6-10 kids

age 8+

Players are paired up and each partnership is given a balloon. They must keep the balloon aloft as long as possible. The balloon cannot touch the ground or another participant.

Variations - Game can be played solo - players can be told to use only feet, only elbows, anything but hands, etc. - players can be instructed that they cannot move their feet.

Class divides into two groups (or more) of 5-10 players each. Each group is given a balloon or a small ball. A course is planned such as running along a straight path for a specific distance, or the course may contain obstacles. Each member of the group must complete this course carring a balloon underneath his/her chin. After completing the course, the balloon is passed to the next person without the use of their hands. The exchange requires the players to get close to each other and work cooperatively . The groups can compete against each other or the clock.

Variations - the balloon can be passed to other body parts such as elbows, knees or ankles - the course can be travelled in pairs, with the balloon between the player's foreheads, elbows, knees, etc.

Particpants tie a balloon around their ankles with a rubber band or piece of string. On the "GO" signal, each player attempts to pop other player's balloons while protecting their own. Players may not use their hands or body to push off other players. Players with popped balloons can sit on the side and watch, or fill up more balloons for another game.

Variation - instead of just starting a full melee with a "Go" command, music or rhythm instruments can be used : when the music is playing, they can play the game, when the music stops they have to freeze.

Two partners stand face to face, legs shoulder width apart, and touch hands above their heads. They slowly lean into each other, staying as rigid as possible, as they move their feet backwards. Continue leaning progressively more and more until the structure collapses onto the mat.

Variations - instead of touching at the hands held over the head, hands can start straight out from players chests, or partners can connect at the shoulder and lean sideways. - Three or four players can perform this as a group

Two players sit back to back with legs out straight and arms linked. First practice one leaning forward and the other back, then side to side, then in circles. Then have pairs try to stand up on a count of three without touching hands to the floor. Successful pairs then try to sit down in unison and stand again.
Variations

• change partners, so that sizes are mixed
• perform in groups of three or more
• play in groups of three, with two trying to stand while the third tries to foil the attempt.

two players sit back to back with legs out straight. A ball, pillow, or balloon is placed between the backs of their heads. First practice one leaning forward and the other back, then side to side, then in circles, all without losing the trapped object. Then have pairs try to stand up on a count of three without touching hands to the floor. Successful pairs then try to sit down in unison and stand again.

Variations

• change partners, so that sizes are mixed
• perform in groups of three or more
• place the object between elbows, lower back, foreheads, ears, knees, etc. and have pairs then try to stand and sit down again.

Equipment - needs balls, balloons or pillows.

Players are paired up, and each pair has their inside legs tied together (spare gi belts, ribbon, or short ropes all work). General objective is to move from point A to point B without falling, but this can be spiced up by:

• having them face opposite directions
• make them pick up objects along the route
• make them maneuver, climb, or crawl over/under obstacles along the route

One player, the Leader, has a dollar bill (or piece of string, or a handkerchief), which they try to keep just out of reach of the second player - the Follower - whose job it is to catch the bill, must commit to the action and may not stop moving once the game has begun. The Leader may change hands, but motion must be continuous.

needs dollar bills (larger denominations seem to be more exciting), pieces of string, or handkerchiefs - one for every two students.

We try to encourage games where children are not throwing things at each other. This game is a little like keep away, or monkey in the middle.

Split the class in two teams, give each team three Nerf soccer balls. Call one to three students into the middle.

The object is for teams to pass the balls across the matt, without letting the person in the middle intercept them. If a ball is intercepted, the thrower replaces the person in the middle who caught their ball. I only allow underhand throwing (bowling). Students in the middle are challenged to split their focus between both sides of the matt while staying connected with throwers to anticipate the trajectory of the balls.

Players can roll forward or backward to avoid being tagged by the IT, who can roll or knee walk. Players can only roll. Game is over when all players have been tagged.

Variations

• allow players to knee walk (this version also called "Samurai Tag")
• or stand and take 1-3 steps
• or tagged players become IT
• either replacing the IT or joining the IT by holding hands (aka "Samurai Blob Tag")
• or by being additional ITs so the remaining players have more
  to roll away from.

Begin as with randori, three ukes lined up on one side, nage on the other.

Basic level: Ukes each hold a large soft rubber ball at chest level with both hands. Nage bows to start, and everyone jumps up and attacks. Nage moves through the ukes, spinning them out of the way by nudging their shoulders or the ball. Ukes must respect the "throws" and spin away before they "attack" again. Ukes' goal is to pin nage between all three balls, NOT to clobber nage with the balls.

