Sardines Game

Sardines Game

The best way to think of the Sardines game is as a “reverse Hide and Seek.” Sardines is a very simple game, and is suitable for all types of terrain as it can be played outdoors as well as indoors. The goal of the game is simple: not to be the last to look for the others. Sardines gives a fresh perspective on the classic game of Hide and Seek. It’s the perfect game to introduce if you have a big group as everyone can get involved in some way.

Game sheet

• number of players: from 4 players
• ages: 5+
• materials: none
• Played indoors or outdoors
• Play time: 25 min

How to play Sardines Game

Gather everyone together and explain the rules and boundaries of the game.
This can be played two different ways.

You draw lots to see who the sardine is. The sardine must go into a hiding spot while the other players count to 50 out loud with their eyes closed.When they have counted to 50, the players go their separate ways to find the sardine.
The first one to find the hider must hide with him! And so on…
The goal is obviously not to be spotted, even if they are packed like sardines!
The last player becomes the sardine for the next game.

So you have one person hide, and the rest of the group looks for him or her. Then as each person finds the hider, they hide with him or her as well. So that the last person to find the hiding spot finds a group of kids in one hiding place.

The other way to play is have one child to be the seeker and every one else hides together until the seeker finds them. I you have 4 players, three hide. If you have a large party, you probably want to have separate groups where one person is still the seeker, but when he or she finds the first group, all the group help look for the other groups.

So you could have one group hiding with one seeker, many groups hiding with an equal number of seekers, or many groups hiding with one seeker or as explained in the first way, you can have a group of kids looking for the hider.

The other choices are when you have more than one hiding group, the first groups to be found can split up and hide again with different groups. If there is more than one seeker, they can try to help the other seekers find their respective hiding groups.

As you would expect, the more players the larger the area you’ll need to play.

The educational advantages of the game

• It generates fun atmospher
• It develops teamwork
• Sardines provides good practice in counting and keeping quiet
• Play in community: social activity
• Promotes rule-following: ability to follow instructions.

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