Articles

Parachute Games: Fun for Everyone

Some people still think when I mention parachute games that it refers to jumping out of an airplane and doing tricks in the air while descending to the earth. It does not (that’s sky diving). Most people nowadays know that playing parachute games means doing different games with a parachute ON THE GROUND. Besides being attractive – a play parachute creates a spectacle of color and movement – and fun, there are many excellent reasons for introducing and participating in parachute play. A large parachute, 24 -26 feet, can involve a group about the size of school class. Smaller...

Everyone won at Sheffield schools dispute resolution event

Pupil dispute resolvers from Sheffield schools celebrated their year and got to try out collaborative New Games at a special event on Friday 19th January. The CRESST project provides conflict resolution training to schools and children of all ages, ultimately enabling older pupils to become trained peer mediators who can step in and help when disputes arise at playtimes and breaks. New Games are fun, co-operative games that everyone can play and that encourage participants to collaborate and communicate rather than compete against one another, even when there is competition. This 12th Annual...

Earthball. Earthball? Earthball!

Many are the times I’ve said very definitely that New Games are not about equipment, they’re about people interacting and having fun together. New Games DO NOT REQUIRE equipment. We can have a great time with little or no equipment. No balls, bats, hoops, or anything. This works well, especially with a group that is assembled for a purpose. However, there are times when a piece of eye catching equipment can be very useful. Enter the Earthball. When at a festival or exposition or some place where there is in no way a captive audience, something eye catching is needed. At these times, it...

The Return of Cooperative New Games (Part 3) – Earthball

In part 3 I talked about the emergence of the game ‘Slaughter’, an energetic game that included the use of 4 balls. Another game that came out of that day was competition Earthball, which was similar to soccer, except that the ball was 6 feet in diameter, canvas and rubber, and painted like a globe. After the ball was inflated, without choosing teams Stewart announced that “There are two kinds of people in the world: those who want to push the Earth over the row of flags at that end of the field, and those who want to push it over the fence at the other end. Go to it.” There...

Cooperative Games for Adults

Adults playing silly games? That can’t be right. Oh, but it is! Not only can adults play cooperative New Games, they do so joyfully. How can this be so? Aren’t games for kids? As we grow up, games become increasingly organized and competitive. Fewer kids can keep up with the competition and they drop out of organized sport and games. They keep dropping out until their late teens when less than 10% are participating. By the age of 14, only 24% of boys and 12% of girls in the UK have reached the standard level of fitness. Most people miss out on the pure joy of playing because...

Christmas Youth Group Games

New Games are one answer Cooperative New Games are perfect for Christmas youth group games. Size or athleticism do not matter in New Games: all that’s needed is a desire to play. Therefore, not only can all ages and ability levels play the games, which will mean you don’t have to separate into various groups to participate in the games, but games can be adapted to Christmas themes and stories. Christmas stories adapted to New Games For instance, you can take the story of the 3 wise men and use the game of Sun Monarch with a little tweaking. In this game, one person starts off in front...