THE BATTLE OF THE HELMETS

Lots of newsprint or lots of magazines to peel the pages off of.

You make (or have the players make) a helmet for each player, i.e., a paper hat like a painter's hat, which you use to protect your head from paint. Each player must also have a sword: this can be easily constructed from moldable balloons or, alternatively, by preparing tubes with newspaper. A rectangular playing field is then drawn, on whose opposite short sides the two teams line up. As soon as the game starts, each player has the helmet on his head that he cannot touch and the sword in his hand. The free hand goes behind the back. Each player must try to hit their opponents' helmets with their sword to make them fall off. One can defend against attacks by dodging, running away or deflecting them with one's weapon. If a soldier loses his helmet (even by his own sudden movement) or if his sword bends or breaks, he sits on the spot. Every infraction is punished by the elimination of the one who committed it, as if he had lost his helmet.

The team that eliminates all opponents first.

Teamwork, balance, focus.