Inventing Games
Inventing games is a great way for children to feel a sense of agency, use their imagination, and have more fun.
They can also modify games they’ve previously played. For example, after playing a game and reflecting on the experience during Inside-Outside Circles, be sure to ask: “How would you improve this game?”
When inventing a game, it can be helpful to suggest a theme such as “fruit.” Ask the following questions to facilitate a brainstorming process to design a new game of tag:
What kind of fruit will you be? - An apple!
What should you do if you are tagged? - Put your arms in the shape of an apple!
What should we do to free you? - You should run around us in a circle to peel the apple!
How should you hide from the tagger? - You should hide by making your body into the shape of a fruit bowl!
Kids love inventing rules to their games! You’ll be amazed at how complex their games can become. If the games get too complex, you can appoint someone to answer questions. In Banana Tag, make one person “the gorilla” and task them with answering questions about the rules.
To add even more complexity, ask your friends to add different simultaneous tagging roles. For example, one tagger could could turn people into an apple and another could turn people into a star fruit. There are endless possibilities!