Next level: Discard the balls. Ukes still don't attack, but they do run at nage, who still focuses on movement, but this time, by nudging one of uke's shoulders, she causes him to roll in a direction -- left shoulder means right roll, for example -- this lets nage practice strategy and ukes practice randori ukemi.

Next level: Introduce a single attack and a single throw, always keeping the movement. Then any attack, one technique, then one attack any technique, then any attack, any technique full-on randori.

Players form a circle at least 10' in diameter. One player is selected as "the ball" and moves into the circle. All the other players are the bumpers, and their task is to gently push the ball across the circle. The Ball's job is to roll, forward or backward depending on which way they were facing when they were pushed, and stand up again within the circle. As they stand up they walk towards the circle until someone in the circle pushes them back into a roll.

Variation - the Ball can be blindfolded, or there can be objects (small ball, towel, etc.) in the circle that they are to pick up as they roll by

Players learn to avoid confrontation by blending with oncoming train. Players spread out on the mat and freeze. One player is designated "The Engine" and given a large gymnastics ball. The Engine rolls the ball towards anyone else in class, who has to blend at the last possible moment to avoid getting hit, and then joins the line forming behind the Engine, thus creating the train. The Engine can make sudden stops, and all the other cars in the train must avoid colliding with the person in front of them. Players hit by the ball do not join the train, but move to another spot on the mat and are eligible again to be targeted.

Variation - the train can move sideways or backwards without notice, and all cars in the train have to stay in order and not bump into each other.

Three players form a straight line. The student in the middle must remain on the line till the last possible moment, while a large gymnastics ball is rolled along the line towards him/her. Getting off the line too soon allows the player with the ball to track the movement. Players in the middle are only allowed one irimi or one tenkan movement, so they must time it well. Switch roles after every few attempts.

Variations - blindfold the middle player, and have the player rolling the ball announce when they are doing so.

The student that is IT stands in the middle of a section of mat designated by lines or boundaries dividing the mat into 3 sections. IT stands in the middle section while the rest of the participants move from one outside section to the other by rolling or doing Shikko through the middle where IT tries to tag them.

IT may not tag the players once they cross the opposite line of the territory. The first person tagged becomes the next It.

As necessary, IT can have his/her job made more difficult by having to shikko or being blindfolded. If you want to add a competitive flavor, they can keep score of how many players the IT manages to tag (the first of these will be the next it)

Divide class into pairs, with partners standing about 15 feet apart. Players on one side close their eyes, stick their hands out a few inches in front of them, and slowly walk in the direction of their partner. Blindfolds can be used if you have enough. Players are supposed to stop when they think they are only a few inches from their partner. Then they open their eyes and see how they did. Start again 15 feet apart and the other partner tries. Each player should try several times and compare how they do.

Variations

• Both partners walk towards each other, listening intently, and step offline when they think they are about to collide.
• Try walking sideways or backwards.
• Let one partner hum a tune or emit regular beep sounds until the moving partner gets within 3 feet.

pairs

Like Lead and Follow, except using a balloon instead of a dollar bill, with the additional component that anytime the balloon is brought up to the follower's face, the follower must do a back roll or fall.

Students are paired up, and one member of each pair is given a small balloon. The one partner, leading, tries to keep the balloon just out of reach of the other partner, the follower. Once the follower commits to trying to snatch the balloon, he/she must keep moving. They may not stop and calculate where they think their partner is going to move next - they must just follow. The leader can change hands, but must keep the balloon moving. Anytime during the game that the balloon is placed in the follower's face, he/she must react by doing a back roll or fall.

technique, cooperation

Players jump over a rope moving in a circle. A rope is weighted (typically with a knot) and the players form a circle around the teacher, who swings the rope. The players stand back while the rope gets going, and then have to come close enough that they have to jump over the end of the rope as it passes by.

Variations include:

• Individual players can try to tag the teacher, moving forward one step each time they clear the rope
• The entire class can count revolutions of the rope, with the group score being how many rotations without anyone touching the rope.
• Players are eliminated when the rope touches them.
• Players have to do five rolls in order to rejoin the circle if the rope touches them

Players jump over a moving rope without being "eaten". Teacher and a student sit seiza and hold opposite ends of a rope long enough that they can wave it back and forth on the floor creating snake-like wave patterns. Players line up on one side and try, one at a time or in pairs, to cross the area with the moving rope. If a player is touched by the rope, they replace the student holding one

Variations - both ends can be held by students, and vertical rope movement can be included.

