Banana Joe | An evening with bananas

GAME 1: Banana dance

Aim: A relay race game where the players must pass the banana along the row.

Length: 5 minutes

Material: Bananas, stools

Game:

Split the group into equal sized teams and sit them down in the four corners of a square (4 teams) or in a triangle (3 teams) etc. One of the teams always makes up one side of the square/triangle. The stool is placed in the middle. The player sitting on the far right hand side receives a banana. The relay begins on your signal. The player jumps up, runs to the stool and then to the left end of the row. In the meantime the players have all moved one place to the right so that the left hand place is free - this is the runner's seat. Once seated, he hands the banana to the right. It is passed along until it reaches the new first person. He now stands up, runs to the stool etc. Each team does the same and carries on until the first player is back in his original seat and has the banana. He doesn't run again but eats the banana now. The first team to complete the relay and eat the banana has won.

GAME 3: Banana race

Aim: The teams sit in a circle and must pass a banana around the circle with their feet.

Length: 5 minutes

Material: Bananas

Game:

Everyone takes off their shoes and sits with their group in a circle on the floor. On your signal the players start passing the banana around the circle. Agree on a time limit and tell the leaders to make sure that the stations are performed orderly. The teams receive one point for each station but lose a point if a hand is used or if the banana is dropped. Once the time is up, the leaders give the players their points scores – the team with the most points wins.

INFO... Banana pusher

Aim: The banana is passed around a circle. The notes are pushed into slits in the bananas.

Length: 5 minutes

Material: News, bananas, knives and music

Preparation:

Write a few instructions down which relate to your announcements,. e.g.:

• Sing "Happy Birthday" for ...;
• Shake hands with everyone who is here for the first time today and say “welcome”!;
• But some penalties must also be written down: Eat a banana without using any hands;
• Walk around the circle balancing a banana on your head;
• Eat a banana which is passed around the circle etc.
• ...
• ...
• (You should have a total of around 10 instructions.)

Cut slits into 2-3 bananas with a knife.

Game:

Everyone sits in a circle. Put some music on and push the first task into one of the bananas. The banana should be passed around the circle until the music stops. The player now holding the banana must take out the instruction and read it out. If the message is an announcement, explain it if required. If it is a penalty, the person must perform the penalty task. Then you put the next note in the banana and carry on with the game until all announcements and penalties have been performed.

GAME 6: Banana relay

Aim: The teams must complete different tasks with bananas in the shortest time possible.

Length: 5 minutes

Material: Instructions, bags, bananas

Preparation:

Write different instructions on single pieces of paper one for each player in a team such as:

• Drop a banana under your clothes from collar to ankle.
• Hold two bananas like horns on your head and act like a bull.
• Tickle a players bare feet with a banana.
• Throw a banana to the ceiling and catch it again.
• Sit on a banana and squash it.
• Walk out of the room with a banana between your knees.
• Balance a banana on your finger for 5 seconds.

Prepare a copy of the tasks for each team and place them in a bag in the middle of the room. The teams should sit at the side of the room. Allocate a bag to each team. Give each team four bananas.

Game:

One player from each team runs one after the other to their bag and picks out a task then runs back to their team. The player reads out the task and performs it. One leader per team should make sure that this is done correctly. The first team to complete the tasks has won.

GO... Banana sketch

Length: 10 minutes

Material: Sketch (see below), bananas, bags, costumes (if required)

Preparation:

You choose the leaders who are going to play the different roles in advance. They should practice beforehand. Four people from the group can however play the roles of A, B, C and D while the leader plays the role R (this must be practised as well).

Event:

The sketch works best when the “Input” follows.

GAME 8: Banana ball

Aim: The teams must score goals by throwing a banana into a bucket which is guarded by a goal keeper.

Length: 5-10 minutes

Material: Bucket, stools, bananas, whistles

Game:

Split the group into two equal sized teams who each choose a goal keeper. The keeper will be placed on a stool holding a bucket on the opposite side from his team. Throw one or two green bananas into the room – the players may:

• Not run with the banana
• Not touch the player in possession of the banana
• Only pass the banana on with their hands

A goal counts when a banana lands in a bucket allocated to the team's goal keeper. A leader should keep a record of the points score. Keep a few reserve bananas ready in case one or two get squashed. More than one banana in the game means more action!

CRUNCH II: Banana Split

Aim: All of the Rockies make the longest banana split in the world (approx. 8m long) and eat it up

Length: 45 minutes

Material: Bananas, vanilla ice-cream, chocolate sauce, cream, aluminium foil and a gutter.

Event:

If you look time required you will see that you will have to leave out some games to carry out this very attractive event. You should send out invitations or make a press announcement beforehand. This is a fantastic opportunity to invite new people. The gutter is cleaned and lined with aluminium foil. On the signal, the Rockies fill the gutter with ice-cream, bananas, cream and chocolate sauce. A photo is taken at the end and everything is eaten up.