Overview: This Australian game (trams are the Aussies’ public mode of transportation) is a running game combining aspects of “Upset the Fruit Basket” and “Gorilla and the Trees.”
Logistics:
Ideal for ages 12-22.
Best played with 10-100 students.
No equipment needed.
Time: Takes 3-20 minutes.
How to Play ‘Trams’:
Best played outside or in a room (gym) where there is a lot of space. Divide the students into two equal teams. Send each team to the opposite ends of the room or field (about half a basketball court length away from each other with cones or lines to indicate how close they can get to the other team. Students in each team are to stand next to each other in a straight line facing the opposing team, but are not to go beyond the cones or lines.
Select two students (one from each team) to be in the middle between the two teams. Have every student think of a fruit, any fruit. You as the adult leader then will yell out the name of a single fruit if it is a large group of students. If it is a smaller group, you may want to yell out two or more names of fruits each time. All the students on the two teams who selected that fruit are to run across to the other team’s side. The two students in the middle are going to try to tag the students as the students run across the playing field. If a student is tagged by one of the two students in the middle of the room or field, they then will join those two students in the middle. You as the adult leader again will yell out another fruit or fruits. The students from each of the two teams who selected those fruits will again run across the room or field and again join the opposing team. All the students in the middle will again attempt to tag students who are running from one side of the room to the other. The object is to be the last person not in the middle.
Option one: You as the adult leader may want to write down the names of the fruits selected by students, having the students say their selection out loud.
Option two: If it is going a little slow once in a while, the adult leader can yell “All fruits run,” and all the remaining students on the two teams attempt to run across the middle without getting tagged.
