Need park games & ice breakers for kids and moms

November 30, 2013 4:11 PM

What kind of easy 1) ice breaker kind of game and 2) active game can a small group of kids and their moms play together as a group in a park?

We have a little group that gets together to do activities around town. Usually it involves a short ice breaker (because the kids don't typically all know each other) and an activity that we all play together. For example, for the first meetup, we played 20 questions and them we took a short hike. For another meetup, we played "would you rather" and then we made crafts and played freeze tag. This time it's going to be at a park and I'm a little stumped for the ice breaker activity and activity. The ice breaker could be some kind of improv game or question type game? This is for a group of 8-14 kids and their mom/dad. The kids range in age from 7-10. It has to be an activity where everyone can play including parents. Any suggestions...thanks so much!

posted by biscuits to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

"I like people who..." is a fun game. You will need chairs or newspaper to sit or stand on. Place in circle with one person without chair-paper in the middle. Person in middle says "I like people who...have on red". (Or have long hair, have a dog, like a certain food...). Everyone to whom this applies needs to change spots and cannot move to the spot right next to them. The new person in the middle repeats with a new statement. Play until you have kids trying to stay in the middle.
posted by 101cats at 4:47 PM on November 30, 2013

My daughter and I played this game a few years back at a Mother Daughter activity and it was so much fun. I hope I can explain it well.

Preparation:

On slips of paper write animal names (duck, dog, cow, horse, elephant, etc.). Each animal should be represented twice (a pair). So, you'd have two slips of paper that read, "duck," for example. Make sure you have enough slips of paper that each person will have one. If you have thirty participants, make sure you have thirty slips of paper.

Gather the group together and explain that you're going to drop all these slips of paper on the ground. They are to quickly grab a slip of paper. When they see what their animal is, start making the animal sound.

The goal is to pair up with the other person making the same animal sound. The last ones to pair up are out. Their papers are confiscated and discarded.

Repeat the game until you have a winning pair.

I don't typically like games of this nature, but this was a ton of fun. It was hilarious wandering through the group frantically barking like a dog trying to find the other person being a dog all the while everyone else was making their animal sounds.
posted by Sassyfras at 6:26 PM on November 30, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm a huge fan of Elbow Tag or Blob Tag as an ice-breaker -- extended physical contact with someone you don't know has a way of getting you to introduce yourself, or at least feel less self-conscious about asking later. You can also be explicit about this with the kids, and tell them that if you find yourself linked to someone you don't know, introduce yourself.

Elbow Tag: everybody is partnered with someone else, by linking elbows. One person is It. When It links elbows with a pair, the outside partner (the one not linked by It) becomes the new It. The game ends when time is up.

Blob Tag: One person is It. everyone else runs. When It catches you, you hold hands or link arms and are now both (together) It. The game ends when everybody is part of the blob, or there's only one person left standing (or when time's up)
posted by Mchelly at 5:46 AM on December 1, 2013