Variations:

• In some regions, the nonsense word “zop” is often replaced with “zub.”

• At any point, the players can break from the circle and move freely about the room. They must still maintain the passing of focus from one person to the next.

• Players can match and copy the manner in which they receive focus. Basically, you imitate the way “zip, zap or zop” was said to you as you pass it on to someone else.

• This can also be played as an elimination game where everyone who says a word out of order (ie. saying “Zop” instead of “Zip”) or takes too long is eliminated from the game till there is only one left.

"Lap, Lap, Clap, Snap!"

• Type: Warm-up.

• Purpose:  Practice knowing everyone’s names and rhythm coordination.

• Procedure:

• 1.  Sit on the floor in a big circle.

• 2.  Have everyone go around introducing their names.

• 3.  Teach the kids the main pattern, “Lap, Lap, Clap, Snap”. This is done by patting one’s legs with both hands twice in a row, clapping in front of you, and then snapping with both hands. Do it several times until everyone in the circle is comfortable with the rhythm.

• 4.  Then the game begins. The leader starts the action: “Lap, Lap, Clap, Snap.”  But instead of saying “Snap”, the leader then calls out the name of a person in the “snap”

• 5.  That person must then continue the pattern, calling out a different name in the place of the “snap”.

• For example:

• LEADER: Lap, Lap, Clap Sasha! SASHA:  Lap, Lap, Clap, John! JOHN: Lap, Lap, Clap, Linda! etc.

• 6.  The trick is to never break the rhythm.  This will probably take some practice at first.  Practice until everyone gets comfortable with the pattern.

• 7.  After awhile, consider beginning an “elimination mode”. Any time the rhythm is broken, the person who broke the rhythm is out. The person sitting next to the one who missed should start the rhythm again.

• 8.  When everyone gets comfortable with the game, increase the fun by speeding up the rhythm.

Whoosh!

Type:  Warm-Up.

Procedure:

1.  Everybody stands in a circle.

2.  Start with one person, who waves both hands to his/her neighbor, saying `Whoosh`.

3.  The next person passes the Whoosh to his neighbor, and that way the Whoosh is passed around the circle.

4.  There’s 4 other sounds/movements that can be made:

5.  Whoa!: indicated by saying “whoa”, and holding up both hands in a stop motion. A “Whoa” changes the direction of the Whoosh.

6.  Zap”: instead of passing the Whoosh to your neighbor, it gets zapped to the person you point to with your hands clapped together. The receiver continues with either a Whoosh to his neighbor, or another Zap to another person. A “Whoa” after a Zap returns to the Zapper.

7.  Groooooooovelicious`: for this one the whole group bends down and up again in a kinda groovy way, all saying Groooooooovelicious. Afterwards, the person who started the Groovelicious sets the Whoosh in motion again, in any direction.

8.  “Freakout”: indicated by waving both hands in the air. Everybody starts screaming and moves to the center of the circle. When everybody`s freaked out a new circle is formed, and the starter of the Freakout sets the Whoosh in motion again.