Sleeping lions

Age

For toddlers and above.

This is a simple game aimed to calm the kids down after a great day of exciting activities. (It’s also great half-way through a party if you want to have 5 minutes of quiet while you monitor this game and have a cuppa!) If the kids are a bit younger, you can be a bit less strict with the rules to accomodate for them.

Number of participants

This game can be played with any number of kids, but is most effective with more than 3 or 4.

Duration of game

The game lasts until there is only one child left ‘in’ and therefore the length is dependent upon how many children are playing.

How to play

1. To begin, have all the children lie down on the floor and instruct them to lie as still and as quietly as possible, pretending to be ‘sleeping lions’
2. Then, either yourself or another adult walk around the group making sure no one is moving or making a sound
3. The kid or kids who are moving or making the most sound are ‘out’
4. The last child left on the ground is the winner

Cost

• Free!
• If you wish, a prize can be awarded for the lion who sleeps the longest to encourage the kids to stay still for longer. This prize would be the only cost for the game.

Alternatives on how to play

• For younger children (e.g. toddlers), this game may work better in rounds as they probably won’t be able to stay still for too long. So when they all start stirring, the one who was the most quiet and still is the winner.
• As an alternative, as each child becomes ‘out’, rather than sitting to the side they could join in walking around to make sure no one else is moving or making a sound.
• For older children (and if you are not as concerned with calming the kids down!), those who are walking amongst the lions could try to encourage them to move or make sound by trying to make them laugh for example.