Games for Large Groups

Planning games for a big group

Many youth leaders need to keep a large group of children busy each week. Splitting everyone into smaller groups with separate activities often works well. Sometimes, though, a single game for everyone is the better choice, and whole-group games can help children mix outside their usual friendship circles, learn names and use up energy.

Size matters when choosing a game. In a very large group, children may spend a long time waiting for a turn, and leaders find it harder to see everyone. If a game leaves most players standing around, run two or three copies of it in parallel, each with its own leader, rather than one oversized version.

Before you start, think about:

• Space: the hall, field or playground should be big enough for the activity and clear of furniture and trip hazards. Leave stopping room before walls. Outdoors, check the ground for holes or slippery patches, consider the weather, mark clear boundaries, keep the area away from roads and other activities, and make sure drinking water is available.
• Supervision: follow your organisation's supervision and safeguarding requirements, and any statutory requirements that apply to your setting. Increase supervision where the activity or the children's needs require it, and spread leaders around the space.
• Ages and abilities: a game that suits older children may be too rough or confusing for younger ones. Offer walking or wheeling options in place of running, give visual instructions as well as spoken ones, and make it easy for any child to sit out without embarrassment.
• Clear rules: explain the game simply, check everyone understands, and agree a stop signal. A whistle alone may not reach every child, so pair it with a visible signal such as a raised hand.

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Red Rover without the collisions

In traditional Red Rover, a called player runs at the other team's linked chain and tries to break through. Running into a chain of people carries an inherent risk of falls and of injury to fingers, wrists, arms and shoulders. Holding hands rather than linking arms does not guarantee that the chain will release safely, and asking runners to aim for hands or jog instead of sprint reduces the risk without removing it. Grass can soften a fall, but it can also be slippery or uneven. For these reasons, we recommend a non-contact version, especially with large or mixed-age groups.

To play the non-contact version:

• Divide the group into two teams of roughly equal size. Each team stands behind a marked line, facing the other team. Set the gap to suit your venue and the children, keeping it short enough that nobody builds up much speed.
• Players do not hold hands. Nobody tries to block, catch or hold a crossing player.
• One team calls out, "Red Rover, Red Rover, send [name] right over!", choosing a child from the other side.
• That child walks, jogs or wheels across and joins the calling team.
• Teams take turns to call. Finish after an agreed number of calls or a set time, then mix the teams and start again.

Because every call means saying a name aloud, the game works well for learning names in a new group. Some children will not want to hold hands or take part in contact games at all, and this version means nobody has to do either to stay included.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Risk assessment and first aid

For active games, follow your organisation's risk-assessment procedure, scaled to the activity and the children taking part. Make sure suitable first-aid arrangements are in place, which means more than a kit on the side, and that leaders know the emergency plan. Requirements differ between settings, so check what applies to yours. The Health and Safety Executive and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) publish general advice on managing risk in play, though this is not an endorsement of any particular game. The NSPCC has safeguarding resources for people working with children and young people.

Other games for large numbers

• Port and Starboard: mark one side of the room as port and the opposite side as starboard, and demonstrate both before you begin. When the leader calls a side, children move to it, stopping short of the wall. Other calls, such as "captain's coming", have an agreed action. To keep everyone involved, skip elimination and simply carry on playing.
• Wink Murder: the group sits in a circle while a secretly chosen "murderer" winks at players, who then "die". A detective tries to identify the murderer. It can work as a quieter seated game, though dramatic deaths may liven it up. In a very big circle, players may struggle to see the winks, and some children may find winking difficult, so agree another secret signal or use several smaller circles.
• Fishes in the Sea: children are given the names of different fish. When their fish is called, they move around the outside of the group and back to their place.
• Parachute games: a play parachute can involve many children at once in lifting, swapping places and ball games. How many it suits depends on its size, so check the manufacturer's instructions.

Keep instructions short and be ready to change the rules if a game is not working. Stop before children lose interest.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Youth Group Game Finder lets you match games to your specific group needs by filtering across age, group size, space, and activity type. Try it now →