Rainbow leaders, AIBU to ask you to share your quick game ideas?

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Shamelessly posting for traffic! Rainbow leaders/ parents of Rainbows:

I’m finding that setting up activities from the new programme is taking time during meetings and so am on the hunt for easy to explain/ set up games for rainbows that one leader can run whilst others set up activities. I know you will be full of fabulous ideas! Current favourite is duck duck goose but we need some variety! Thanks

1. In the pond/on the bank Rainbows get in circle, they are on the bank. Leader says any of the following: on the bank, in the bank, in the pond, on the pond. Rainbows follow instructions by juming into the pond or back onto the bank unless it's number 2 or 4 or they are already there (so should stand still). Good test of listening skills, not following the crowd and needs no equipment (and can take 5 minutes getting into a form of circle).

1. Cat & mouse - another circle! Rainbows stand in pairs one behind the other leaving gaps. One chosen to be cat, the other mouse. Cat chases mouse around circle and in between the pairs. Mouse can opt out by standing in front of a pair - the one at the back becomes the mouse. Again, no equiment and once played will need little explanantion.

I've played these with Cubs and Beavers so they should be suitable for Rainbows.

Another easy one involving moving around, no circle this time

Beans - call out type of bean and they move that way e.g. jelly bean (wobble), runner bean, jumping bean, broad bean (stretch out sideways), string bean (tall and thin). I'm sure there are more & they often use this at school as warm up in PE so the Rainbows are likely to know more.
www.teachingideas.co.uk/warm-up-ideas/beans-activity

I learnt a good new one on a school residential last week.
Don’t know the name, we’ll call it Bridge, Roundabout, Tunnel.

Two teams in 2 single file lines.
First person runs forward and makes a bridge by laying on the floor, next person goes and has to jump over the bridge, leave a gap and stand like a pencil. Next person goes and has to jump over the bridge, run round the roundabout and then make a tunnel (lay face down and arch back)
4th person goes and has to jump bridge, go round the roundabout and under the tunnel and they make a bridge, and so on.

That's a good game WouldHAVE - I'm going to use that as a relay game with the beavers and cubs.
It's so easy to get used to playing a handful of games, I like to get new ones to play.

1. All the rainbows lie on the floor, face down in a ball. Leader covers one in a blanket. The others have to guess who’s under the blanket.

1. Make a circle, one girls sits in the middle and closes her eyes. The others pass something behind their back whilst singing i.e. “pass the rainbow bear around” to the tune of London Bridge. Then when the song has finished the one in the middle has to guess who has the bear (or whatever you are passing around).

Hedgehog - girls move around hall in sny fashion, leader shouts hedgehog. Girls crunch on the ground like a cruled up hedgehog and leader puts a blanket over one child. The girls then have to work out who is under the blanket. It takes them ages!
Probably to young for drop/catch?
Pass the digerery doo (you may need to google the song) its basically passibg a nean bag round and sitting down if the song ends on you.

Ha ha cross post - same games!

Good evening friend Rainbow -two circles of girls, one inside the other with equal numbers of girls. They sing the song and do the actions and then the outside circle only moves round one place, you can see it in this video (not my video btw) m.youtube.com/watch?v=fHn3nmLNcBU

My Brownies love Fruit Salad. They sit in a circle, a leader gives them each the name of a fruit, usually about 4 fruits. The leader shouts the name of a fruit and all the girls who are that fruit have to run round the outside of the circle back to their place, last one back is out. Once you’ve got a decent number out or are down to your last one or two of each fruit, you can call Fruit Salad and all remaining girls need to run! You can use different objects to go with a themed meeting

Sleeping lions is always good for a quiet few minutes, but usually to end on rather than start with.

Try the Guiders thread too

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/extra_curricular_activities/3507468-guiders-staff-room-part-4?msgid=87077136#87077136

Thank you! Closer I remember fruit salad form my brownie days many millennia agoI shall be trying some of these this week, and I’ve been loving the guiders thread Becles

Ha ha. I saw the word 'rainbow' and thought this was a thread discussing sex games.

I was going to say sleeping lions but PP got there first.

Also "Simon Says", good for listening and not copying everyone else. I was surprised how well this went down at Boys' Brigade the other week, they were all desperate to be the one to call out instructions. The list had to be carried over to the following week.

Port and starboard has gone down okay as well. If you don't know this one, each wall is designated Port, starboard, bow and stern and they run to whichever is called. Jazzed up with "climb the rigging", submarine, man overboard and a whole host of actions that it's as well to look up.

Not tried this with my Rainbows yet but play it with Beavers. It's called "Head it, catch it", essentially you need a soft ball/baloon and the rainbows stand in a circle. The leader stands in the middle and throws the ball to one of the rainbows and says either "head it" or "catch it", however, the rainbow has to do the opposite. So if the leader says "catch it", the rainbow has to head it and vice versa. You go around the circle as many times as you need.

Mine like queenie queenie
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queenie,_Queenie,_who%27s_got_the_ball%3F
Although we just say “queenie, queenie who’s got the ball. Are they big or are they small”

Corners (which can be themed), so they choose a corner and the ones who are in the called corner are out.

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