Band Camp Games and Activities
Why games?
Games are an easy and familiar way to help your students get to know each other from day one! As it’s mentioned in Making the Time for Relationships, a majority of the relationships in your program are not from director to individuals, but between all the members of the program.
Activities and games are a low-risk way for students to engage with each other and build commonalities. Ice-breakers and silly activities create the perfect scenario for starting a small conversation without it feeling forced.
Keeping things fun and light are the perfect way to socially integrate your youngest members (mostly freshmen) with the returning members of your program. Below are some of our favorite, tried and tested full group activities that are *perfect* for band camp. Some are “get to know you” activities, some are name games, and some are perfect for groups between 10-25 people (maybe a section, or combo of sections, or grade level).
What is included in the game description?
Overview of the game, special considerations, and either a “script” for anyone who isn’t how to start/teach the game, or a sample of what game play would look like. Click the links below if you’d like to skip around to the different categories/games.
Full Band Ice Breakers
Icebreakers are activities specifically for getting students to meet each other and learn information about other students. These are great for the first few days when students haven’t had a lot of social time to get things rolling.
Ready, Ready, Ready
How to Play: Ready, Ready, Ready is the perfect game for getting your group into smaller groups. The leader will call out “Ready, Ready, Ready….” and then say a number, “…4!”. After hearing this, the students must immediately form groups of 4. At the beginning of band camp, this game is great for getting them to meet new people and have conversations.
Once they are in the group, give them a topic to discuss and conversation guidelines. An example is, “Share your name, section, grade, and your favorite movie”. After you’ve given enough time for each person to share, have students mix and mingle, then repeat! Call out “Ready, ready, ready….3!” (or whatever number you’d like) and continue with a new topic.
Once your group has the skill of “Ready, Ready, Ready”, you can use it throughout camp (and the season) for any other grouping needs. Need everyone separated? “Ready, ready, ready….1!”. Need the full band together for announcements? “Ready, ready, ready….134! On the 50!” You’ll see this game pop up in other games later in this blog.
Materials/Considerations: Unless the group is small, a microphone is highly recommended. The kids love talking, so a microphone to help you be heard is a 10/10 for saving your voice. Outdoors is recommended for sheer volume control, but can be done indoors with care.
Script Sample:
“Hey everyone! Today we will be playing a game that will help you meet some new people. This game is called Ready, Ready, Ready. The way it works is, I’ll call out “ready, ready, ready” and a number. Once you hear that number, you need to get in a group with that many people as fast as you can. Once you are there, be ready to listen for some questions you need to answer in your group. “
“Ready, Ready, Ready…… 3!”
“Once you are in a group, everyone stand on one foot (or make a pose, or stick your tongue out…something silly to refocus back on the director). “
“Now, each person needs to say… their name, their section, their grade, and their favorite candy.”
*wait*
“Alright everyone, mix and mingle, walk around!
Ready ready ready…….4!”
Enjoy Ready, Ready, Ready!
Four Corners
Four corners is a fast, easy-to-understand game that is perfect for band camp.
How to Play: The general premise is, students have to choose between 4 parts of a category (I recommend preplanning categories and questions). Once they reach their corners, I like playing mini-ready,ready,ready to get them in groups to further divide for a short conversation to get to know people in their corner.
Materials/Space Considerations: Like Ready, Ready, Ready, the game can get loud, so a microphone can help save your voice during facilitation. This game is better outdoors for volume control, but can be done inside.
Script Sample:
Soon I will be giving you a short list from a few categories and your job is to choose which one best applies to you and go to one of the four corners that goes with your choice. As I say the categories, I’ll be pointing to the corner it belongs to. The rules are simple, you MUST choose a corner, and there are no splitting corners.
Our first example will be…. Ice Cream!
In corner 1-Chocolate, corner 2- Strawberry, corner 3-Vanilla, corner 4-Anything But Ice Cream
(after everyone is in a corner) Within your corner, ready, ready, ready….2
With your partner, share the following….
Name, Section, favorite flavor, which person (famous or not), would you want to eat your ice cream or dessert with?
Other possible category/question combos
- Pets
- Cats, Dogs, Fish, Exotic Animals
- Name, section, tell your group about your pets or the pet you want to get in the future.
- Beverages
- Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Seltzer
- Name, Section, favorite movie snack to eat with your popcorn, what is the next movie you want to see in theaters?
- Free Time
- Sports, Crafting, Binge Watching, Shopping
- Name, section, tell your group why you picked this corner over another corner. Tell your group what your second choice corner would have been.
Do You Know Your Neighbor?
