Played in pairs.
Stand facing each other, about arms length apart. Legs slightly spread for balance. Arms up. Elbows bent. Hands palms out.
On a mutually acknowledged signal, lean towards each other without bending, until hands meet. Then push against each other’s hands so that both players spring back to the upright position.
It’s kinda like vertical push-ups.
Continue until you are filled with confidence at your mutual abilities. Then step back a bit and try again.
And so on, a bit further apart each time, until you’ve gone far enough, and you both are amazed at the combined length to which you can go in the name of fun.
Or you fall down.
I frequently play a game called Stand-Off, before or after Human Spring. It’s a competitive game, similar, at least in the position players take, to Human Spring. And it frequently makes people laugh. Like Human Spring. To play Stand Off, two players stand facing each other, about half-arm’s-length apart. They raise their hands so their palms face each other – but are far enough apart so that they don’t touch. Their feet are together. The object of the game is to cause the other player to lose balance enough to move one of her feet. It’s important to stress this point, so that people don’t think that they are trying to push each other or force each other. It’s all about relaxing your hands just enough so that you make the other player over reach.
Playing the two of them, one after the other, gives people a great opportunity to think about the differences between competition and cooperation, and how both can lead to significant fun.