source: www.youthwork-practice.com | 2000 Games, Devotions, Themes, Ideas and more for Youth Work
only for private using

War of the buttons – games with buttons

Over time collect buttons from your household, or if a shirt/jacket is about to be thrown away take the buttons off and collect them. For this games-evening plenty of buttons in all different varieties are required.

  1. Transporting 3x buttons

    Foot: buttons are placed on the foot and have to be passed on to the neighbouring person’s foot. Do not use the hands to help!

    Mouth: Pass buttons on from mouth to mouth using a tooth pick. Consequently it is essential that the buttons have correspondingly large/small holes for this.

    Finger or hand: The button is placed on the finger (hand). The neighbouring person places their finger on top of the button, both turn their hands the other way around and the first player removes his hand. The neighbouring player passes the button on in this way

  1. Sewing on buttons

    Always an activity for outdoor games. Within 60 (120) seconds sew as many buttons as possible onto a piece of material.

  2. Threading buttons

    Buttons are strung together. Who will string together the most buttons within 60 seconds? To make things equal ensure that all of the buttons/button holes are the same size.

  3. Stacking buttons

    Buttons are stacked on top of one another. As the buttons are not all identical this task is not as easy as it may seem. The button tower will quickly come into difficulty.

  4. Button flicking

    At a distance of 40-80 cm attempt to flick buttons towards a target or into a box. The target could have varying points on it. The more skilful the flicking the more points that can be achieved.

  5. Flicking buttons off the table

    By shoving/flicking, buttons are moved from the table into containers on the floor (tubs etc.). The containers should be approximately 50-100 cm from the table.

  6. Button rolling

    Several types of buttons are ideal for rolling. Try to roll a button as far as possible on a smooth-surfaced floor.

  7. Pitching pennies (buttons)

    If pitching pennies works with cent pieces or bottle caps, then it will work with buttons! The buttons are played towards a wall, at a distance of 2-3 metres. The goal is to get your button as close to the wall as possible. The winner receives all the buttons of that round.

    Alternative: the button can first be played against the wall, in which they first touch the wall, rebound off and then come to rest.

  1. Blowing buttons

    Who can blow a button the furthest? Or, buttons are placed in a demarcated field, and have to be blown out of this field. How much time will be required? Or the button is placed in a coffee cup and has to be blown out of it.

Buttons- Kim games:

  1. Memorise & Describe

    Approximately 20 different buttons are shown and then covered up. Who will remember the buttons and be able to precisely describe them? (Colour, holes, size)

  2. Guessing by observation

    In a glass jar there are between 200-300 buttons. How many buttons are in the jar?

  3. Guessing by hearing

    In a non-see through container there are 5-10 buttons. By shaking the container the approximate number of buttons has to be guessed.

  4. Guessing by hearing

    Behind a wall, a handful of buttons (5-10) are dropped on the floor. Can the group standing in front of the wall guess how many buttons fell on the floor? During this game there needs to be total silence. Additionally the buttons should be different (plastic buttons, metal buttons, small and large buttons etc.) to create different sounds on making impact with the floor.

  5. Sorting buttons through touch

    Whilst blind-folded, sort buttons according to their size and number of holes.

  6. Button exchange

    Underneath three plastic containers (can be different coloured) place a different button. To begin with, the buttons underneath each container should be shown. Then push the containers around to mix them up until you think that the observer no longer remembers which button is under which container. If the opponent still manages to guess where each button is they take over the game. If they do not guess correctly they should try guessing again.

  7. Air button

    Take a button from the table, throw it up in the air and catch it again. Do the same a second time, but this time pick up another button whilst the first is up in the air. Then throw both buttons up in the air and quickly pick up a third button. Throw all three buttons into the air and catch them again. Now throw up two buttons, return one to the table and catch the two in the air. Then throw up one button, place the other back onto the table and to finish put the last button back onto the table.

  8. Button animals

    Using buttons, ropes and pipe cleaners you can create animals. The main body is made from the pipe cleaners or rope. These are then decorated with buttons to create the animal shapes. A worm/dog… is very quick to make.

  9. Calculations with buttons

    Materials: Five different coloured buttons
    Each button has a different value
    E.g. red button = 5
    Blue button= 7
    Black button =9
    Yellow button = 3
    Green button = 11
    Participants have to remember the value of each button. 10 buttons are shown one after the other. The players have to add the total value of the buttons shown.

[ © www.youthwork-practice.com | 2000 Games and Ideas for Youth Work ]


youthwork-practice.com - 2000 Games and Ideas for Youth Work
picture youthwork picture youthwork picture youthwork picture youthwork picture youthwork picture youthwork