes out of bounds, they need to sit inside the pumpkin patch. Play each round for 1-3 minutes and then switch taggers and The Great Pumpkin. Rescuers can keep their ball unless they are chosen as a tagger or The Great Pumpkin.
Witches and Wizards
Equipment: None.
Set up: Divide the class into two groups. One group stands on the yellow line near mid- court facing the mid-court line. The other group does the same thing, but uses the yellow line on the opposite side. Name your two groups (group 1 are witches and group 2 are wizards). Safety lines are located behind each group; they are the yellow lines near the walls at each end of the gym.
Rules: The two groups are facing each other on opposite sides of mid-court. The teacher yells out either “witches” or “wizards”. The name called always chases the other group. If a student is tagged before reaching the safety line, they join the group that just tagged them. Continue the game as long as you would like or until there is no one left on one side.
Safety: Students are not allowed to touch the walls behind their safety line. If they do, then 1) they need to join the other group or 2) sit them out a couple rounds.
Capture the Turkey
Equipment: 2 hula-hoops, 2 panel mats, 20 objects (rubber chickens, bean bags, etc.), and pinnies.
Set up: Divide class into two teams. Each team gets a colored pinnie, a hula-hoop, and 10 of the objects listed above. Use sidelines and end lines as boundaries. Mid-court line is used to separate safety zones.
Hula-hoop = plate/serving platter Rubber chickens, bean bag, etc. = food, Panel mat = turkey pen
Rules: This game is played like Capture the Flag. If a player is on their own half they are safe. If they are on the opposing team’s side they are at risk of being tagged. When tagged, the player must go to the turkey pen (the caught player has to turn their arms into wings and gobble their way to the turkey pen to indicate to the farmers that they’ve been caught). The turkey pen is the panel mat located in the opposing team’s corner. A teammate can rescue players in the turkey pen (free walk backs without taking any objects in the hula-hoop). If a player is caught with an object, it goes back to the hula- hoop and that player goes to the turkey pen. No throwing objects from one side to the other and only one object can be taken at a time. First team to have all objects in their hula-hoop wins.
Turkey Soup
Equipment: 5 hula-hoops, rubber chickens, and 30-50 bean bags
Set up: Place 5 hula-hoops outside the white circle so they are approximately equal distance apart
from each other. Place all bean bags inside the center circle. Split the class into five equal
teams and have each team sit behind a hula-hoop.
Hula hoops = pot of soup Rubber chickens = turkeys Bean bags = various vegetables
Rules: The game is played like a relay race. The first person on each relay team goes to the middle and grabs an object (rubber chicken or bean bag). They then return to their group giving a hi-five to the next person and placing the object in their hula-hoop. The next player has two choices; either go to the middle and take an object or take from another team. The only two rules are; one person per team is out getting an object and only one object can be taken per turn. If either of these rules is broken that team loses all of their soup and it goes back to the middle. The game ends when there are no more objects in the middle.
Turkeys in the Haystacks
Equipment: 6 folding panel mats and 4 different colored pinnies.
Set up: Stand four folding mats up and place them randomly around the perimeter of the gym. Open
two folding mats and place them on the ground in opposite corners (these are the turkey pens). Divide the students into equal groups of 4-6 players. Each group is a different color (designated by color pinnie). Choose one group to be the farmers. All other students are turkeys.
Rules: Farmers lie down in the center of the gym and close their eyes (pretending to be asleep).
All turkeys run off and hide behind a mat (haystack). The teacher yells out, “cock-a-doodle-doo”, the farmers wake up and stand. The teacher will call out one color, two colors, or all colors. These turkeys attempt to change haystacks. The farmers attempt to tag the turkeys. If tagged, the turkey will “gobble” and flap their wings to the turkey pen. They will stay in the pen until “turkey break” is called or the end of the round.
*If a turkey knocks over a haystack, all turkeys that are behind it go to the pen. If a farmer knocks down a haystack, all turkeys are released from the pen.Switch farmers every 8-10 calls.
Knock Down the Snowman
Equipment: 10 bowling pins and a bunch of yarn balls
Set up: Place five pins on each end line an even distance apart. Scatter yarn balls throughout
the gym. Split class into two teams.
Rules: First team to knock down the other teams snowmen (pins) wins. Students must stay on their half of the gym - no crossing the mid-court line. Guarding the snowman is allowed, but only one guard per snowman. Guards are at risk of being hit by a ball. Once a snowman is down it stays down, even if you accidentally knock down your own snowman.
*For added fun, use one or more gatorskin balls. If a basket is made in the opposing teams, then
they get to set up all pins that are down.
Snow Angels
Equipment: 3-5 tag balls (I use yarn balls)
Rules: When tagged you need to get down on the ground facing the ceiling. In this position a
student must do five (or more) snow angels to get back into the game.
*Performing a snow angel helps students that have difficulty in doing a jumping jack.
Pulse
Equipment: Tag balls (any color yarn ball) and stress hearts (anything red will do) Taggers (3-5depending on class size), Rescuers (1-3 depending on class size), Runners (these are the remaining students)
Rules: When a runner is tagged, they need to sit immediately in that spot. To get rescued, a student with a stress heart needs to give it to anyone who is sitting. That student stands up, looks at the clock, and finds their pulse. They do a pulse check for six seconds and add a zero to find their pulse rate. They are back in the game and need to rescue someone else. A student in possession of a stress heart is safe and cannot be tagged.
Easter Egg Hunt
Equipment: 5 hula-hoops and two dozen plastic Easter eggsSet up: Before class, hide all Easter eggs. The students sit in five squads or teams. Place a hula-hoop behind each squad or use small Easter baskets filled with fake grass.
S S S S S O O O O O
S = squads
O = hula-hoops or baskets
Rules: This game is played like a relay race. The squad leader, or first student in line, goes out into the gym and looks for an Easter egg. If they find an egg, they take it back to their group and place it in their hula-hoop or basket. If they are having trouble finding an egg, they can run back to their line and hi-five the next person. The game is over when all eggs have been found.
* The team that has the most eggs in their hula-hoop or basket wins. – This is a good opportunity
to discuss sportsmanship with the students.
* This game can be played just like Ghost in the Graveyard.
* Another idea is to require each team to find one egg of each color (i.e. the team must
find 1- blue, 1- orange, 1- yellow, 1- green, 1- purple, and 1- pink) to win.
