Recreation Leader Middle & High School PAGE 19 Good Ideas for the Recreation Leader We all like to have fun with people, but it seems that some have more fun than others. WHY? Some people have better social and recreation skills than others. They participate in more activities, do them better, and as a result, have more fun!! As a Recreation Leader, it is your responsibility to help everyone participate and have fun during recreation time at your local 4-H Club meeting. Be prepared. Your activity should not be longer than 5 minutes. Here are some helpful hints: Use the activities in this guide as suggestions. You may find ideas in other books. Select paper and pencil activities so that everyone can participate. Crossword puzzles, word search games, and other brain teasers are suggestions for the kind of activities you could use. In some settings, you can do more active team games. Ask your teacher to help you make copies of your activity several days before your 4-H Club meeting. Get everyone s attention before starting the activity. Tell the group the name of the activity; speak loud and clear, (but not too fast!) when giving necessary instructions. Be patient when members do not understand and have questions. Always be prepared to lead an activity at a moment s notice! Recreation will usually be the last item at the meeting, but the 4-H leaders may ask you to lead your activity at another time during the meeting. Have two activities selected in case one is not successful. Radiate enthusiasm and sense of humor! Act as if you re having lots of fun! Develop the spirit of play!
PAGE 20 Recreation Games Puzzles, Problems, and Brain Teasers 1. Is it legal in Tennessee for a man to marry his widow s sister? 2. Does England have a Fourth of July? 3. How many birthdays does the average man have? 4. Why can t a man who lives in East Tennessee be buried west of the Mississippi River? 5. If you had only one match to light a lamp, an oil heater and some kindling wood, which would you light first? 6. Some months have 30 days, some have 31. How many have 28? 7. If the doctor gave you three pills and told you to take one every halfhour, how long would they last you? 8. What four words appear on every piece of US money? 9. How many players are on a baseball team? How many outs are in an inning? 10. Two US coins total 55 cents. One is not a nickel. What are the two coins? 11. A farmer had 17 sheep, all but nine died. How many did he have left? 12. Divide 30 by ½. What is the answer? 13. Two people played five games of checkers and each player won the same number of games. How do you figure that out? 14. If you take two apples from three apples, how many do you have? 15. How many animals of each species did Moses take aboard the ark? 16. A woman gives a beggar 50 cents. The woman is the beggar s sister, but the beggar is not the woman s brother. How come?
More Recreation Games PAGE 21 Word Puzzles iii LE VEL 1 BAN ANA ALL MYSELF S D A E H MAN BOARD T O U C H CYCLE CYCLE CYCLE CHAIR TURN THE LIGHT P O U R
PAGE 22 Recreation Games What Do These Things Have in Common? 1. cow baby shoe 2. doctor s office post office music 3. river person cave Quick Change Artist - Leaders need to be observant - pay attention to details - in order to do the best job. Ask someone to stand up in front of the room - this is IT. IT is asked to go outside the room and make a very slight change in their appearance. When they come back, see if anyone can observe what has changed. (Examples: unbutton a button, hair behind the ears, turn up collar, roll sleeve up or down, tuck shirt in or out, tie shoes differently - but don t share these ideas with the rest of the class, only with IT. Whoever guesses can be IT next. Play the game two or three times.
Recreation Games PAGE 23 Can You Find the Five Differences in EACH of the Following Pictures? Make copies of this half of the page for this activity or show it on the overhead.. Who s the Chief? Designate one student to go out of the room. Everyone else gets in a circle and a second person is designated as the chief. Everyone will copy the actions of the chief. For example, tugging on your ear, swinging your arms, crossing your arms, standing on one foot, scratching your head, etc., until they change actions then everyone continues to follow along. As the actions change, the person outside has come in and tries to guess who is the chief. Try to keep the chief under wraps. Directions: Place the numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in the circles. Use each number only once and we you are finished each side s three numbers must equal the same number. Magic Pyramid You can actually draw this diagram on the whiteboard. Students can copy on paper to complete the puzzle.
PAGE 24 Recreation Game Answers Word Puzzles: Circles Under the Eyes, Split Level, Hole in One, Banana Split, All by Myself, Heads Up, Man Overboard, Touch Down, Tricycle, High Chair, Turn on the Light, Down Pour Puzzles, Problems, and Brain Teasers: 1. He can t, he s dead 2. Yes, but it s not a holiday 3. One 4. He s still alive 5. The match 6. All 12 7. One hour 8. United States of America 9. Nine, six 10. A fifty-cent piece and a five-cent piece (one is not a nickel) 11. Nine 12. 60 13. They did not play each other 14. two 15. None, it was Noah! 16. The beggar is the woman s sister Can You Find the Differences? What do these things have in common? They all have tongues They all have scales They all have a mouth Magic Pyramid 6 Happy Hippo 1. No Shoelaces on (1) Shoe 2. Star on Hats are different 3. Left Nostril 4. One Tooth 5. Button on Coat 4 2 1 3 5 Diva Dove 1. Position of the Eyes 2. Strap on Left Shoulder 3. Belly Button 4. One vs. Two Colored Stripes on Right Leg 5. Toes on Left Foot Pirate Pete 1. Hairs on Right Arm 2. Red Dot 3. Left Earring 4. Two vs Three Teeth 5. Stripes on Left Sock These ideas for recreation are suggestions. Feel free to come up with your own just remember to plan for about 5-7 minutes.