Getting To Know You
Early Elementary
Early elementary name games and other fun games
HOW TO PLAY ANY GAME
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Review the rules of the game
Play a practice round in ‘slow motion’
Start playing at regular speed
Quit while everyone is having a good time. If you do, they will be excited to play it
again. If you stop when everyone is bored, they won’t like the game again.
Name Train
Introduce game: Do you know the names of all the students in class? Let’s find out.
Need: Nothing
Directions: The leader starts in the center of a circle making train noises. The leader goes up to
each student and says, “hi, I’m ___” and shakes their hand. The kid responds with their name
and the leader asks them to ‘hop on!’ – the student stands behind the leader with their hands
on their shoulders making a train. With each introduction, the leader says over their shoulder
“it’s ____!” and each ‘train car’ repeats it. The last ‘train car’ in line says
“hop on, ____!” Eventually the whole group is in on the train, and everyone has invited
someone to hop on!
Names Of Students - Name Game
Introduce game: Do you know the names of all the students in class? Let’s find out.
Need: Nothing
Directions: Have students stand in two lines to form two teams that are facing each other. Tell
them that they must say their name when you touch their shoulder while you are standing
behind them so each student will hear everyone's name before the game starts. The teacher
then stands behind a student from team two and places their hands on a student's shoulders.
Have the first person in the line from team one tell you what the name of the student is that
you are standing behind and touching. If they are right, team one receives a point. Now have
the first player from team two names a player from team one and repeat. Go through both of
the team lines so every student has a turn.
Capture
Introduce game: Do you know the names of all the students in class? Let’s find out.
Need: Space and a blanket or sheet or a towel, can request from the office.
Directions: Split the group in half. Have two volunteers hold a blanket or groundsheet between
the two groups. Group members gather together, to plan and avoid being seen by the other
group. The group sends one member to crouch close to the blanket to play for the team. The
holders count "1, 2, 3" aloud then drop the blanket. Each contestant tries to say the other
person's name first. Whoever is the winner "captures" his/her opponent for the winner's team.
The blanket goes up again -- continue until one team captures all of the other team.
Beach Ball Toss
Introduce game: Let’s find out more about each other!
Need: Blow up beach ball(s), pump, music and questions on board.
Directions: Write the colors on the ball and a question for each color on board. Blow up beach
ball. Start music. You can either have kids pass the ball or they can bat it around while the
music play. Stop the music. Whoever is holding the ball must answer the question that goes with
the color his or her right thumb (you can pick whatever hand/finger you want).
Red: My favorite food
Blue: My best subject in school
White: A chore I have to do at home
Yellow: A prayer that I know
Green:
The Mass that we go to most often
Orange: The name of a pet or sibling
Disciples: Who Is Knocking At My Door?
Introduce game: Jesus knew his disciples very well. They were his friends. How well do you
know your friends?
Need: 1 chair.
Directions: The students sit in their own seats while the one who is “It” sits in a chair in front
of the room, with his back toward the other students. Someone is chosen by the teacher to go
up and knock on the back of the chair or floor. When “It” hears the knocking he asks, "Who is
knocking at my door?" The knocker answers in a disguised voice "It is I.” “It” has to guess who
the knocker was. The knocker then becomes “It”.
Good Shepherd - What Lamb Is Missing?
Introduce game: What does a shepherd do? What happens if one lamb is missing?
Need: Nothing
Directions: Students sit in a group on the floor. One student is “It” and must turn around and
hide their eyes. Another student is picked by the teacher and they go outside of the room. “It”
then must guess what lamb is missing. Whoever was the lost lamb is now “It”.
KOOSH BALL OR BEAN BAG
Materials to request: Bean Bags
Have the group sit or stand in a circle. (I think it is easier to stand.) Have one person
start the ball by saying the name of the person that they are throwing it to and then
tossing the ball. The person that received then chooses someone, says that person’s
name and then tosses the ball. Students should throw the ball to someone who has not
received the ball. This continues until everyone has gotten to receive and toss the ball.
With a younger group, the teacher may want to lead the activity. The teacher would toss
the ball to a student. Then have the student toss it back to the teacher. After a session
of this method, try the more advanced way of students tossing to other students.
Alternate
Use the bean bags and go outside if the weather cooperates. Students stand in a circle at
tossing distance. For the first round, when someone tosses the bean bag to a student, the
person has to tell his or her name. The second round is favorite food, the third round is
their favorite sport, etc.
More Advanced
Have the students toss the ball around the circle once remembering whom they tossed it
to.
Challenge One
Incorporate more balls into the toss one at a time. You can then challenge the students
by asking them how many balls they can handle without dropping.
Challenge Two
How fast can the students toss the ball around the circle? How can they make it quicker?
Let the students think this through. Students can usually toss the ball around much
quicker than they think. Let students do the time challenge at least 3 times. They
usually will get faster each time they do it. Kids get creative and will figure out to close
the circle and other creative methods.
Challenge Three
Combine the above two activities. Have the students toss 3 balls around and see how fast they
can accomplish the activity.
BALLOON GAME
Materials to request: Balloons, balloon pump
Blow up one balloon. The object of the game is to keep the balloon in the air. The
students stand in a circle and one person is chosen to start in the middle. The student in
the middle tosses the balloon in the air and calls out the name of another student. The
student who is named runs to the middle before the balloon hits the ground, bounces it
into the air again and calls out the name of another student. Continue until everyone
has been in the middle. Repeat if desired.
NOAH’S ARK
Preparation: On note cards or slips of paper, write the names or use a drawing of
animals on the Ark. You want students to wind up in pairs, so write 2 cards for each
animal. Keep in mind that students will act out the animal so keep it general.
