Bringing the Co-operative Spirit Into Play
Dragon Train

Long summer days are here Ä the perfect time for the kids to race
off all their excess energy, then rush inside, panting and
sweating and dirty, for lemonade or a home-frozen popsicle.

This co-operative game needs space and lots of people, so get all
the kids in the co-op together.  You can call it what you like Ä
maybe Runaway Train or Hungry Dragon, depending on the sound
effects you want.  

For Runaway Train, make a 2- or 3-person train by holding onto
the waist of the kid in front of you and chugging around the
yard, chasing the other trains. Try to catch and link up to
another train. Eventually, you'll make one very long train. Now
keep running and try to make the engine catch the caboose.

Hungry Dragons are made the same way as Runaway Trains, but they
roar a lot.  Each time they eat another dragon, they grow.  At
the end, the giant dragon can try to catch its own tail.

For a slower version of Dragon Train, use beachballs instead of
arms to join the train cars.  Add some music (Puff the Magic
Dragon or She'll Be Comin  Round the Mountain).


- Maureen Woodall
from July 1994 VICHA Newsletter (Newsletter of the Vancouver
Island Co-operative Housing Association). 

Co-operative games allow everyone to take part without feeling
left out, without feeling like losers, and without hurting or
getting hurt. If you would like to share a co-operative game with
us, please e-mail Maureen Woodall: wj045@freenet.victoria.bc.ca