Introductory group activity, 5 and 6 yr olds

[Janeway]

I need a group activity for 5 and 6 yr olds. It is a small group (scouts) and all little boys but might have a girl or two. This should be super fun because we want the kids to want to actually join. Please give me ideas!

[katilac]

I have found Sit or Stand to be popular with all age groups, even high schoolers. It's called Sit or Stand because it's often done in a classroom that's too small to walk around in, but it's much better if they can actually move from place to place. 

Classic Sit or Stand would have the leader asking stuff like, Sit if you're a dog person, stand if you're a cat person. Sit for hip-hop, stand for rock music. Sit for a beach vacation, stand for the mountains. And so on, obviously geared to the age group. 

A fun variation is to have four points in the room marked with different colors (just a sign on the wall or whatever). 

Dogs or cats? If you're a dog person, go to Blue. If you're a cat person, got to Green. If you like both equally, go to Red. 

Siblings. If you have brothers AND sisters, go to Blue. If you have brothers only, go to Green; sisters only, go to Red. If you're an only child, go to Yellow. 

If you have a helper, tell the children they can raise their hands if they have an idea for a question, and the helper can go over and write it down without interrupting the game. With little ones like this, don't ask them to raise their hands and say the question - you will get a lot of raised hands followed by blank stares and giggles. 

It can be a mix of 'would you rather' questions (go to beach or mountains) and 'getting to know you' questions (do you have siblings, what grade are you in). 

Definitely have the questions written up ahead of time, it's harder to think of them on the spot than you'd imagine. You can google and find lists to choose from. 

[AmandaVT]

We do something similar in our school during a belonging unit - stand in a circle and have people step to the center of the circle when they answer yes or no to certain questions. It is good to help kids find similarities with kids they may not have thought themselves similar to and to appreciate differences. Whenever only 1 person is either in or out of the circle, we all cheer for their individuality.

If you have one of those gym parachutes, those are fun too - you can put small balls on top and play "popcorn", make a huge tent, all sorts of fun stuff!