In addition to having fun, playing games while canoeing can lead to increased paddling and maneuvering skills, as well as more teamwork, trust, leadership, communication and entertainment. Games also enhance one’s canoe-related observational and concentration abilities. An important consideration, however, is how competitive, cooperative or creative the games should be, given various proficiencies, health conditions or ages of those with you.
How many of the following compilation of canoe games have you tried?
Animals Galore:
One person says the name of an animal, then the next person says the name of another animal, but the second animal’s name has to start with the last letter of the first animal’s spelling. [Example: First person says deer; second person says rabbit; third person says turtle.] Keep taking turns until no other animals can be thought of. Subsequent animal names have to be the actual name of an animal, not just adjectives describing an animal, unless you want to add that rule for variety.
Basketball:
Canoes are targeted as baskets. Multiple balls can be going during play. Tennis balls or floating items are used by teams to try to score baskets in another canoe. A certain number of points can be established as the goal, and play continues as teams try to earn the set point level. One variation is that participants sit with a foot or hand dangling in the water, requiring extra balance to shoot the balls.
Birthday Line Up:
Participants maneuver their canoes into a line of birthday order by either the front or rear person in the vessel. This activity is done while making forward progress and encourages canoe handling skills and group interaction. To switch the sequence, you can go by the calendar order of the month of the actual birth dates, or from oldest to youngest, or youngest to oldest.
Blind Trust:
Blindfold each paddler and have another person within each canoe direct the paddler. If you have two or more canoes, you can race with blindfolded paddlers. Both games hone communication skills. For safety reasons, you may want to perform this game in calm water only, however.
Blowing in the Wind:
Gather up a number of brightly painted pool floats, ping-pong balls or other buoyant objects and throw them off the edge of a pier. Canoeists compete to gather the most objects. Alternately, one canoe team at a time can pick up all the floats, and see who can gather the items most quickly.
Gunwales:
In gunwale tipping, both people stand on the gunwales of the same canoe, facing each other from the opposite side. Both people shake and tip the canoe to spill the other into the water. The last one to fall in wins. Be careful to protect ankles, shins and feet during these tumbles into the water, as slipping at certain angles could result in bruises or scrapes.
Hockey:
An inflated paddle float or a beach ball with air and a little water is used. Teams consist of an even number of canoes. Teams must work together to pass the “puck.”
I Spy:
One person begins by describing certain traits of something seen in the distance, while the others have to guess what the object is. Keep the clues vague or tricky for an added challenge.
One Fish, Two Fish:
Participants must work together to transport an object, while keeping the object hidden from the guesser. If the guesser correctly identifies who has the object, the game begins again.
Racing:
Two or more canoe teams traveling in tandem can race canoes without using paddles, only allowing passengers to paddle by hand.
With four or more canoes, divide them into teams of at least two boats, and no more than four boats each. Each team links their canoes together with rope and has to travel faster as a unit than the other teams. Teams who become disconnected are disqualified.
Another race can be had by participants paddling out and around a spotter boat, buoy or to the shore across the water and then back again. Time the event.
Scenery Sums:
Count the number of birds, fish, certain types of trees or anything else that pops up regularly along the route. Keep score by having one team or a person count only the selected objects on the left side of the canoe, while the other team only counts those on the right side of the canoe.
Pick a certain object to be “taboo,” such as a wooden log. If the team on the right side sees a log, they can wipe out the count amassed by the left side team by declaring, “Log wipe out!” The team on the left can do the same to the team on the right. Distracting the other team to overlook items to count, or to miss the taboo item, adds a level of mischief and cunning.
Sharks and Minnows:
Guides establish a perimeter for play, and the hungry shark(s) try to make contact with all the other canoes. High speed ramming is illegal.
Simon Says:
One canoeist is the leader that others must follow. Anyone who follows the leader before or without the leader saying, “Simon Says,” is disqualified.
Stand Up:
Participants work on their balance and group trust, standing up in the canoes, trying not to topple over.
Swap It:
Every canoe has a certain number of some object, such as sunglasses, rocks or water shoes. All canoes must interface and trade items without any vessel contact. If approaching a canoe and it touches, the teams must interface with a different team before trying to swap items again.
Switch Seats:
Try to change positions inside a canoe without tipping over.
Tag:
Canoeists traveling in groups can play a couple versions of the popular game “tag.” Use a foam or other lightweight ball to play canoe ball tag. One person becomes “it” and has to throw the ball at someone else in a different canoe. That person becomes “it,” and then throws the ball at someone else. When the ball lands in the water, it is up to the last person who touched it, or who was hit by it, to retrieve it and keep the game going.
“Bow tag” can be done by paddlers touching the bow of another canoe with their paddles — but without having their own bow touched!
Tea Party:
Flip a canoe upside down, trapping an air bubble underneath. Two or more people then swim under and hold on to the gunwales. They can stay beneath the canoe, talking and holding onto the wales to stay in place, to witness what it’s like inside the air bubble. For an easier version, tip the canoe in shallow water and duck under to get in. For safety reasons, don’t stay under any canoe too long — setting a 90-second time limit is a good idea.
Three Persons/One Boat:
After landing on shore, leave some canoes behind and get into three-person teams. Each team must decide where to put the extra person, paddle out to a designated place, all switch places, make ac repair free estimate and return to shore. See who can complete the task the fastest, or without getting wet.
Tug of War:
Three or four people each get in two canoes. One person in each canoe holds an end of a rope extended to the other canoe while the others paddle frantically. The first canoe to pull the other a certain distance wins the game. Alternately, the rope can be tied to the end of both canoes to allow everyone to paddle, and when off the canoe check out FreakyVegas Bonus
