Mickey Underwood If you take your kids outside to play from an early age, they will learn to love being outdoors. It’s important you make things fun with some great outdoor games.
You don’t have to bring equipment when it’s time to go outside and play with your kids. All you need is a little imagination and familiarity with a few games. If you’re not sure what games you can play and how to play, we’ve got seven that could be a lot of fun for you and your family to go out and enjoy some fun.
Hide and Seek
Hide and Seek is a classic outdoor game that you can enjoy with your kids and teach them how to play. This game can be fun inside the house on days when you can’t get outside, but it’s more fun in your neighborhood. This is an easy game to play. The “it” person uses the “safe” spot to count to a predetermined number while other players hide. You don’t need any equipment and can have everyone that wants to play participate in this fun game.
Capture the Flag
All you need is a group of people and two flags to play this game. This is essentially a variation on Tag. Split the players into two teams and take one flag to each team’s designated base area. The goal is to capture the opposite team’s flag without being tagged. The flag must be returned to your base. As players are tagged, they must enter your jail, and only being tagged by a player from their team will release them from jail. This is one of the most fun outdoor games you can play with your kids.
Horse
If you’ve got a basketball and a hoop, you can play horse. This game is great for two or more players, and it’s easy to understand. Each player takes turns trying to make a basket. If a player makes a shot, the next player must shoot from the same place on the court. If the shot is missed, the player earns a letter until they earn all five letters of the word HORSE. This game can be a lot of fun and teaches kids some basic basketball shooting skills.
Hopscotch
Draw the board on a sidewalk or in the driveway, and then all you need is a rock. This is an easy game to play that can be hours of fun during a play date. Each child must put a stone in the first number and jump over that spot. After this, they jump down to the end, jump back, and hop over the spot with the stone. This is repeated from spaces 1-10 until one child is unable to complete the task.
Four Square
Like the name says, you need four squares and a playground-style kickball or basketball to play this game. Four Square is a classic and fun outdoor game played on many playgrounds around the country. The squares are numbered, and the person in square one bounces the ball into another square, and the player in that square must bounce it onto the next one. Once a player is unable to return the ball, they are out, and a new player enters the game.
Water Balloon Toss
Water Balloon Toss is a great game to play outside when it gets really hot. Fill a few balloons with water and separate all players into teams of two. You can have as many teams as you want. The players begin close to each other, tossing the balloons back and forth. As each toss is complete, the players take a step back to become farther from their teammates. The winners are the team that is furthest apart without breaking their water balloon. Sometimes, the fun is in getting drenched with water when the balloon pops.
Simon Says
When your kids want a fun outdoor game to play that doesn’t require a lot of movement, Simon Says is a great choice. The words “Simon Says” are key to this game. This phrase is uttered, followed by an action. All players need to perform the action that Simon Says to do. If the action isn’t preceded by this phrase, players aren’t supposed to do it. If they do, they are out until one person wins and a new Simon takes over.
Will you play some of these fun outdoor games with your kids?
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