Sticky football

Two lines of Beavers face each other, legs apart and feet abutting each other, hands clasped. Balls are released between the lines and Beavers have to knock them through the legs of the Beavers opposite. 

Three Skittles

Two chairs on opposite sides of the circle, three skittles in the middle, a beanbag on each chair. Split the Beavers into two teams and number. When a number is called the number from each team runs to the chair, kneels on it, and throws the beanbag at the skittles. Miss, go get it. First to two skittles wins.

Dodgeball

Beavers run from one end of the hall to the other, adults try to hit their legs with balls.

River Bank

Beavers all line up facing the adult. Adult shouts "river" and the Beavers jump forwards over the river, or "bank" and jump backwards. Switch it up. Jumping the wrong way or landing on the line in the middle and out. 

Buzzy Bees

Make a bee, whizz around. Adult shouts a letter: act an animal that starts with that letter (e.g. d gives dog, dragon, dolphin)

Four Corners

Use four cards, label each corner. Beavers run to a corner. Pull a card, all the Beavers in that corner are out.

Paper Snowballs

Take a great pile of newspapers, tear up and make balls. Split Beavers into four, drop the balls around. Beavers have to throw the balls onto the other Beavers' corners. Stop, count and score.

Beaver Story (Duck Duck Goose)

Beavers on the circle. Go round naming them with Beaver Story names. Read the story: when you get to a name, those Beavers jump up and run round back to their places.

Wink Murder

Beavers on the circle. Send one Beaver out, the Inspector. Appoint a Beaver the Murderer. Bring Inspector back in, centre of the circle. Murderer winks at other Beavers, who die: Inspector has to catch them. Three accusations allowed.

Find My Shoe

Everyone takes off a shoe and places it in a big pile in the middle. Lights off, everyone has to find their shoe before the lights come back on.

Paper Tails

Rip up long bits of paper. Beavers put them in the back of their trousers and run from one end of the hall to the other. Adults try to catch their tails as they go past. 

Clapping (What's the Time Mr. Wolf?)

Adult stands at the end of the hall, facing away. Beavers approach until the adult turns: any Beaver moving is out. 

Or adult stands at the end of the hall, facing the Beavers. Clap, they start moving, clap again they stop and freeze.

Or adult has a torch, turns it off, and Beavers move in the dark. 

Torch Finding

Play outside in a big contained area. Adult goes and stands in the area. Beavers set off with torches to find them.

Catch the Dragon’s Tail

This is actually a Chinese game!

All players stand in a line, their hands on one another’s shoulders. The first person in line is the head of the dragon, and the last is the tail.

The head tries to catch the tail by manoeuvring the line around so that she/he can tag the end player. The line must not break.

All the other players do their best to keep the head from catching the dragon’s tail.

When the head catches the tail, all players move forward one position while the player who was in front as the head now becomes the tail.

The Confused Dog

A game from Palestine.

Everyone in a circle, one person in the middle. Throw a ball around the circle until the person in the middle catches or touches it, then the thrower has to go in to replace them.

Kebeto

A game from Ethiopia.

Sit in a circle. One person is it: he goes round the circle carrying a necker. He drops the necker behind someone and tries to run round the circle back to that place. The person who had the belt placed behind her has to run after and catch him before he gets back to her place and takes it, or she now is it.

Straw Boots

A game from Lithuania.

Stand in a circle, holding hands. Walk round chanting “Straw boots, soles of sticks. Straw boots, soles of sticks.” Then hold your left foot in your left hand (everybody) and hop on your right foot chanting “Can’t jump, got a pain in my leg. Can’t jump, got a pain in my leg.” Circle back, chanting “Straw boots…” and then hold your right foot in your right hand and hopping and chanting “Can’t jump…” Repeat going faster each time.