Thanks to Andrea for compiling! 

Floor is lava 

Everyone runs around. When instructor yells “floor is lava”, everyone hangs from an available piece of equipment, until instructor counts down “5…4…3…2…1” and whoever is left performs a forfeit (5 star jumps, or 3 squat jumps, or the like). 

Adults: 2 people per piece of equipment 

Children: 1 person per piece of equipment 

You can spice up the game by yelling things that sound vaguely like “floor is lava” to check players’ attention (floor is lemons, floor is llamas, floor is lavender...). 

*upgrade to the game- you may add further commands: 

• Blizzard: everyone freezes in place 

• Earthquake: duck and cover 

• Fire: everyone must stand on a line on the carpet 

• Alien attack: everyone forms a single conga line, the last in the row is snatched by aliens 

Body part to floor/colour 

When instructor yells a body part and a colour, touch something of that colour with the described body part. 

Carrots & Rabbits 

Half group sits down (carrots), half group stands in 2 groups at either side of the room (rabbits), one person roams around and cannot enter the “rabbit houses” (fox). Rabbits have to run and drag carrots by their feet into either of the rabbit houses (ends of the room)*. If they succeed, the carrot becomes a rabbit and can help to rescue other carrots. If the fox tags the rabbit, the rabbit becomes a carrot.  

The rabbits win if there are no carrots left at the end of the game, or the fox wins if there are no rabbits left. 

* Due to the risk of carpet burn, children are encouraged to tuck their shirts in their trousers and stay in a dish position while being dragged. This game should only be played on warm days, as people on the floor do not have much of a chance to warm up. 

Captain’s ship 

All participants need to follow the captain’s orders, moving towards port, starboard, bow, stern. Last to reach the direction indicated needs to do a forfeit of the teacher’s choosing. Other commands include: 

• Captain’s coming (stand to attention) 

• Scrub the deck 

• Climb the rigging 

Butterfly 

Everyone jogs in a conga line (caterpillar), minus one person (the cat). When the teacher yells “butterflies”, the person at the front leaves the line and rejoins at the back. If they get tagged by the cat, they become the new cat and the person that was the cat joins the end of the conga line. 

Plank tig 

Everyone (minus a tigger) stands in plank/ front support position side to side in groups of 3. One person will start the game by joining in plank/ FS at the side of one group, which means the last person on the opposite side of the group needs to get up and run to join another group. If they get tagged before reaching the new group, they become the new tigger, while the person that was the tigger joins a group. 

Hospital tig 

Everyone runs from a tigger. If a player gets tigged, they must lie down on the floor. Two people have to save them by taking them to “the hospital” (picking them up and dropping them on a crashmat). 

Bridge tig 

Everyone runs from a tigger. If they get tagged, they must make an interesting bridge shape with their body (e.g. lying on floor with raised hips, putting a leg on the wall etc.) and they can only be freed by another player passing under the bridge. 

Evolution 

Everyone walks about. The teacher then yells the name of the smallest (and most ancient) animal they can think of, and everyone must imitate the animal - sounds encouraged. They go on in the evolution timeline by suggesting new animals. The timeline does not need to be real 

An example of timeline: 

Fish → frog → lizard → butterfly → parrot → mouse → cat → cheetah → giraffe 

Pasta 

Everyone walks about. The teacher yells pasta shapes and everyone must imitate the pasta shape while walking.  

Tails 

Every player tucks a scarf in their pocket or in the elastic of their trousers. Everyone must run to try to gather as many tails as they can.