Statues (game)


Statues is a popular children's game, often played in different countries. 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. 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 the Curator's back is turned, Statues are allowed to move.
  4. If a Statue is caught moving, they are sent back to the starting line to begin again and if a statue gets sent back they must go all the way back. Usually, the honesty of the Curator is not enforced, since being a Statue is more desirable.

    Variations

Red Light/Green Light

Red Light/Green Light is a variation of statue. The title of the game refers to the colors of a traffic light. 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!" The others then run as fast as they can towards "it." At any time, "it" can call out "Red Light!" and turn to face the others; and the others must freeze in place. If anyone fails to stop, they are out or must return to the starting line. The first player to reach the person who is "it" wins and becomes "it" for the next round. In another variation, when the "it" person calls out "Yellow Light!" the other players must slowly approach the "it" person.
In the Dutch version, instead of "Green light!" the "it" person sings in a slow voice "Annemaria", followed by a quick and loud "Koekkoek!" when he/she turns around. "Koekkoek!" is also the Dutch equivalent of a Peek-a-boo game played with babies, where the parents hide their face with their hands, then reveal themselves whilst saying "Peek-a-boo!".

Grandmother's Footsteps

In this version the Curator is the "Granny" and does not call out anything before facing the players.

Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh is a variation of Statues where the person playing "Pooh" usually leans against a wall and has to shout "1, 2, 3, Winnie the Pooh, stop!" before turning to face the players. Whenever a player tags Pooh they have to run so it doesn't catch them. If they manage to go back to the wall where Pooh was leaning before it catches them, they become Pooh and the game starts over. In this variation the role of Pooh is more desirable.

Team building exercise

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 after the red light 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" is 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.

Other names