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YLT-Zoom

Zoom! is a fun game to play to get everyone’s energy up.

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Plan

  • Where will you play Zoom!?  
  • How long will you take to play? 
  • How will you decide when the game is over?  
  • Who will lead the game? 

Do

  • To play, stand in a big circle.  
  • One player starts with a ball—an imaginary ball of energy.  
  • The player who’s starting the game can play with the ball a little before passing it on, but be careful! 
  • The ball is pure energy, and it can be pretty hard to control! 
  • When the first player has the ball more or less under control, he or she passes it to the person next to him or her in the circle and says, “Zoom!” If you start to feel tired as the ball goes around the circle, you can refuse the ball by saying “Zorch.” 
  • The ball goes back to the player trying to pass it, and he or she needs to pass it back the other way around the circle. 
  • A player can also “Swish!” the ball, passing it across the circle.  
  • A “Swish!” cannot be refused (zorched), and it arrives with a lot of energy. A player receiving a “Swish!” will usually whoop loudly and have a lot of trouble handling the ball before being able to “Zoom!” it or “Swish!” it. 

Review

  • What do you know now that you did not know before?  
  • What was your favourite part of this game?  
  • Who did a really great job of handling the ball of energy? How so? 
  • How did you feel at the end of the game?  
  • How did you know it was time to stop playing?  
  • What happened during the game?  
  • How was communication important in this game? 

Keep it Simple

Start off by playing the game with only a few basic rules – maybe even just doing a few rounds of “Zoom” so that everyone can get a feel for the game. As people get better at the game, add in the other rules. 

Take it Further

Add your own rules! Agree on your own creative rules to add to Zoom!