'Magical Mountain Goats' Session
Together, a small group of us at the Wild Strong course in England (October 2026) created this amazingly fun game that is completely emergent and a great laugh for participants! Below is the session plan along with a video from the course.
What kicked off the idea for this session was the use of hills in an activity. At the location we were at, there were varying degrees of steepness so we decided the groups could choose how much of a hill they wanted to be mountain goats on! :)
THE SET UP + RULES:
On flat ground, set up 2 parallel lines of cones 5 yards apart.
On a hill, set up 2 parallel lines of cones, one line at the bottom of the hill and the other a reasonable space apart for your group. Don't make it too short or too long.
Assign or let the group form themselves into groups of 3 or more people.
For 3 people: 1 person stands one cone, opposite them, 2 people stand. The first of 2 go to the coach for their magic and go first when the activity begins.
For 3+ people: divide the group as equally as you can between 2 opposite cones.
"You're all mountain goats but you've lost your magic! Send one person to the coach to *learn the 'transfer handshake' and get magic to share with your team!"
*You can allow the teams to come up with their own handshake / high 5 / foot tap to pass the magic during the game. To save time, you assign the handshake for all to use.
The magic-wielding person returns to their team and goes first.
Each person much cross to the opposite cone using a movement that no other team mate has used previously and 'pass the magic' via the handshake.
PHASE 1: FLAT GROUND
Starting on flat ground allows everyone to get used to the activity without added stress of the hill. It also builds team camaraderie and communication.
Run for 1-2 minutes. With groups bigger than 3, give enough time for each person to go 3 times.
As the facilitator, you're reminding attendees to use their imaginations. If a team seems to be stuck, use it as a coaching moment when you end and discuss possibilities together as a large group - let the group help the members that were stuck. **Any combination of: Forward, backwards, sideways. Rolling, 2 legs, 1 leg, crawling, cartwheeling, handstand walking (for advanced athletes). Change of speed (fast, slow).
Depending on how athletic your group is, move from here to PHASE 2: the hill.
Optional: ask the teams to decide which move was the most creative/fun/silly, and together they demonstrate for the entire group! Lots of cheers happen here!
PHASE 2: THE HILL
As a group, talk about how the hill is different and safety considerations. Things that were done on flat may not be feasible on a hill, yet the hill now affords entirely new movements to emerge! Exciting!
Move the groups to their new cones parallel from each other on the hill.
Again, balance the teams between the cones. Make clear who is going first.
The same rules apply: Do not copy any movement that a team mate has done previously (movements from the flat ground do not carry over!) and pass the magic!
Run for 1-2 minutes or however long it takes each person to go 3-4 times.
Optional: ask the teams to decide which move was the most creative/fun/silly, and together they demonstrate for the entire group! Lots of cheers happen here!
Depending on your group, now is the time to add in more restrictions or rules to change the goal of the activity. Add new constraints as long as you want or as long as attendees are laughing, loving it. As always, make sure to notice the energy of the group.
add friendly competition (when each person goes twice, sit down. First team to sit, wins)
add time constraint (can you all go twice before the minute runs out?)
this forces people to think about their movements in relation to how fast they can go doing them. Instead of rolling, they might run instead.
add objects to get from one side to another. Lots of options here:
No competition, simply move from one side to the other.
The first team to move to other side, wins.
The first team to move to other side and back, wins.
Pass an object at some point