Needs a soft rope 10-15 feet long.

Group forms a circle with one 'IT" player in the center. The players roll a large gymnastics ball back and forth across the circle, trying to hit the IT in the middle, who must roll, fall, or two-step out of the way. The ball is treated as a "hot potato", so the players in the circle cannot take careful aim but must push it away quickly.

Variations:

• the IT must knee walk
• more than one ball can be used
• the game can be played against a wall, with the player forced to move laterally
• the ball must be bounced across the circle, and the player in the middle must dive forward or fall backward and stand up again.

Cut up old gi belts into 18 inch long strips. Have the children tuck the strips into their gi belt in the back. Have the students spread out.

The object is to grab the belt out of the back from everyone else without having yours taken.

Variations:

• Put the belts in the front instead of the back.
• If they have captured one belt from another student, they get an extra life if their belt gets taken. (only allow one extra life, otherwise the game gets too long.)
• Sensei can play along with the children and when it gets down towards the end Sensei can play on his knees.
  

All the players lay down upon the mat, in their own spaces. One person is designated to be "It" first. The It person attempt to "wake the dead" by going around to each player and attempting to make them move/laugh/smile etc. The player's job is to remain motionless on their backs with their eyes open. The players are allowed to breathe and to blink, but any other movement constitutes being awoken. Once a player is awoken by the It person, they too become It, and must assist in waking up the other players.

As in the Smile Game, the It persons are allowed to anything within reason to awaken the other players, without touching them. The game is over when there is only one player left "dead." That player is the "It" person for the next game, if the teacher chooses to play again.

Also known as "Samurai Tag" - A simple game of tag where shikko (knee walking) is the only allowed way of moving around. Alternatives include:

1] "It" may be allowed to roll, making it easier to move around and thus freeing oneself by taging someone else.

2] If you become "it" you _have_ to roll before you can tag others. This will give more experienced participants the opportunity to try to place themselves so that the "it" is not able to roll, while "it" can practice searching for openings and rolling under harder conditions.

3] 1 person is "it" while the rest try to get to the other side of the mat (safe zone). stress proper knee walking and light tags and safety. Variations can be done with obstacles and creating temporary safe zones.

Nage holds up both hands in front of their body, facing uke. Uke hold up their hands palms out with 3-4" separating their palms from nage's. Throughout this game nage's and uke's hands never touch. As nage moves their body and hands--forward, backward, up, down, sideways, in circles, whatever! -- it is uke's job to maintain the 3-4" distance between palms. See what new and interesting shapes a pair training together can make. Pairs can interact with other pairs, making bridges that others can pass under, for example.

Variations:

1] Try executing aikido techniques such as ten-chi nage, or a randori throw into a forward roll, all just by leading uke to the proper positions.

2] Groups of three can form a triangle. Even four or six or the entire class can form a single polygon, with the 'leader' being the one who moves freely while everyone else works to maintain the 3-4" distance between their own hands and their neighbor's hands.

This game requires 9 players and many more people to sub in. 4 kids are located in each corner sitting seiza and one is given a soft ball. In the center of the square is a tanto and one player to guard the tanto. Around the guard are three or four children attemping to take the tanto and complete a forwards roll without being tagged by the guard.

If a child is tagged by the guard they are out for the round and another aikidoka is subbed in for the tagged player. While this is going on the 4 players in the corners are ROLLING [not throwing] the ball to try and hit the guard to get him or her out of the game.

Whomever succesfully takes the tanto and completes a forward roll or hits the guard with the ball is the new guard. Then the instructor may choose new players for each corner and the players for the position of attempting to steal the tanto. This game can help the children to practice their forwards rolls, focus, awareness and cooperation with each other and it is alot of fun.

Revolving door is designed to help kids master the two step. The game is incredibly simple, yet kids really love it. There are two roles: revolving door and walker. The door stands with both arms parallel to the ground at at chest height to the walkers. The walkers walk normally through the revolving door and the door is supposed to respond to them just like a revolving door does. After a couple sessions of revolving door their partnered two step improves dramatically. For groups always have more doors than walkers or the walkers get clogged in the doors. You can have them change roles every "N" passes through the doors. Kids can approach the front or the back of the door and I encourage the doors to have a little momentum and to move with the walkers neither ahead of them nor resisting them.

