Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 561c3582f262f39a5dc5ee060d0e7413e056cc9cebc3e723749bb6d17b7499d7

# Cat On Yer Head

Seated participants pass the invisible roles of Cat and Mouse across the room by calling their animal name and tapping an adjacent person on the shoulder. The Cat tries to chase down and tag the Mouse within a 30-second countdown.

**Time:** 10 minutes. UWT suggested duration for 3 to 4 fast rounds plus setup and quick debrief.
**People:** 10 to 24. Whole group seated in close proximity (rows or a tight circle)

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Re-energize a seated audience through fast-paced physical passing and directional calling.
**Use it when:** Use this as a quick energizer when an audience has been seated in rows or clusters for a long stretch and needs physical movement and vocal play.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the space is too spread out for seated people to reach one another, in sound-sensitive environments, or when physical proximity causes distress.

## Materials and tools

- 1 stopwatch or countdown timer visible to the facilitator

## Before participants arrive

1. Arrange participants in closely spaced chairs or rows so that every person can easily reach a neighbor's shoulder without standing up.

## Say this to open

We are going to play a rapid seated chase called Cat On Yer Head. Two roles will travel across the room: the Cat and the Mouse. If you have the role, you must continuously call out your animal name and pass it to a neighbor by tapping them on the shoulder. The Cat has thirty seconds to catch the Mouse.

## How to run it

### 1. Set roles and demonstrate passing (3 minutes)

Explain the rules. Choose two volunteers seated far apart, such as opposite ends of the room. Designate one as Cat and the other as Mouse. Explain that the person holding each role must continuously shout 'CAT' or 'MOUSE' out loud. Passing happens when the current holder taps an immediate seated neighbor on the shoulder, transferring the role immediately. Run a 10-second silent demonstration where the role moves across two people to confirm understanding.

### 2. Run round one (2 minutes)

Start the timer for 30 seconds and call 'Go!' The Cat and Mouse immediately begin shouting their names and passing the role to any neighbor within reach in any direction. If the Cat taps the person currently holding the Mouse before 30 seconds expires, the Cat wins. If the Mouse avoids capture until time expires, the Mouse wins. Stop the clock immediately upon tag or time.

### 3. Run rounds two and three (3 minutes)

Pick two new starting participants from different spots. Run two more 30-second rounds. Remind players that the token roles can move forward, backward, or sideways, and passing back to a previous person is allowed.

### 4. Debrief and transition (2 minutes)

Gather attention back to the front. Ask 1 or 2 reflective questions to the whole room, taking 2 quick answers before returning to the main agenda.


## Debrief questions

- What made it easy or hard to track where the Cat was headed?
- How did your section decide whether to route the Mouse away or block the Cat?

**Finished output:** Completion of three 30-second chase rounds resulting in either a Cat tag or a Mouse survival.

## Remote

This exact physical tapping game cannot run online without changing its core mechanic. For a remote setting, run a distinct named verbal alternative: 'Word Relay Tag.' Participants sit on camera with a visible grid. The starting Cat and Mouse unmute and say their role plus the name of another attendee to pass the tag across the screen within 30 seconds.

## Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended because physical shoulder tapping requires physical co-location. If attempted, remote members can act as timekeepers, spotters, or referees calling out when tags occur, while seated in-person members carry out the physical chase.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may pass without touching by pointing clearly at an adjacent neighbor and naming them instead of tapping the shoulder.
- Anyone who prefers not to be tagged or shout can cross their arms to signal a pass, and neighbors will skip them in the chain.
- Individuals sensitive to sudden shouting may wear ear defenders or opt into the visual timekeeper role.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants tap neighbors too hard in the rush of the game.**

Pause the round. Explicitly demonstrate a light, two-finger shoulder tap and remind everyone that heavy contact ends the round immediately.

**Both roles get trapped passing back and forth between the same two people.**

Add a temporary rule for the next round that a player cannot pass back to the person who just tagged them.


## Terms used here

- Cat and Mouse: The two roving roles that pass from person to person through vocal calls and shoulder taps.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Playmeo collection, where it is attributed to Mark Collard.

Retained the core Playmeo mechanic of seated passing, vocal chanting of 'CAT' and 'MOUSE', and the 30-second tag limit. Added clear non-contact access options (pointing/calling names), standard time boxing across 4 steps, safety tap guidelines, and a remote verbal relay alternative.

[Playmeo](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/fun-large-group-games/cat-on-yer-head)

[Playmeo](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/fun-large-group-games/cat-on-yer-head/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/hilarious-energetic-group-game-for-auditoriums-cat-on-yer-head/