Page 16 - Focus Artesia Fall 2020 | GAME ON!

ball. Once that person has the
Statue & Tourist ball, they yell, “SPUD!” Then
EQUIPMENT: 1 FLASHLIGHT | PLAYERS: 2+ everyone must freeze. The
person with the ball must
When the sun sets and it's hit one of the players
finally cool enough to play outside in with the ball. If
southeastern New Mexico, grab a flashlight and they do, the hit
try this fun game. The “tourist” who is viewing person is "it." If
the statue garden gets a flashlight. All the other players they miss, the thrower of the
must stay as still as a statue: they are allowed to move ball is “it” for the next round.
when the light is off, but as soon as the tourist turns the
flashlight on, they must stay still. When the flashlight is
on the statue, the tourist tries to make the statue giggle or Racing
wiggle. If they do, they join the tourist’s team and go tour EQUIPMENT: NONE | PLAYERS: 2+
for the next statue. The last statue standing wins. Good, old-fashioned racing is not only great exercise,
but a little competition makes for a great time too! Foot
Capture the Flag races, bike races, scooter races, three-legged races, relay
EQUIPMENT: 2 OBJECTS TO REPRESENT THE FLAG races, the options are only limited to your equipment
PLAYERS: TWO TEAMS OF 3+ and creativity
A long-time favorite of summer camps and Scouts,
capture the flag is a game rooted in history. The flag
was hugely important to its defenders; when a flag was
captured during a battle, it signified defeat. The idea of
Capture the Flag is simple: grab an object in “enemy”
territory and bring it back to your side. The team
that does that first, wins. If you’re tagged in enemy
territory, you’re frozen and no longer able to help your
team.

Blob Tag
EQUIPMENT: NONE | PLAYERS: 3+ Freeze Dance
EQUIPMENT: MUSIC PLAYER | PLAYERS: 2+
A fun variation of classic tag! When you’re tagged, you
join hands with “it” and have to try to tag others as a Choose one person to be in charge of the music. When
group. The more people who are tagged, the wilder the the music starts, everyone else dances, the crazier the
chain of “it” becomes! better. When the music stops, the dancers must freeze in
their position. Anyone caught moving after that is out.
Outdoor Sardines Keep playing until one person is left.
EQUIPMENT: NONE | PLAYERS: 3+
Keep Away
This game is a modified hide-and-seek: one person EQUIPMENT: 1 OBJECT TO THROW | PLAYERS: 3
hides while the other players cover their eyes. The goal
is to find the hidden person and hide alongside them, My three sons employ this form of “entertainment” when
making the space more and more cramped — like a can two of them band together to torture the odd man out.
of sardines. The object of the game is to keep the person in the middle
from intercepting the ball. Only play if desperate, or if
two of the three players are short.
Spud
EQUIPMENT: BALL | PLAYERS: 4+

Every player gets a number and
crowds around the person who is “it.”
“It” then tosses the ball straight up The changing of the seasons brings the
and the other players run away. As the feeling of new beginnings. Even though fall in
ball reaches the top of its toss, “it” calls out Artesia will still be hot, COVID-19 will still be
the number of one of the other players and lingering, and schools will still be distanced,
runs away too. The player whose number we can infuse our lives with a little fun! Head
was called must run back and catch the
out to the backyard and play.

16 FOCUS ON ARTESIA | FALL 2020