These are some of our favourite bear games:
Firstly, me and Ted’s favourite game: Tickle Bear! This is a game for six or more players. You will also need a relatively big space and a lot of paperback books/cardboard boxes/pillows. One person has to be the tickler. Everyone stands in a circle around the tickler, holding 3 cardboard boxes/books. Younger players should probably get the pillows because it is easier. (But, as Jack insistently pointed out, if you want to be mean, which you hopefully don’t, you can give them the heaviest books). All that you have to do is all the players apart from the tickler balance an object on their head. The tickler has to tickle each person in turn. If the object falls off, they are out. If it stays on, they must add an extra object, and the game continues until one person is left. They are the winner, and get to be the tickler next time!
Next, another great game: Robot Wars!
This is Jack’s favourite game because he enjoys pretend battles and getting messy. You need at least 6 players. You will also need a large outdoor area, cardboard boxes, a few coloured markers, masking tape, bottle caps, a pair of scissors and cups of preferably muddy water. First split into teams, then nominate one person in each team to be the robot; they must be prepared to get wet and uncomfortable. After that, each team will have 15 minutes to transform your volunteer into a colourful cardboard masterpiece (you may want to use the bottle caps as buttons or special functions on your robot). Once that is complete, prepare your robot for battle. Set out an array of cups of muddy water on the ground, and blindfold your opponent’s robot. (Remember, they must blindfold your robot too, to make it fair). Finally, the robots (still blindfolded) will attempt to throw cups of water at other players. The rest of the team must support and cheer on the robot. The one who ends up the muddiest loses! (Bonus points for best robot creativity, so you may win from having an extraordinary design!)