What do you get when you combine a group of energetic kids, an open space, and no props? A great time! Campers will love these games that don’t require any materials. Camp is a time to make new friends and have fun. This blog post will give you plenty of no-prop games perfect for summer camp or group activities in general. Let’s get started:
1. The Invisible Obstacle Course
Each group will create an imaginary obstacle course in which the group will crawl, jump, run and help each other over all of the obstacles they have encounter. After each element, the leadership is changed, and the next member of the group describes their obstacle and explains how the member groups can travel along, underneath it or around them. In the process, the group can meet a variety of obstacles (attempting to climb a large marshmallow hill, for example). The training activity is both part imagination and part physical and fitness.
2. Wheelbarrow Races
It’s best suited to fit campers with a bit stronger upper body strength. Split the group into pairs of two. Designate one person as the “wheelbarrow” for each team. When a person says “GO,” the wheelbarrow person will go down onto their hands while their teammate grabs their ankles and lifts them off the ground. The person must now walk on their hands while their partner is holding their ankles—the first team to complete the race wins.
3. Jump!
Jump is another simple game which is very suitable for summer camp, especially for youngsters. Have the participants stand stacked against a wall of the gymnasium or on the line of a field. Shout out “1 Jump,” and the kid can jump in the greatest direction possible from a starting point. You can vary it by changing the number of jumps you allow each time and occasionally throwing in one-footed jumps. The person who gets the farthest distance wins.
4. Heads Up
Everyone forms a circle in the center of the room/field and decides (in their head) who they will look at when they look up. Now everyone stands with their heads looking down. On ‘3, 2, 1,’ everyone looks up to see who they’re staring at without making any noise. If two people are looking directly into each other’s eyes, then they are out. This continues till there are 1 or 2 winners.
5. Countdown Pressure
Campers have ten seconds to name five things that fit into a category of your choosing. Once you give them the category, “Five things you’d find on a school bus,” for example, begin counting down out loud immediately. Keep track of your fingers, each one they get correct (it’s harder than you would think). Discourage others from chiming in answers while someone else is playing. The pressure of being on the spot and having time counted down makes this game much harder than it should be. Make lists easier/harder based on campers (i.e day camps should be easier).
6. Don’t Laugh…or Smile
A simple, easy game. Everyone goes and stands somewhere in the room; they can’t close their eyes or plug their ears. One person is “it” and starts trying to make people smile or laugh. As soon as someone does, they are also “it” and must make others laugh or smile until only one person is left.
7. Simon Says
An extremely easy to play and learn the game but hard to win. Simon says is one of the classics. One person stands in front of the group and says “Simon says” and then an action. So, “Simon says, do jumping jacks.” Everyone must now start doing jumping jacks. If the leader says “Stop” and someone stops, they are eliminated because they did not say “Simon Says Stop.” This continues until there is one person left, and they are declared the winner.
8. Ninja
“Ninja” is fun, active, and exciting to play with an energetic group of campers. The game requires only a few key rules to be able to play. Everyone starts in a big circle, and someone is appointed as the starting “ninja.” Someone then yells, “Go!” Everyone then proceeds to jump and strike a position. Everyone must remain in that position; you are considered frozen. The object of the game is to be the only one remaining. After striking a pose, the person designated as the starting “ninja” attempts to slap the hand of another “ninja.” This continues around the circle as each person attempts to hit someone else’s hand. If your hand is hit, that hand is out. If both your hands are hit, then you are out. This continues until there is only 1 person left, who is the true ninja!
9. Sardines
Sardines is a game where one or more players hide while the rest of the group looks for them. On “go,” everyone leaves the seeker standing in an open space while hiding somewhere in the room/area. After hiding, they call out, “Ready or not, here I come!” This begins the game, and all other players attempt to find and hide with the seeker. Once a player is found, both must sit down in an open space and cannot be found for the rest of the game. The game continues until everyone has been found or if the seeker decides to stop looking. To make it more challenging, have your campers play different versions of sardines, such as having a seeker look for everyone until he finds them all. Or have the seeker rotate from person to person so each camper can hide multiple times.
10. Red Light, Green Light
A very fun and easy game. Players must walk slowly when the leader says “green light” and run as fast as they can when they say “red light.” If tagged by a player playing, you are out. The last person left wins!
11. Freeze Tag
Everyone loves this classic game. Everyone starts in the same place; when someone yells “freeze,” everyone must stop moving. The last person to jump in and yell “freeze” becomes the tagger and begins to chase other campers around the room until they touch one of them and yell “it.” This process continues until all but one person is “it.”
12. What’s Your Name?
This game requires a little setup. Divide the group into two teams and have them stand on opposite sides of the room. As one team is trying to explain how they plan on playing, give the other team a name tag with the name of a food on it. After explaining the game, have each team try to find their group members without being able to ask any questions. The first team to find all their group members is the winner!
13. Rock Paper Scissors
Everyone will be familiar with this game. Players must throw “rock,” “paper,” or “scissors” in the air, and everyone plays at the same time. Rock decides the winner of each round beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock. This continues until there is only one person in the round, and they win.
14. Around the World
This is a very fun and easy game that your whole group will love! All you need is an open space large enough for everyone to run in circles. One person starts in the middle of the circle, and when someone yells stop, that person has to touch another camper’s foot with their hand before running around the circle again. All campers must remain in the same spot they were standing when the game started but can move their feet to touch another camper’s foot. If someone is not quick enough and touches a camper with their hand instead of their foot, they are out! The last person left wins!
15. Follow the Leader
If your group is large enough, this is a fun game to play. One person is the leader and starts with three to four different movements that they want everyone else to do along with them. This continues until everyone has their unique movement that they must follow and copy whatever the leader does. If anyone fails to copy the leader exactly, they are out. The last person left wins the game!
16. Last One Standing
Players are in a circle facing one another with their hands behind their backs. All players must keep their hands behind their backs at all times during the game. The leader begins by saying “back up,” and when he says “freeze,” everyone must drop to an inch off the ground, remain still, and keep their eyes closed. You can’t move or open your eyes until the leader says “freeze” again. When that happens, everyone must back up to an inch off the ground and stay still with their eyes closed until the next “freeze” is called. The last person left standing wins!
17. Hide & Seek
This is an old-fashioned favourite that everyone loves. Have the speaker/camp leader hide some small items around the camp, like a book or hair tie. The other players count to 20 and look for the items while the hider tries to sneak away without being found. Whoever finds all of the hidden items first wins!
18. Blind Man’s Bluff
This is a game where everyone hides (in a field or smaller space) while one person is “it.” When the leader says “ready, set, go,” the person who is it tries to find all the other players while blindfolded (or eyes closed). Once that person finds all of the other players a new person who is “it” is selected.
Tell Us Your Favourite Camp Games with No Equipment
Camping can be a great way to get away from the hectic life of today and enjoy nature. Whether you’re in charge of planning all the activities for your kids or friends, there are tons of games that don’t require any equipment! We’ve provided some examples to help you plan an awesome equipment-free camp game in this blog post. If none of these sounds like fun ideas, let us know what kind of game would work best with your group! We hope this article has given you plenty of inspiration and helped take some pressure off when deciding on which camping activity is right for everyone’s interests. Which one did you find most interesting? Let us know in the comments below.
