Statues (game)

Statues (or rather its Red light/Green light variant) being played at Hemlock Overlook Regional Park's Ropes course.

Statues, also called red light, green light (US) or grandmother's footsteps (UK), is a popular children's game, often played in Australia, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. How the game is played varies throughout different regions of the world.

General rules

1. A person starts out as the "Curator" and stands at the end of a field. Everyone else playing stands at the far end (distance depends upon playing area selected). The object of the game is for a "Statue" to tag the Curator, thereby becoming the Curator and resetting the game.
2. The Curator turns their back to the field, and the "Statues" attempt to race across and tag the Curator.
3. Whenever the Curator turns around, the Statues must freeze in position and hold that for as long as the Curator looks at them. The Curator can even walk around the Statues, examining them. However, the Curator needs to be careful – whenever his back is turned, Statues are free to move.
4. If a Statue is caught moving, they are sent back to the starting line to begin again (or thrown out of that round, whichever way is preferred.) Usually, the honesty of the Curator isn't enforced, since being a Statue is more desirable.

Variations

Red light/Green light (sometimes abbreviated as RLGL) is a variation of statue. The "it" person stands at one end of the playing field, with the rest of the players at the other end. "It" turns their back to the others and calls out "Green light!" or "1, 2, 3! Red Light! Green Light!" The players then run as fast as they can towards "it." At any time, "it" can face the players, calling out "Red light," and the others must freeze in place. If anyone fails to stop, they are out or must return to the starting line. Other variations include calling out "Yellow light" as a diversion, or where they must walk instead of run to "it." The first player to reach the person who is "it" wins and becomes "it" for the next round. In certain regions this game may be known as "sneak up on granny"; in this version the person who is "it" is the "granny," and does not call out "red light" or "green light".

Another variation of the Red light/Green light game was altered as a team building exercise. It follows RLGL rules with exception that if anybody moves the whole team must return to the starting line. Also the object of the game is for the players to "steal" an "object" positioned near the "it" person and return with it to the other side of the field. Once the "object" was moved it has to stay hidden from "it" who has several guesses as to who has it at the moment. If guessed successfully then the whole team must return to the starting line.

• 

  Red light

• 

  Green light

• 

  Guessing who is hiding the "object"

Further reading

• Howard Papush (2004). When's Recess?: Playing Your Way Through the Stresses of Life. Trafford Publishing. p. 63. ISBN 1-4120-3346-2. 

Children's games Clapping games "Down Down Baby" "Mary Mack" "Miss Susie" "Pease Porridge Hot" Guessing games Button, button, who's got the button? Hangman I spy Seven Up Twenty Questions Hand games Bloody knuckles Cat's cradle Hand-slap game Knucklebones Mercy Rock-paper-scissors String figures list Thumb war Hide-and-seek and tag Ante Over Capture the flag Four corners Kick the can Marco Polo Kho kho Baby games Fingerplays "Itsy Bitsy Spider" "Little Robin Redbreast" "This Little Piggy" Peekaboo Party games Hot potato Musical chairs Pin the tail on the donkey Simon Says Telephone/Chinese whispers Classroom and playground games British bulldogs Chinese jump rope Dodgeball Follow the leader Four square Hopscotch Hot lava Leapfrog Mother May I? Red Rover Skipping rope Double Dutch Statues Singing games and playground songs "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" Counting-out games Duck, duck, goose "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" "Tinker, Tailor" "Did You Ever See a Lassie?" "The Farmer in the Dell" "Here Comes an Old Soldier" "London Bridge" "The Muffin Man" "Mulberry Bush" "Pop Goes the Weasel" "Ring a Ring o' Roses" "See Saw Margery Daw" "Sea Lion Woman" Skipping-rope rhymes "Eeper Weeper" "Skip to My Lou" "The Song That Never Ends" Other Children's culture List of playground songs Street games Nursery rhymes (list) Video games