This is a great indoor recess game for a group of any size aged first grade and up. In this game, players test their reactions, listening abilities, and conflict resolution skills. Players follow a sequence of instructions, called out by a leader, and ultimately race to an objective when prompted.
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Cone
6-10 Players
Grades 1-2
Cones
5-10 Minutes
Goal
The students who put their hand on top of the cone first are the most successful.
Before You Start
- Gather the necessary equipment (cones).
- Review RoShamBo as conflict resolution tool for ties.
- Set volume expectations.
Set Up
- Create a straight line of cones (one cone for every two players in the group).
- On either side of the cones, create two lines of players. Each cone should sit on the ground in between a pair of students who are facing each other.
How to Play
- To start the game, the leader calls out one of three instructions
- “Head,” “Shoulders,” or “Knees”
- Players respond by placing both hands on the named body part
- The leader continues to call out one of the three instructions in a varying order, before giving the last instruction, “Cone!”
- Players then race to grab the cone, the first player to grab the cone is more successful.
- Note: if players are struggling to safely take the cone (e.g. accidental scratching), simply instruct players to place their hand on top of the cone.
- If players grab the cone at the same time, they can play RoShamBo to decide who was first.
- To encourage new partners and relationships, after calling “Cone” the leader can have players rotate by asking everyone from one line to move down one cone to face a new partner. The player at the end of the line would then move to the front.
Variations
- Players can play either stand or sitting with legs crossed.
- Create your own instructions to replace head, shoulder, and knee instructions.
- Speed up the pace that students receive instructions.