I'm about to hit you with a group game that 1. costs very little money to make 2. sounds a lot harder than it actually is. Ready? Okay!
This summer we will be playing Seize the City. It's modeled after my game Seize the Castle. The only thing changing here are the trivia questions will now be super hero themed and instead of a castle in the center, there will be a "city". Something akin to this:
Image borrowed from Etsy for visual aid purpose only. My teen volunteers will actually be making the city from scratch and it will look however they want it to :)
Because this game already exists in castle form, you will just have to use your imagination.
And because NO Thing is really original here is what started me on the path to Seize the Castle greatness: http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/homeschool-freedownloads/math-games/stormthecastle.php
The Game:
You will need:
Up to 20 players
2 mats with grids taped out on them
1 cardboard/foam core castle (or city, for summer)
Three giant inflatable dice OR make dice from three tissue boxes
(in a pinch, you could use real dice, but what fun is that?)
Trivia questions in assorted levels (Easy, medium, hard) until you
get a feel for your participants' trivia knowledge, it's best to OVER PREPARE!
You don't want to ask an 8 year old to come up with Stan Lee's middle name.
A stopwatch or somebody to keep an eye on the time.
The board is set up like zis:
Split the kids into 4 teams.
Team A defends (they can stand in the castle or sit on chairs)
Team B is on one grid
Team C is on the other; B and C are attacking the castle they are the BAD GUYS
Team D roll the dice- I know this sounds crazy but with my group of 8 to 12 year olds, they all wanted to be Team D the WHOLE time. I have giant inflatable dice, that's why.
How to Play:
Team D rolls the dice! (My Team D's worked out a complicated schedule of "who rolled the dice when", something to do with age and hair color, but everyone on Team D had tons of turns rolling, so it worked).
Whatever the two die add up to is how many spaces on the grid players on Team B and C will move forward IF they answer trivia questions correctly.
Here is a closeup of the grid:
Movement snakes upward so position A6 is the winning spot.
Players always begin on E1 and move to the right. Walk it out yourself. It works. I promise.
Both grids are identical and are dollar store tablecloths and masking tape. I cut the letters/numbers out of black construction paper and book taped them on.
If players answer correctly they move to the space they rolled. For example, if they rolled a six, they move six spots over on the grid (from E1 to E6). Let me clarify that this is one member of Team B and one member of Team C at a time and that they are both answering their own trivia questions. The goal here is to get all members of Team B and C on the grid.
After 5 moves, the attack is over and the defense begins.
Team A rolls the dice (Team D is probably exhausted by now anyway). Now they are using a normal die with numbers on it and another die with the letters A-E on five sides and "Lose a turn" on one.
Now: THINK BATTLESHIP!
Say Team A rolls a "c" and a "4", any kid standing on that place on EITHER grid is out and has to start all over again. If they roll "Lose a Turn", no one is out. If they roll a place on the grid in which no one is standing, no one is out.
After 5 rolls by Team A, attack begins again.
This goes on until someone on one grid or the other lands on the E6, in which case the castle has been lost and the attackers (both sides ) have won OR until 20 minutes is up, in which case the Defenders have outlasted the attackers and the castle is safe.
This sounds crazy complicated, but it's not. And it's fast, fast, fast. It's possible to fit three games in a one hour program. Just move the teams around each round (defenders are now rollers, attackers now defenders, etc). You can play with far fewer kids (make smaller teams or remove a grid). My only advice is to prepare three times as many trivia questions as you think you might need. Grab them from websites, board games, or ask your teen volunteers to write some.
Have fun!
This summer we will be playing Seize the City. It's modeled after my game Seize the Castle. The only thing changing here are the trivia questions will now be super hero themed and instead of a castle in the center, there will be a "city". Something akin to this:
Because this game already exists in castle form, you will just have to use your imagination.
And because NO Thing is really original here is what started me on the path to Seize the Castle greatness: http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/homeschool-freedownloads/math-games/stormthecastle.php
The Game:
You will need:
Up to 20 players
2 mats with grids taped out on them
1 cardboard/foam core castle (or city, for summer)
Three giant inflatable dice OR make dice from three tissue boxes
(in a pinch, you could use real dice, but what fun is that?)
Trivia questions in assorted levels (Easy, medium, hard) until you
get a feel for your participants' trivia knowledge, it's best to OVER PREPARE!
You don't want to ask an 8 year old to come up with Stan Lee's middle name.
A stopwatch or somebody to keep an eye on the time.
The board is set up like zis:
Team A defends (they can stand in the castle or sit on chairs)
Team B is on one grid
Team C is on the other; B and C are attacking the castle they are the BAD GUYS
Team D roll the dice- I know this sounds crazy but with my group of 8 to 12 year olds, they all wanted to be Team D the WHOLE time. I have giant inflatable dice, that's why.
Team D rolls the dice! (My Team D's worked out a complicated schedule of "who rolled the dice when", something to do with age and hair color, but everyone on Team D had tons of turns rolling, so it worked).
Whatever the two die add up to is how many spaces on the grid players on Team B and C will move forward IF they answer trivia questions correctly.
Here is a closeup of the grid:
Movement snakes upward so position A6 is the winning spot.Players always begin on E1 and move to the right. Walk it out yourself. It works. I promise.
Both grids are identical and are dollar store tablecloths and masking tape. I cut the letters/numbers out of black construction paper and book taped them on.
If players answer correctly they move to the space they rolled. For example, if they rolled a six, they move six spots over on the grid (from E1 to E6). Let me clarify that this is one member of Team B and one member of Team C at a time and that they are both answering their own trivia questions. The goal here is to get all members of Team B and C on the grid.
After 5 moves, the attack is over and the defense begins.
Team A rolls the dice (Team D is probably exhausted by now anyway). Now they are using a normal die with numbers on it and another die with the letters A-E on five sides and "Lose a turn" on one.
Now: THINK BATTLESHIP!
Say Team A rolls a "c" and a "4", any kid standing on that place on EITHER grid is out and has to start all over again. If they roll "Lose a Turn", no one is out. If they roll a place on the grid in which no one is standing, no one is out.
After 5 rolls by Team A, attack begins again.
This goes on until someone on one grid or the other lands on the E6, in which case the castle has been lost and the attackers (both sides ) have won OR until 20 minutes is up, in which case the Defenders have outlasted the attackers and the castle is safe.
This sounds crazy complicated, but it's not. And it's fast, fast, fast. It's possible to fit three games in a one hour program. Just move the teams around each round (defenders are now rollers, attackers now defenders, etc). You can play with far fewer kids (make smaller teams or remove a grid). My only advice is to prepare three times as many trivia questions as you think you might need. Grab them from websites, board games, or ask your teen volunteers to write some.
Have fun!
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