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Weekly Tribes November: Thumb Wars

 

Here is another contribution from Brad Corbett, a teacher at Forest Trail Elementary in Austin, TX.

Thumb Wars Energizer

  1. Start in Community Circle on the floor seated.
  2. Every other person sitting backwards (away for the center of the circle).
  3. Join hands to play Thumb War with your fingers curled against your partner’s curled fingers, and your thumbs straight up.
  4. The entire Community Circle will say “1…2…3…4… I declare a thumb war.” With everyone’s hands joined you are playing two thumb wars simultaneously.  My friend Kathy add this to the intro chant:  5-6-7-8, try to keep your thumbs straight!  Bow (thumbs) Kiss (thumb touch lightly) Go!  (begin)
  5. To win you must pin another’s thumb down for 3 seconds. Wait till everyone has finished their wars.
  6. If you win against both your partners, then you move to the center and join hands with the other wins. (AS you are joining hands, with this new group, it can be difficult to coordinate so that everyone has joined hands correctly to play the game. Try to have every other person sitting backwards)
  7. Repeat directions 3-7 until there are 2 or 3 finalists.
  8. Have the 2 or 3 finalists play the final round until there is a winner.

(Note: As a male teacher with a bunch of 5th graders, it’s important that I play, but I make sure I never make it to the end as a finalist because what’s the fun in the teacher winning every time.)

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