Grandma's Footsteps

Age: 5 to adult
Players: Whole Group
Time: 10-15 minutes
Tags: #Concentration #Group Dynamics #Mime and movement

This classic playground game is perfect for exploring dramatic tension.

This game is great fun for children and grown-ups! One person (Grandma) faces a wall. The others go to the other end of the room. They creep up to Grandma and try to tap her on the shoulder. However, Grandma can turn around suddenly at any moment. If she sees someone moving, she points at them and that person must return to the start. No-one is allowed to move while she’s watching them.

Whoever manages to tap her on the shoulder becomes Grandma and the game starts again. It’s a good activity for cultivating concentration and patience – not to mention lots of cheating!

Director’s Notes

• Afterwards, discuss with the group which strategies were most successful.
• To make it more challenging, put some hats, wigs, scarves, shoes, handbags or other items of Grandma costume on the floor. Make it a rule that you have to put on a hat or an item of clothing before you tap Grandma on the shoulder.
• For an ‘advanced’ (tongue in cheek) group dynamics version with adults, try playing it without Grandma!