Musical statues (musical bumps)

Age

For toddlers and above.

There are many variations to this game (detailed below) which make it suitable for a large range of ages. It encourages kids to be active as well as placing them in a competitive environment where they will learn to follow rules and to play fairly.

Number of participants

This game is most effective and the most fun when there are larger groups of children playing, say 7 to 8 or more. This makes it perfect for children’s birthday parties or even family events and holiday celebrations to keep the kids entertained and the adults active too!

Duration of game

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

Materials/equipment

•     Music
•     A device to play the music e.g. a CD player or iPod dock, depending on your source of music
•     An assortment of small prizes, such as stickers, a small colouring set, key rings, bouncy balls

Cost

The cost of this game is very minimal. Kids usually have so much fun running around and dancing to the music that prizes can be optional. If you do choose to have prizes, you can choose to have either just the one for the main winner or an additional second and third prize. These prizes will be your total cost for the game.

Preparation

The only preparation required for this game is to set your music up!

• Make sure you have enough songs to last the whole game, this will depend on how many children will be playing
• The prizes don’t need to be wrapped up or anything, just place them in a bag or out of the view of the kids playing

How to play

1. Gather the players in a group
2. Play some music and instruct the kids to dance around the room, the more energetic and enthusiastic, the better!
3. The person playing the music (yourself, another adult or older sibling/relative) will then pause the music and instruct the kids to freeze
4. The person playing the music must then decide if anyone is moving too much or froze too late
5.  If so, those kids are out
6. The music starts again and the process is repeated until there is only one child left, the winner!

Tips

• If the group of kids playing are a bit younger, you can have them sit on their bottoms as soon as the music stops rather than freeze if they do not understand freezing or might have trouble with their balance. In this case, the last person to sit down would be out. This variation of the game is called musical bumps.
• If you are concerned about the kids being too competitive or getting upset about being ‘out’, an alternative would be to have them dance in a separate room or just apart from those left in the game.
• Another alternative would be just to do it in rounds of stopping music so that the child who freezes or sits down first each time  the music stops is the winner. This gives the child multiple opportunities to improve their skills.