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Horses, Knights, and Cavaliers

Play this fun game and test your teamwork and your listening skills. Will you be victorious in this medieval game?

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Plan

  • Who will be the person in charge of calling the game?
  • How will you make sure that everyone is being safe during this game?

Do

  • Participants spread out around the play area. They walk around aimlessly until the facilitator gives a command. When a command is given, players find a partner and do the required action. There are three commands:
    • "Knights": Players find a partner and stand back-to-back.
    • "Cavaliers": One player kneels with one knee in front of them (like a wedding proposal), the other player sits on their knee.
    • "Horses": One player gets down on their hands and knees, the other player stands astride them as if they were riding a horse.
  • Players hold the position. The last pair to complete the action are eliminated. Make sure to practice before playing a real round.

Review

  • What was your favourite part of this game?
  • What would you change next time?
  • What did you find that worked or didn’t work for you to be successful?

Keep it Simple

  • Rather than finding a new partner each time, have people choose partners for the whole game. This means you won’t have to move and find a partner each time, just take the position.

Take it Further

  • Add “switch!” as a command. Switch can only be called after one of the other positions has been called (e.g., knights, horses or cavaliers). Players must swap places with their partner (e.g., if you were the horse, you need to stand astride over your partner who is now the horse). Like the rest of the game, the last pair to switch is eliminated.