Human Anagrams
- Number of Players: 52 - must be groups of 26
- Objective: to spell out words
- Activity Level: Medium
- Equipment: 105 paper plates or sheets of construction paper,
This activity is done in teams. You can have as many teams as you want but each team must have 26 members (so each person gets a letter but you can make it so that it works for your group size). Before the program takes place, make up a set of alphabets on the paper plates or construction paper, one letter on each. You will need a set of letters for each team. Next, make up a list of questions in which the answers must be spelled. It is best to have answers where there are no repeating letters, but if you wish, it can be done with repeating letters. The team that does so first wins the round. Your list should have at least 20 questions. When the campers assemble for the activity, have each team sit along a wall or in a designated spot. Give the captain of each team the set of letter to distribute to their team members. Remind them that the vowels are, by their nature, used more frequently and it would be wise to give them to campers who are alert. All the letters must be distributed, one to each camper, unless there are few campers than letters. In that case, some campers get two letters. If both letters being held by one person are needed for an answer, he must pass one of the letters quickly to a teammate. If there are more campers than letters, them campers will need to work together and switch off. Explain to everyone that when a question is read, the campers holding the letters used to spell out the answer must stand up in front of their team with their backs to their team and arrange themselves in proper order, so that the answer can be read by the judge facing them. One counselor from each team may coach campers while they are arranging themselves. If you are using questions with repeating letters in the answers, the person holding the letter that is repeated must run back and forth between the two spots in witch the letter occurs. You should have a judge for each team. Give each judge a whistle so that as soon as a judge sees a correct answer, he can blow his whistle. In this way, it makes it much easier to determine which team was first and you will avoid protests.
Scoring: Assign a point value for each question, say 10 points, and keep track of which team was first for each question. The team with the highest cumulative score is the winner. If you are using this event as part of an on-going activity, you can declare a 2nd and 3rd place.
Hints
? If you are using this activity with younger campers, use questions with easy to spell answers and be sure to have a counselor coaching each team.
? Make up questions whose answers will eventually use all the letters of the alphabet.
? Use questions on many different topics ? geography, music, athletics, people?s names in camp, etc.
? A variation on this activity is number anagrams. This is best done with a smaller group. Give each team member a numeral, then ask mathematical questions. The solution must be shown correctly with the campers holding the numerals in proper order.
? It is very important to have one judge per team, as it is nearly impossible for one person to watch more than one group arranging their letters. The whistle system is practically foolproof. Of course, be sure the judges know the answer and have the correct spelling.