Group Size Disclaimer: I absolutely adore this game, though it has limitations. This game works for groups as small as 10, but once it gets over 30 it can be a little unruly. This could be a great game for student leadership, and then they could run it in their sections.
Materials/Space Considerations: This game needs something to mark the players “spots” around the circle– this can be notebooks, water bottles, carpet squares, or silicone dots, just something to know where the spots are. This game is best outdoors in a place where the students can move quickly. You might say no running, but sometimes the game-play can get a little over-excited and a safe grassy place is good for the game.
How to Play: The group will stand in a circle with spots at their feet (or behind). There will be one person starting in the middle who begins the game pattern. Everyone will say (in a rhythm as dictated below), “Do You Know Your Neighbor?” The person in the middle can say, no or yes!
If the answer is “No”, then this happens:
“No, but I would like to know someone who …..” and then a trait or hobby. This can be “somebody who likes Batman” and then everyone who likes Batman will leave their spot and need to find an empty spot somewhere else in the circle. The person in the middle goes to an empty spot, and then whoever is left without a spot is the new person in the middle. Once there’s a new person, the group says “Do You Know Your Neighbor?” and the person can either say no, or yes!
If the answer is “Yes”, then EVERYONE has to find a new spot.
Some extra rules include- no moving to the immediate next spot (either to the left or right), no ultra specific targeting (i.e. “no, but I’d like to know someone who’s name is Jolly Smith”).
Script Sample:
To start our game today, everyone needs to grab their water bottle and make a circle with enough space that you won’t bump with your arms stretched out. Put the water bottles behind your feet to mark the spot. You will be leaving the water bottles, but you’ll get your water bottle back at the end of the game.
Now, repeat this phrase after me- (it might take a few times for them to get it right)
Now, the person in the middle will either say yes, or no. If they say no, the person in the middle will then say, “No, but I would like to know someone who…” and they’ll fill in the sentence. They might say, “I’d like to know someone who likes chocolate”, then everyone who likes chocolate will leave their space to find a new spot, including the person from the middle. The only rules are, you can’t go back to your own spot, and you can’t go to the spot directly next to the one you were at. The person left without a spot becomes the new person in the middle.
Now if they say “Yes” to the question, “Do You Know Your Neighbor?” then EVERYONE has to move and find a new spot. Let’s start with me as practice, everybody say…..”Do You Know Your Neighbor?”…..
Name Games
Jump Up and Shout
How to Play/Considerations: This game is great for smaller groups (10-30ish) and blends the name game with “Do You Know Your Neighbor”. This game takes place in a circle, and is interest based. One person starts by saying, “My name is ____, and I like popcorn!”, then the first person to jump up and shout, “My name is ____, and I like popcorn!” gets to go next. As each person goes, they’ll say a new thing they like, and remain standing after their turn. The game is done when everyone is standing. If multiple people stand and shout, the win goes to whoever stood and said the full sentence the quickest.
This activity goes extra smoothly if you can run it with a small group (2-3 extra people) as an example.
Sample run of the activity:
“My name is Holly and I like soup!” (Holly stays standing)
*Jordan stands*- My name is Jordan and I like soup!……. My name is Jordan (and I like….the tuba!” (Jordan stays standing)
*Mike, Rebecca, and Tori all stand and say*, “My name is Mike/Rebecca/Tori, and I like Tuba!”, but Mike said it fastest, so he is next. (Mike stays standing)
And so on, until everyone is standing and has had a turn.
Name with a Motion
Name with a Motion is great for groups between 10-20 people, more than that and it will take forever to get through each student. This is a classic name game that helps students be a little silly while learning all the names in the group.
How to Play: Everyone stands in a circle. Pick someone confident to start! That person will say their name while doing a short action (like an arm wave, or thumbs up), and then *everyone* will repeat the name/motion. Going clockwise, person 2 says their name with a new motion. The group responds with “Person 2 *motion*, Person 1 *motion*”. As you add on people, The group continues the pattern, “Person 3, Person 2, Person 1” until you get to the last person.
Active Outdoors Games
Just as a disclaimer, I will be posting another blog with more games in the near future, so keep an eye out if you are looking for great games to play. These can be played in the morning to energize your group, or in the evening during a structured fun time with your band.
Fainting Goat Tag
If you are looking for a game that causes good old-fashioned belly laughing, this is it! The idea behind fainting goat tag is, when goats get scared, they lock up, freeze, and fall on their backs to “play dead”. If you are looking for evidence, below is 6 minutes of funny proof.
How to Play: Pick several “It”s for your tag game. As with all tag games, they will run around trying to tag people. If they tag successfully, then the role is switched and the “It” gets to run around as a goat, and the tagged goat is now an “It” trying to tag other people.
