Keys
Keeper of the Keys involves strategy, collaboration, and the use of multiple senses to solve a collective challenge. This strategy creates opportunities to generate dialogue about individual and collective group strategy and to practice engaging more of the five senses.
Invite the group to create a standing circle around a stool or chair. Choose a player to be “Keeper of the Keys” and invite them to sit on the seat with a set of keys underneath. The “Keeper” wears a blindfold or keeps their eyes closed. Invite all other players to sit in a circle (real or imagined) 5-7 feet from the seat with the keys. Begin the game. Players can sneak forward and attempt to get the keys without the “Keeper” hearing them. If the “Keeper” hears someone, they raise a hand and point at where they heard the sound. If the “Keeper” points at a player trying to steal the keys, that person must go back to the outer circle and begin again. The game continues until someone steals the keys and brings them back to the outer circle without the “Keeper” knowing. Once the keys are taken, all players pretend they have the keys behind their back. The center person then takes off the blindfold and gets three guesses to figure out who has taken the keys. Repeat with a new person as the “Keeper.”
- What tactics did you try out in order to retrieve the keys?
- What tactics seemed to work? What made those tactics effective?
- In what other spaces or in which other times do we need to think strategically?
- Think about how we can work together to capture and fool the keeper of the keys.
- What other strategies can we use to get possession of the keys?
- How might we work together to get the keys?
- Reading/Writing or Social Studies: Have students play this game in role as someone else from a real or imagined story. The Keeper of the Keys and the keys themselves can represent characters or ideas from a variety of content areas. The Keeper might be a character from a literary story or history that wants to hold on to power in some form or another. The keys might represent key resources or ideas that others want to get to take or share.
New Games Foundation