Age: most enjoyed by those 10-16
Number of players: 6-15
Supplies Needed: None
This is a fun group game that will keep a group of teens busy for hours. And you don’t need anything but a space large enough to seat everyone.
Start by having everyone sit in a circle and choose someone to be the leader. This person is the “Mother Elephant.” Each person in the circle chooses a different animal that they want to be and a sign or sign and sound to distinguish that animal. The ideas are limitless, just make sure that every sign is unique and no one has the same animal. Go around the circle a few times and make sure that everyone knows what signs people have
The mother elephant sign is made by crossing your arms with one palm facing down and one facing up, the palm facing up then reaches up and covers your nose, forming an elephant’s trunk. Other signs could be a frog that is made by slapping your hand and then having it jump into imaginary water. For a puppy you could put your hands to your chest in a begging motion and then pant. A good penguin sign is putting your arms by your side with your hands parallel to the ground and rocking side to side like a penguin waddling. Other good animal signs include a caterpillar or worm sign (hold up one finger and wiggle it up and down), bear (make claws with your hands and growl), crocodile (hold arms up and slap palms together), butterfly (cross thumbs and flap hands), bird (flap your arms like wings), giraffe (hold one arm up high with hand horizontal), cat (pretend to form whiskers with your hands and meow).
To play the game Mother Elephant does her own sign then somebody else’s animal sign. That person does their own sign then chooses another animal sign. The sign passes around the circle. You can choose any person to send the sign to and you can give back the sign to the person who gave it to you, but no more than two times.
The challenge comes when someone messes up. That person then moves to the end of the circle, right side of Mother Elephant, and every person rotates counter clockwise. When the circle rotates the sign does not move. The person then takes the sign of the person who used to be sitting there. For example, if the frog messes up they move to the end of the circle and the person to their right becomes the frog. The position everyone wants is that of Mother Elephant, so it is a good strategy to do that sign often.