This game is fun to play inside on a rainy or cold day, even though you can play it outside too. All the

players sit in a circle. and the game can start! It is also great to get to know and learn the names of each other.

What do you need?
For the simplest form of this game, you only need yourself and a chair. To be exact, as many chairs as participants, plus one more. If you want to try out some variations of the game, you might also need some paper and pens or musical instruments.

Who plays?
It is a nice game to play with preschoolers as well as older children. You can make it interesting with some variations and use it as a simple game to get to know each other.
To make the game work, it is best to play it with at least 10 people. The more players, the better.

How to play “1,2,3… Come to Me”
First, you are going to have to build a circle with your chairs. Be aware that there must be one chair more than there are players in the game. The player who is sitting to the left of the free chair starts the game. He says: ”1,2,3 (name of another child), come to me.” Thereby, the player tabs on the free chair next to him. The named child asks back how it should come to the free chair. Now, the first child can name an animal. This animal has to be imitated by the called player on the way to the new chair. For example, if the chosen player has to pantomime an elephant, he or she stomps and trumpets on the way to the empty chair before sitting down. After that, there should be a new empty chair. The left neighbor of this empty chair repeats the procedure and calls a different player to the chair. This goes on until every player has imitated an animal once, or even longer if you still enjoy playing the game.

Variations
If you like music, the following variation might be the right one for you. All the players get a musical instrument like small hand drums, rattles, triangles, timbrels or anything you have on hand. The basic concept of the game remains the same. The player next to the empty chair starts with “1,2,3…Come to me”. Then a small sentence gets added to this. If you want the player with the triangle to come to the empty chair, you also have to say “Come to Me with your triangle”. It is very simple. Now, the player with the triangle walks to the new chair while he plays his instrument, so the triangle. It continues the same way as explained before.
Another variation involves the use of wrong names. Every player gets a piece of paper with a name of another player on it. Just write down all the names of the children and randomly give it to them. Like this, nobody will know who has which name and who will be their new seatmate.