Rudolph's Reindeer Game

Remember the line in the song where "They wouldn't let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games?" Well, here's a game EVERYONE can join in!!

All you need is a large group of willing players and plenty of space - ideal for the average Guide Hut, Village or Church Hall.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED : one large plastic hoop (or similar) per group/patrol/six. LOTS of "toys" or toy substitutes - bean bags, small balls, quoits - ANYTHING - you could even use potatoes at a push!

TO PLAY : Divide the players into teams of "reindeer" - either into sixes, patrols or random groups, all with the same number of players in the team if possible. Each team has to have a "sack" for the "toys" - this is where you place the hoops in the corners of the room and possibly midway down the long sides if your hall is the typical rectangle and you have six teams. Share the toys put equally between all the sacks - it doesn't matter who gets what, because it isn't going to stay like that for long!

The teams of reindeer have to steal "toys" from the other reindeers' "sacks" - one at a time, and from all the other team's "sacks," and place them back in their own team's "sack." Start on a whistle or call "GO!" and play for a set length of time. The winning team is the one which has the most "toys" in their sack at the end of the playing period.

RULES : Only one "toy" to be taken on each raid, and only one "sack" to be raided - stolen goods must be returned to the team's home sack before going for another "toy." No individual member of a team can take from the same sack in consecutive raids - they must go for another sack (this stops teams from simply raiding the ones nearest them. No defending your sack or obstructing other players! You can "steal back" toys but only once they have been placed in a sack. Toys which don't stay in the sack (e.g bounce out, miss if thrown) have to be retrieved and placed in the sack by the person who threw them /missed the sack - it is best to place them in, not throw them, as otherwise time is wasted getting them back!

WARNING : this gets very noisy and chaotic, so don't play for too long, and have plenty of adults and/or YLs on hand to supervise/referee!