Have students draw a card with an animal name. Students need to act out the animal
and look for someone else acting out the same animal. Once they have found that
person, they will need to introduce himself or herself to that student and ask them on
other question. Questions can be: What is your favorite animal? Do you have brothers
or sisters? What school do you go to? Or anything similar.
After everyone has found their partner, tell students they are now all on the Ark and the
only way they can get off is by introducing the other student.
M&M MIXER
Each person takes a handful of M&M’s. Ask them to NOT eat them yet. One at a time,
everyone tells something about himself or herself according to how many M&M’s they
have in their hands. For example, if someone picked 10 M&M’s, they would share 10
things.
For older students, make the game color coded, for example:
Light Brown Favorite place for vacation or would like to go
Dark Brown Favorite dessert
Orange
Favorite fruit or vegetable
Red
Something that was embarrassing or funny
Blue
Something sad
Green
Something that you love
Yellow
Something that scares you
NAME COUNTS
Have the group form a circle and choose someone to be in the middle. The person in the
middle points to anyone, yells “right” or “left,” then counts to five as quickly as
possible. (Counting must be understandable.) The person who has been pointed to must
yell the name of the person to his or her right or left, depending on what the person in
the middle said, before the one in the middle finishes counting to five. Otherwise, the
one pointed to will be “it.” The group should form a new circle, with individuals
changing places every so often.
CANDY GAME
The object of this game is to end up with all pieces of candy the same color. Give each
student a baggy with 5 to 7 pieces of candy. All bags should have the same number.
Good candies for this game are: gummy worms, jelly beans, M&M's, or jolly ranchers.
Each person needs to decide which color they will collect. The only way to trade candy
is to trade facts about one another.
For example: I'll trade you an orange for a red. To get the red: I grew up in New York
City. To get the orange: I have 10 pet ferrets.
Make sure you both give and get a candy and a fact. The first one to end up with all the candy
in the same color wins.
With older kids: have them introduce the others that they traded candy with, using the facts
that were shared.
ALPHABETICAL ROLL
After introducing yourself, create some chaos. Ask students to line up in alphabetical
order. You can choose by first, middle, or last name.
EITHER OR
Explain you will ask a question with two possible answers. With each option, pick a side
of the room, if they choose that option. The kids answer by moving to that side of the
room. For younger children, make questions about tastes and preferences.
Which do like? Coke or Pepsi? Would you rather have ice cream or cake? Would you like to
go a movie with just your mom or go to Six Flags with you whole family?
For older kids, start with tastes preferences but then ask questions that are more
difficult or allegorical.
In the Prodigal son parable, would you rather be the younger son who sins big or the
older son who won’t come into the party?
Would you rather be a poor person in a rich country or a rich person in a poor country?
Would you rather lose your sight or your ability to walk?
Would you rather talk or listen?
Are you more like a pond or an ocean?
Are you more like a rabbit or a lion?
Coke or Pepsi?
Icing or cake?
Chocolate or Vanilla?
BALLOON SWEEP GAME
Segue: We believe in Jesus. We say it at Mass when we acclaim Christ has died, Christ is
risen, Christ will come again.
As a church, our job is to take Jesus into the world – in everything we do. From getting
along with classmates to helping clean up. Who wants to help clean up?
Materials:
3 Balloons
1 Pump
3 Brooms
3 chairs
Balloon Sweep:
Arrange 3 teams in parallel lines. Place a balloon and a broom on the floor in front of
each team. Set a chair 6-10 feet in front of each team. At the signal, first in line has to
sweep the balloon around chair and back, giving broom to next player in line. First team
to complete the sweeping and sit down is the winner. The broom handle is not to come
in contact with the balloon.
Teaching Points:
Bringing Jesus to this activity
Did anyone hang back? Were they unhappy about this?
Did you follow the rules or try to cheat a bit?
Were you encouraging to your team members if they had problems?
Did you continue to cheer for the other teams even after you finished?
When we believe in Jesus
We are positive, cooperative.
We do play fair.
We do encourage our teammates.
We do want everyone to win.
REVIEW GAMES
PASS THE CHICKEN!
Introduce game: What do you know? Let’s find out.
Need: Rubber chicken (request from RE office)
In this game, nobody wants to hold the rubber chicken -- the game's only prop! To begin
the game, all students sit in a circle. Select one person to be It. That person holds the
rubber chicken. The teacher or a "caller" says to the person holding the chicken, "Name
the 7 sacraments. Pass the chicken!" As soon as the caller says, "Pass the chicken," the
person holding the chicken passes it to the right. Students quickly pass the chicken
around the circle. If it returns to the original holder before he or she can name
sacraments, the holder is still It. Otherwise, the person holding the chicken when It
finishes listing seven sacraments is the new It. You should prepare the topic cards for this
game in advance. Topics can relate to your curriculum or be general information topics.
The student who is It must name the number of items in the called-out category in order
to get rid of the dreaded chicken!
It is o.k. to mix up church and other topics
Some Suggested Topics (topics below are for all age groups)
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7 Sacraments
* 10 commandments
?# words in the Our Father (no repeats) or Sign of the Cross or Hail Mary, etc.
?# something you did in RE last week
* 3 names of the persons in the
Trinity
name of ?# priests at St. Ann
* ?# words that start with the letter
?
?# names of children in the class
?# colors in the rainbow
?# candy bars made with chocolate
* ?# blue items made by God
?# large bodies of water
* ?# brown items made by God
?# cities in Texas
* ?# food that has chocolate in it
?# brands of soda
?# types of ice cream
?# means whatever number you choose-- like 3 blue items made by God
(the sky, the ocean, eyes)
This game can be easily modified with topics and number of items required.
MAKE SURE TO RETURN THE RUBBER CHICKEN TO THE OFFICE!