Gladiator

By Lord Brian Goodheart

General type: Physical, Boffer fighting and chasing

Adult Involvement: Heavy involvement including a lot of running

Props: A cloak or blanket and a few boffer weapons.

Premise:  The adult uses the cloak to fend off attacks by the children.

Number of Children: Two to five.

Give out boffer weapons to the kids. Adult gets the cloak/blanket to use.  The children try to kill the adult with their boffer weapons.  If they score a good hit (or a few simple ones) the adult should act out a death. Then the game restarts so play can continue.

The adult in turn is using the cloak as a net. When the cloak is being used while being held onto, I recommending restricting the cloak fighting role to adults. Below are a few basic ways to use the cloak.

To trip the children, hold onto one end and snap the other out skimming the top of the grass. This will catch the children at their ankles or knees.  They will likely slowly fall down onto their knees with time to put their hands up.  If you do catch a child do not tug on the cloak as you could turn the slow fall into something fast and painful.

You can also hold the cloak out much like a bull fighter does. This gives you something to block or catch the boffer weapons with.  If you get a boffer weapon you can fight with it yourself. The children will have more fun if you drop it after a few moments. Of course the dropped weapon acts like bait to draw the children to where you can catch them.

If you act quickly you could also toss the cloak over a child’s head to catch them in the net. A good toss will flutter the cloak out. You can wrestle the child to the ground. When catching a child in the cloak it is recommended to let go of the cloak.  This reduces the chance of a strong impact or an accidental pull that could topple the child.

One more way to use the cloak is to chase after the children. You can toss the cloak over them, much like in Hunter’s Cloak, to catch a child. Again be sure to let go of the cloak when catching a child in it.

Anyone caught in the cloak is to be released after a few seconds. Likewise if the children “kill” the adult they also return to play in a few moments.

Cloak and Drag

By Lord Brian Goodheart

General type: Physical, Chasing

Adult Involvement: Physically intense

Props: A strong cloak.

Premise:  The children chase your cloak and try to hold on.

Number of Children: Two to four, smaller children only.

This game is suitable for entertaining up to three or four *small* children. The limitation on child size will quickly become obvious. The adult involved will also get quite a workout.

Take a cloak and put it on the adult. Make sure it is a strong and sturdy cloak. If a cloak pin is involved make sure to turn it over in the cloak material a couple times. To avoid accidental stabbings of anyone involved.

A “White Knuckle Death Grip” on the cloak closure, whether by pin or hand, is highly encouraged. Okay now for the game. The Children try to grab and hold onto the cloak. The fun comes from the adult dodging, weaving and dragging the cloak around. With a simple twist the cloak is sent spreading out over a wide arc giving the kids something to chase over a long distance. By doing such cloak swirls the adult will use a lot less energy then the kids. The adult can also walk or jog making the small children run at their top speed to catch up. You can tease the children by turning around just as they are about to catch up. This spins the cloak and you can pass it right over their heads.

It can also happen that a child could sit down on the cloak. Often you can actually pull the child along on the ground. A sudden tug or arcing turn though will usually get the cloak free.

If the children do get a solid grip don’t use a forceful pull. Instead either lower yourself to the ground letting the kids pile up on you in victory then restart. Or you can spin yourself and the cloak. Be careful to watch the balance the children have.

Playing (and inventing) this at Murder Melee in the Meadow I found that I could safely manage about three to four children on the cloak at once. More than that and it became difficult to avoid collisions or overloading the cloak.