Hilfe, wir brauchen Wasser!

Water game

Fancy an exciting, refreshing and varied game for the next water day? Before the impending drought, the aim is to transport as much water as possible to the water reservoirs. But beware: slave traders are lurking along the way!

The game was played at the children's camp with seven to eleven-year-olds. In keeping with our camp theme, we combined various elements of the story of Joseph in this water game.

Defy the drought ...

The players' task is to transport as much water as possible from their base in Canaan to the water reservoir in Egypt.

In Canaan
The children are divided into groups. Before they can set off, the leader gives each child in their group a ranking card. Then they have to fill up their plastic cups (which are perforated at the bottom with three pinholes) in the stream.

With full cups, they must first cross the border (stream) and then cross the desert. Of course, they should not lose any water in the process! The children can cover the cup with their free hand (depending on the course of the game, not later).

In the desert...
... slave traders are lurking everywhere. The players in each group try to intercept them. They do this by spraying the children (with PET bottles filled with water). If they catch a child, it must stop.

If the child has a higher ranking card, it can continue its journey through the desert unperturbed and go straight to the water reservoir. There he pours the water that is still in his cup into the bucket provided. Afterwards, he returns to Canaan to fill the water cup again...

If the slave trader has the higher ranking card, the child is taken to the slave market by the trader.

At the slave market
The captured children must complete various tasks. If they complete the tasks well, they can buy their freedom. But the only way to freedom leads from Egypt across the rope bridge to Canaan. Once a child has bought their way out of the slave market and crossed the rope bridge to freedom, they go to their base, get a new cup and continue the game again.

Possible tasks at the slave market:

• build a tower with 28 sticks (log cabin style)
• Search for stones of a certain size
• Target throw with pine cones
• Push-ups
• do a favor for a leader
• tell a joke or sing a song
• write a greeting card
• write down a Bible verse, recite a learning verse

Playing time

The object of the game is to transport as much water as possible from the base in Canaan to the water reservoir intact. The winner is the group that has the most water in the reservoir at the end of the game (a period of time to be determined) and is therefore best prepared for the impending drought.

What you need to make the game a success:

Game preparation:

For leaders and children

• The girls and boys are divided into groups of approx. 12-16 people
• Each group needs enough plastic cups to carry water in. These must be prepared in advance: Three pinholes per cup
• Each group needs enough ranking cards
  - Josef (5) = beats everyone except 1
  - Ruben (4)
  - Judah
  - Issachar (2)
  - Benjamin (1) can only beat the 5
• The slave traders need their ranking cards (1-5)
• The slave traders each need a 1-liter PET bottle (the number of slave traders may vary depending on the number of children)

What needs to be marked out and set up:

• Base in Canaan
• Water reservoir in Egypt, with one bucket per group
• Desert through which the water must be transported
• Slave market with enough space for the various task posts Rope bridge from the slave market (in Egypt) over the stream (to Canaan), with all the necessary materials (at least three buckets)

A relatively flat, wooded area with a stream (or other body of water if necessary) is suitable for this game so that the action can really get going.

And then it started!

The preparations for the game took some time (one to two hours for two leaders), but the game went down extremely well with everyone!

The children ...

• enjoyed the refreshing cool-down when they were caught by a slave trader,
• were able to take a tactical approach,
• had fun crossing the rope bridge
• and enjoyed the fact that the big
• and little ones could reach the finish together.

• Content and picture: Forum Kind issue 4/09 pages 27 + 28. This terrain game is suitable for warm days, as the children have to transport water and overcome various challenges. © Copyright www.forum-kind.ch
• Author: David Bagdasarianz, youth group and camp leader