This dodgeball game is played by two equal-sized teams with at least three people per team. Each team also chooses one daimyo, which was the term used for the feudal lords during the times of the samurai.

The play area is divided length-wise into four equal areas. The center two are combined to form one, large "No throw"
neutral zone. Any player may enter the neutral zone, but only to pick up balls. Nobody may throw while in the neutral zone. The two teams defend opposite end areas. The end areas may only be entered by a person from that team.

At a signal from the sensei, play begins. Players try to hit opposing team members with the balls. If struck, a player is out. If a ball is caught, the thrower is out. If the daimyo gets out, the entire team is out!

Variations include:
- require either the daimyos or the other players, or everyone to move in shikko.
- the daimyo is only out if he or she is struck by a ball, not if their ball is caught.
- players switch sides when hit rather then having to stop playing.
- daimyo are forbidden to enter the neutral zone.<br><br>

(This game is based on Save the King, which was in the March 2006 issue of _Family Fun_ Magazine.)

Like the game SIMON SAYS, but using only Japanese/Aikido words. Goal: to fool everyone till only 1 kid is left

Sensei speaks, kids listen. When sensei says: 'sensei says' before giving an order (sit seiza, do a forward roll, etc.), students must obey or they're out. When sensei just gives the order, students must NOT obey, or they're out.

Use AIkido movements such as seiza, kisa, ukemi, taisabaki, tenkan, ki-ai, ... etc...

I do it sometimes at the end of class to get them calm down in Seiza.
Variations;

1] let them close their eyes

2] choose a kid to act as sensei (which is harder than they think)

Taken from The New Games Book, by The New Games Foundation. Also available from Klutz Press.

A foxtail is a ball with a tail, and can be purchased from Klutz Press, or can be made with a few items: a small beanbag or rubber ball (approx. 3 in. diameter) and a tube sock. The foxtail is created by dropping the beanbag into the tube sock, then tying a know at the open end (see Bola Game).

The foxtail is best used as an outdoors activity, but with attentive students can be used indoors. The foxtail is used to play almost any kind of ball game, with the following modifications: You can only throw or catch the foxtail by the tail , and you can only throw or catch it with one hand. Playing with a foxtail especially helps to develop timing.

Bola requires three simple props: a small beanbag or rubber ball (approx. 3" in diameter), a tube sock, and a length of clothesline. The bola is created by dropping the beanbag into the tube sock, then tying a know at the open end (see Foxtail Game). Tie the clothesline around the sock above the knot, so that it wouldn't slip off if you were to twirl the tube sock around by hanging onto the rope because that's what you're going to do. Lying on the floor, begin to twirl the bola around the floor in a circle. Once you get it going, students should move into the circle so that they have to jump into the air as the bola passes beneath them. The twirler can alter the spped, or the length of the rope, at any time as they choose. Anyone hit by, or tangled in, the bola is out. The last player to be out gets to twirl the bola next.

This is taken from The New Games Book, by The New Games Foundation.

This tag game divides the class into two equal size groups, and divides the play area in half. One team is the cranes, the other team is the crows. Opposite walls are bases. Teams line up opposite each other at the dividing line. Sensei gives the signal to tag by calling out
"Cranes!" or "Crows!"

The team called is the team that is it. They try to tag the other team members before they get to the base. Sensei may call either team name, alternating if, and when, he or she chooses. Sensei may also call out trick words like Crazy! Crash! Candy!, etc., but neither side gets to go until sensei calls out Cranes! or Crows!

Players tagged switch teams, confusing things because they have to remember to go on a different call than before. Play continues until everyone is on the same team.

Materials: soft, assorted color balls, (we used dish washers from dollar tree) white belts tied together to form a line that will divide the mat in two. Students sit seiza until one designated student counts to 5 in Japanese. Cleverly "go"!, and all students roll or shiiko to retrieve one fruit, then head back to original position before throwing their fruit. If a player is hit by a fruit, he/she sits seiza at the side of the mat in the order in which they are called out. A Player that throws a fruit and is caught by another teammate on the opposing side, is out and a teammate from the opposing side comes back into the game. The order in which they sit after being called out, is important to know who is allowed to come back in. Game is finished when all teammates are out on either side.
Variations:

1] Team Sensei: All students versus Sensei!

2] Use different ukemi waza for throwing fruit: tsuki, yokomen, shomen