The fun part is… to avoid getting tagged, the ‘goats’ can lay on their back with their arms and legs up in the air while shouting out a convincing goat noise, and they can’t be tagged at that time. After 3 seconds, the goats get up and continue moving about the play area.
Some rules: I like to implement speed walking vs running to help reduce potential injuries. “It” people can’t hover around a fainted goat just waiting to tag them. Goats can only stay down for 3 seconds at a time. Students are good at coming up with workarounds, so stay observant and add rules in as needed for your group.
Other considerations: Playing this game in wet grass or too-hard ground (concrete or blacktop) is not a ton of fun for the students (either they get soaked or the game starts to hurt).
Sample Script:
“Today we are playing a game called Fainting Goat Tag. When goats get scared, they freeze up and roll onto their backs with their legs up in the air. We are the goats today. There will be a few people who are “it”, moving around trying to tag people. If you get tagged, you become “it” and the tagger turns into a goat. To avoid being tagged, you can “faint” like a goat by going on your back with your hands and feet in the air and making your best goat sound.
Some rules- Goats can only be on the ground for 3 seconds, but the “its” can’t hover around a fainted goat waiting for them to get up. Be safe as you roll to the ground, and remember to use speed walking and not running as we play today!”
Then pick your its and begin the game.
Birdie on a Perch
This one is silly, but tons of fun. There are definitely modifications you can make if your school’s COVID protocols/spacing needs are still very strict. This game involves partners, and people getting ‘out’. You will need a loudspeaker to play music on during the game, because it’s similar to musical chairs.
How to Play: Have each student find a partner. If there’s an odd person out, give them a special job (using them as a judge helping figure out which team is out is very helpful). Then, in each set, one person is the “birdie” and one person is the “perch”. Create two large circles, the outer circle are all the Perches, and the inner circle are all the birdies (diagram A).
When the music plays, the birdie circle and the perch circle will walk in opposite directions. When the music stops, the perches will kneel on one knee with the other out, staying put where they were when the music stopped, and the birdies will race to their original perch and lightly sit (or pretend to sit) on the knee of their perch(diagram B). The last team (or last two or three, if you are playing with a large group) is out. They can create a cheering section off to the side of the game (or a dance party with the music).
Continue the game until you have a few “winner” pairs, and then do a “jailbreak” and have everyone join back in.
Sample Script:
“Today we are playing a game called Birdie on a Perch. Everyone will be paired off into twos, and from there one becomes the birdie and one becomes the perch.” (Do a demo of the pose with another person so they can decide with the info in mind). “Let’s start with that step- find a partner and then decide one person to be the birdie and one to be the perch.”
“Now that we’ve found our partners and picked roles, we need to make two large concentric circles. The inside circle are all the birdies, and the outside circle are all the perches. You can stand across from your person, but it won’t stay that way for long.”(Make the circles, continue instructions after everyone is there).
“When the music starts, the outside circle will move counterclockwise, and the inside circle will walk clockwise- when the music stops, all the perches will freeze, drop to one knee, and the birdies will race to their perches. The last pair together (or last few) will be out and move to our out-area. Let’s do a practice round where nobody will be out”
And then do the practice run, and then play for real. Have fun!
Park Ranger
This game plays sort of like Red Rover or Red Light, Green Light, with more hilarity.
How to Play: Have all the students line up along one side of the field/playing area. Pick a few people to be the Park Rangers (the “it” of the game) and have them stand along the middle of the playing area. Instruct the students to pick an animal (of any kind) secretly, and not tell anyone.
Then, the person leading the game will call out “I’m looking for animals with … four legs”, then all students who chose a 4-legged animal will try to get to the other side without getting tagged. If they get tagged by a park ranger, then they freeze their feet and become trees in the park. For each of the following rounds, trees can also tag people, but they can’t move their feet.
Space/Considerations: Depending on the size of your program, this can take up a considerable amount of space. This is a great game to do in a large open field where everyone can line up single file.
Sample Script:
“Today we are playing a game called Park Ranger. The way it works is we will all be lined up along one side of the field. We will have a few Park Rangers, and the rest of us are animals in the park. Once we are lined up, you will pick an animal (secretly). I will then call out possible traits (animals with… fur!) and if you chose an animal with fur, then you have to try to make it to the other side without being tagged.
If you do get tagged, you become a tree in the park. Then, in the next round, trees can tag with their branches (arms) but you can’t move your roots. Park Rangers can still move wherever they need in order to tag the remaining animals. If I call out “If your animal is an animal, GO!”
Coming Soon!
If you liked these games, keep an eye out for more posts like this in the near future. Follow us on Facebook or subscribe to the blog to get notifications/updates when new blogs get posted.
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