The Crier

Summer Camp Games That Hold Up

Gerald Gordinier · Top 7 · Mar 12, 2007

Hokey and underpaid summer camp coordinators have given leadership games a bad rep, unfairly characterizing them as exclusive fare for the awkward. The truth is, the best leadership games can bring us together, build communication, and foster community. Why must these games be limited to mosquito-filled forests and half-hearted ropes courses?

Post-party, pre-pass out, one must find a way to spin away the hours. This is the perfect time to renew your love for leadership games. Whether with a close-knit group of friends, a special someone, or strangers on the sidewalk, break the television and burrito cycle by trying out one of these, the seven best:

1) Human Knot

Group: Five to fifteen people you’re not afraid to touch.

Instructions: Gather in a circle. Have everyone extend their left hand, grabbing someone else’s hand. You cannot grab the person’s hand standing next to you. If an odd number of people, one person will not have a hand. Don’t be alarmed. Extend right hands, taking someone else’s right hand. At this point, the “odd man out” will have a partner who doesn’t have a right hand. Left hand meets right hand. You are now knotted! To confirm a successful knot, perform the “squeeze test” by having one person squeeze the hand in his left hand. The person squeezed squeezes the opposite hand. Everyone in the circle should be squeezed, and the squeeze should return to the squeezer. If not, retry the test, or redo your hand configuration. Begin unknotting without breaking hands until a full circle is formed.

You’ll find yourself in some very odd positions, yelling, following, jumping, and leaning. This game is akin to twister and tango without the need for agility or grace.

2) Finger Fencing

Group: One-on-One

Instructions: Stand with a partner face-to-face, and lock, palm to palm, right-hand to his or her right hand. Each extend index finger like a lance. Without breaking the grip, attempt to poke your partner with your index finger, below the neck.

A difficult game to play after a long night, hilarious for onlookers, as the true test of finger fencing becomes the ability to remain standing. A nice sublimation of rage and false-sense of accomplishment when toppling an arch-nemesis with a solid poke.

3) Robot Tag

Group: Ten to forty people

Instructions: Best to be outside for this one. Everyone holds one hand behind them, palm up. This is your off button. Run around trying to touch everyone’s off button. When turned off, a robot may no longer move. The robot stands in place, but can reach out to hit other’s off buttons, thereby regaining its power.

Robot tag is the zenith of tag evolution. Making fun robot noises while luring friends into the “slothy off robot” trap proves for hours of fun, as well as a solid way to destroy a house if played indoors.

4) Wheel Barrow Races

Group: Infinite

Instructions: Take a friend by the ankles and make them hand-walk in a grueling race against other man-barrows for domination.

Not for the light-hearted. Head rushes are a frequent threat in the late hours of the night. Relive those watermelon and sunshine days of summers past.

5) Charades

Group: Two to twenty

Instructions: Think of something. Use silent gestures to illustrate your thought, as your company tries to guess.

This classic is making a comeback. If you think your college education is going to good use, play a late-night game of charades and think again. High-stakes betting is strongly encouraged, as well as intimate and esoteric challenges (think “Aunt Beatrice” or “Post-Colonialism”).

6) Push Game

Group: One-on-One

Instructions: Stand face-to-face with a partner, far enough so that whoever has the lankiest arms will not be able to touch the other player’s chest at full extension. The object of this game is to make the other player lose his or her footing, either by a push on the other player’s hands or the classic “psyche-out,” having the other player attempt a push on you and fall with hilarious consequences.

Push game is the thinking man’s finger fencing. While finger fencing will often go to the strong or the tall, push game relies on patience and long arms. Strategy, the decision to push or faux-push, is vital at all points in the game.

7) Seven-Up

Group: Infinite

Instructions: Choose seven people to come forward and be “selectorbots.” Have everyone else sit around the room, heads down, thumbs up. The selectorbots go around the room, and each bot depresses a thumb in the room. The townspeople then wake up, and attempt to figure out who pressed their thumb. If they guess correctly, they become selectorbot. If not, back to sleep.

Yes, seven-up, that grade-school gem. With everyone’s heads down, it’s a smooth transition to the pass-out phase. If a selectorbot is not uncovered after four tries, the town must buy him a burrito.