Category Mania Thumball

The Category Mania Thumball has 32 categories printed on the different panels of the ball. There are many games you can play with this ball, and here is one of our favorites:

Pantomime Shuffle

Circle the group and explain the rules from the inside the circle.

"This activity is sort of a combination between charades and hot potato. It starts with someone standing in the center of the circle. (Demonstrate this with you standing in the center of the circle.)  That person will toss this ball to someone in the circle.  (Do this.)  That person will catch the ball and look under their thumb to see what category they will be charading to the person in the middle (you!). After locking the category in their brain, they immediately get rid of the ball like a hot potato. The rest of the group will play hot potato (tossing the ball quickly around the circle) while the other pair is charading. As soon as the person in the middle guesses the category correctly, the pair will quickly do a high five and change places. Whoever has the ball (of the group that was playing hot potato) at the instant the pair does their high five becomes the new charader.  The person that was charading in the last round is the new person in the center of the circle."

To add extra excitement to the game, divide the whole group into smaller circles, give the activity a limited time (like 3 minutes) and challenge the teams to get the most high fives. If the energy is up, go for another round or two.

Yellow/Blue, 32 panels. 4 inch

Generate words in categories. Develop vocabulary, word finding and memory skills. Beneficial way to organize the brain. Play with or without time limits to modify challenge level.