What's the time, Mr Wolf?
One person is the wolf with their back turned. Everyone else creeps closer by asking the time, until the wolf says dinner time and chases.
Scouts · How to play What time is it, Mr Wolf? · the whole video · Adult and child playing · watch on YouTube
- You need
- Nothing at all
- Takes
- Five or ten minutes
- Energy
- Lively, loud
How to start
You are the wolf first. Stand at one end with your back to them. They stand at the other end and call together: what's the time, Mr Wolf? Answer with an hour. Three o'clock means they take three steps towards you. Keep answering, keep your back turned, and let them get close. Then turn round and shout dinner time, and chase them back to the start. Whoever you catch is the wolf next.
What tends to happen
The tension before dinner time is the whole game, and children will ask for it again immediately. Four-year-olds often want to be caught. Five and six-year-olds start working out that small numbers are safer, which is the first sign they are playing the game rather than just following it.
If it is not working
If the chase is too much, drop it: say dinner time and simply stand up, so the only thing that happens is everyone runs back laughing. If there is only one child, let them be the wolf most of the time.