36 • PART FOUR : BACKGROUND READING
minded people. The rest of the children run
within the boundary. S/he catches another child
while hopping. The person who is caught must
hold hands and also hop to find the next team
member. Continue until all are caught.- Rhythm clap (cooperation)
Ask the children to sit in a circle, and ask for a
volunteer to start a rhythm for clapping in any
way they like. This could be a clap with a
snapping of fingers. Once the rhythm has been
established, the leader shouts the name of the
person who must quickly change the rhythm
otherwise they are out. Continue a few more
times. You could use a variation where the
leader only looks at a person and the person
changes; everyone has to be alert for the ‘look.’
Or while clapping, each person can introduce
her/himself or talk about one thing they s/he
likes to eat. - Follow the leader (leadership or peer pressure)
Children stand in a circle. The leader stands
inside the circle, starts to run on the inside of the
circle, and calls out, “follow, follow, follow,” to
which the group replies “follow, follow, follow” as
they run on the outside of the circle. The leader
repeats, “follow, follow, follow” and the children
repeat, “follow, follow, follow.” The leader says,
“follow the leader.” The group says, “follow the
leader.” The leader now jumps or dances or
sings or sits and says,“I dance, I dance, I dance”
or whatever is being done. The group repeats
whatever the leader says. The leader continues
with “follow, follow, follow,” and then repeats
the sequence. This continues until everyone is
exhausted!
8. I am going on a trip (just for fun)
The children sit in a circle. One of them starts by
saying, “I am going on a trip and I am taking a
hug.” Hug the person on the right. This person
now says, “I am going on a trip and am taking a
hug and a pat on the back.” The person gives the
next one in the circle a pat on the back. This
continues in the circle until someone forgets. The
others can give hints to help. If touching is not
acceptable – say, I took an orange, etc.
9. Fire on the mountain (just plain fun)
Two circles are made—one small and one large,
the larger one being on the outside. Every person
in the inner circle has someone behind him or
her. Everyone must have a partner. A volunteer
stands in the center of the outer circle and starts
running around the outside of the inner circle
while the volunteer calls out, “Fire in the
mountain, run, run, run.” The children repeat
until the volunteer says, “Put it out,” and each
person finds a partner and stands in front of the
member of the inner circle. One person will be
left out, and the process starts again.
10. Hand in hand (closing exercise)
Everyone stands in a close circle. One person
starts by putting the right hand in the middle of
the circle and says what he or she has found
difficult about the session “I did not like it
when....” And then adds what he or she liked: “I
liked it when....” The next person to the left
places his or her hand on top of the earlier
person’s hand and says what was liked and
what was not. This continues until everyone has
had his or her say. Then say that this tower of
hands represents the strength of the group.