These 3 games all have lots of different commands/actions that you can shout out. It’s usually difficult to remember all of the actions, so feel free to print this page out as a cheat sheet!
Beans
Every child has to walk about inside an area of the hall, and when the leader shouts the following, they have to do the appropriate action:
French Bean | Shout “ Ooh La La”, and swing their hips |
Runner Bean | Run about the hall |
Broad Beans | Stretch their arms out |
Jumping beans | Jump up and down |
Haricot Beans |
Hop around the hall |
Beans on Toast | Lie on Floor |
Dwarf Beans |
Crouch down and walk |
String Beans | Put hands in air |
Frozen Beans | “Freeze” |
Chilli Beans | Stand and shiver |
Baked Beans | Children have to run and touch a wall before the leader catches them. Any child who is caught, becomes the leaders helper, and when “Baked Beans” is shouted again, they can try and catch more children. The game ends when everyone has been caught. |
Port & Starboard
In this game, one person is the captain of the ship, issuing orders to the others. There are a number of actions for the players to follow and these must be explained before starting the game. “Port” is one side of the hall and “Starboard the other. “Bow” and “Stern” can be added if there is enough space. The people participating, run to whatever end of the hall is shouted by the “Captain”. Other actions are as follows:
Bombs Overhead | Crouch down covering head with hands |
Captain’s Coming | Stand to attention and salute |
Captain’s been |
Stick tongue out and make a face |
Captain’s girlfriend | Say: “Oooh La La” and wiggle hips. |
Climb the Rigging | Pretend you are climbing a ladder |
Cook’s Coming | Pat your stomach, and rub your head (at the same time) |
Cook’s Been | Pretending to be sick!! |
Freeze / Unfreeze |
Children have to stay still. They cannot move until you shout “Unfreeze”, but try shouting some other actions first, to see how good they are!! |
Man the Lifeboats | Two people sitting down, facing each other, with legs and arms touching and pretend to row back and forward. |
Scrub the Decks | Pretend you are scrubbing the floor |
Submarine | Lie down with one leg in the air |
Three in a Lifeboat | 3 people link arms, but face outwards |
Crow’s Nest |
Pretend to look out, hand to forehead. |
Once the Children get used to the game and all the different commands (you could introduce a few new ones each time you play it), then you can decide if you would like to play the game where the last person to do the command is “out”, so that you eventually speed up the game and end up with a winner. This is a great game for tiring kids out! Remember to shout lots of “ship”, “sea” and “shore” to have them running up and down the hall between these other commands!
*****************************************
FOLLOW / LIKE / SUBSCRIBE / ENJOY!!
You can hire Steve the Juggler aka Stevie Vegas – for more details try…
Juggler for Hire section – (based in the United Kingdom)
*****************************************
Traffic Lights
Children run around the hall. When a leader shouts:
Red | Child stands still |
Amber | Runs on the spot |
Green | Runs around hall |
Pelican Crossing | Lie down on the floor and shouts “Beep Beep” |
Roundabouts | Spin around |
Free Parking | Sit down |
Zebra Crossing | Pair of kids lie side by side, head to foot |