Whoosh!

Topic
- Movement & sports
Learning skills
- Attention & concentration
- Creative thinking
- Communication & expression
Activity type
- Energiser & ice breaker
- Physical distancing
Materials
- None
Age
- 0 - 5 years
- 6 - 11 years
- 12 - 14 years
- 15 - 17 years
- 18+ years
5 - 15 minutes
+5 players
Easy
Medium
Medium (classroom, square)

Contributors

Joke

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A step-by-step guide to play the game

Everyone stands in a circle. The game facilitator starts the game by holding an imaginary ball of energy, the Whoosh ball.

Pass the Whoosh ball around the circle in one direction by saying “Whoosh" and encourage participants to be really expressive and use their entire bodies.

When the Whoosh ball comes back to you, introduce the next way it moves: "Whoa!".

If you say "Whoa!" when your neighbour wants to pass the Whoosh ball to you and put your hands up, it reverses the direction of the Whoosh ball.

Play for a bit with "Whoosh" and "Whoa!". Then add "Zap".

By using "Zap" you can send the Whoosh ball to someone across the circle. "Zap" cannot be used to pass the Whoosh ball to your neighbours.

To "Zap", the player holding the Whoosh ball pretends to press a button on an imaginary remote control, aimed at the player he wants to send the Woosh ball to and says "Zap".

Play for a bit with "Whoosh", "Whoa!" and "Zap". Then add "Freak Out!".

If the player holding the Whoosh ball yells "Freak Out!" all players have to freak out (screaming and running around) and change places. The player who stated “Freak Out!” is still in possession of the Whoosh ball afterwards and passes it around the circle.

Ask the participants to come up with more variations or add some yourself (see "Variations"), to keep the game interesting.

Extra game information

Variations

The game can be played with eliminations.
You can transform the Whoosh ball into other things during the game, such as a baby, a heavy rock, a plume, etc. This adds an extra element of fun to the game, since the Whoosh ball is then passed on in different ways (holding the baby carefully, rolling the heavy rock on the ground, using a racket, etc.). Participants will come up with their own ways of transforming the Whoosh.
You can add extra rules yourself or ask the participants to come up with extra rules to keep the game varied, e.g.:

"Double Whoa!-ed Whoosh": If a player is "Whoa!"-ed on both sides, the Whoosh ball must be passed all the way around the circle without interruption until it returns to the player where it began.
You cannot use "Whoa!" when the Woosh is "Zap"-ed to you. You can only use "Whoa!" when it is "Woosh"-ed.
"Super Freak Out!": The person calling "Super Freak Out!" must include a mode of transportation to use during the Freak Out.
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