Old childrens games outdoors

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own: Go Home Stay Home was my fave! I loved playing freeze tag, red rover red rover, and flashlight tag as a kid! My 3 year old loves "hopscotch" the modified version. I spent hours playing with elastics, jumping and singing with friends. Good old Ring a ring a rosy is currently a fave at this house And I hated Dodgeball too I was actually told by my mentor teacher on my last prac that Dodgeball is a big no no now in schools? Is this correct?

Leap frog and red rover are all the rage here. When I was a kid it was all about cartwheels. My 8 year old has a dodgeball competition at school at the moment. Not really a fav with me but they will play it over and over. At home I've shown Miss M the game of hopscotch but it really gets played more like you were expecting Immy to play it. Our absolute favourite is a game of family Hide 'n' Seek.

I can't wait to get Miss M hoola hooping and skipping, well she thinks she can already do it but clearly she can't - very funny! Sometimes I need a good reminder of things I can do with them! We used to also play ring a ring a rosie, stuck in the mud and red rover cross over. Good fun. You can use an adult for the leader, or the kids in the group can take turns. One person should be picked to be the leader or Simon.

Your older little kids can have just as much fun outdoors as their younger siblings. Engaging your six to year-old children is done quickly with some of these fun outdoor games and activities. Source: Bev CC0. A large group of kids and a giant parachute. Amazon sells them in various sizes, but you can get this 10ft parachute. The parachute game can be played in a few ways. For example, the kids can each hold a piece of the parachute and make waves with it while one person at a time runs under, trying to get to the other side without falling.

You can also place beans bags or balls on the parachute, and the kids make the parachute wave, trying to get all of the shots to the middle! It can be tough to get this age group to get outside and get moving. Try some of these activities and games to get them off the couch and out the door. Source: TeroVesalainen CC0. Middle schoolers are old enough to play in the neighborhood and stick nearby. Divide them into teams, give them a list of things to find and set them free.

The first team to collect every item on the list wins! Source: pitoutepitoute CC0. Kids can use sticks and a makeshift ball from home, or you can grab a set like this one that includes sticks and a puck.

But, if you have teens who like to lay around a lot, try sparking their interest with some of these outdoor activities. Source: jp26jp CC0. You can use items from around your home like masking tape, pillowcases, or strips of cloth to tie pairs together. Or you can get these 3-legged-race bands. Let your teens decide how to play. They can race, attempt an obstacle course, or try to accomplish a task like walking an egg down the field , all while 3-legged.

Source: Todd Borner. The only must-have for this game is the ball, but you can purchase bases if you like too. One of the best games for a group of teens to play kickball. You can do it with a small group with a little improvisation, or a larger group can be divided into teams for a real game. Set up an area with designated bases and let them at it! No matter the age, everyone loves parties.

Check out our favorites below! Use your imagination! Everyone has played this one. Most parents have played with their kids, since hiding and finding is a common interest of small children. I've heard of all kinds of variations on this game. Sometimes you count to twenty, sometimes ten, sometimes one hundred.

Sometimes there is a home base that you can run to and tag, becoming "safe," sometimes you just wait to be found. The general idea is that one person is "it," that person closes his or her eyes and counts to a certain number without looking and then he or she tries to find the others. Number of Players : Ideally at least three. Equipment : None. One person or a team of people are designated as "it" and a can is placed in the middle of the playing area.

The other people run off and hide while the "it" covers his or her eyes and counts to a certain number. If a person is tagged by "it", they go into a holding pen for captured players. If one of the un-captured players manages to kick the can, the captured players are released. The game is over once all the non-"it" players are in the holding pen. Equipment : A metal can. This game is most fun when played with a large group. Split the group into two teams, each team having a flag or other marker at the team's base.

The object of the game is to run into the other team's territory, capture their flag and make it safely back to your own territory. You can tag "enemy" players in your territory, sending them to your jail. They can be sprung from jail by a member of their own team running into your territory, tagging them and running back, with one freed person allowed per jail break.

It is sometimes played that all the people in jail could hold hands and make a chain back toward their own territory, making it easier for members of their team to tag them. We also played a similar game called Steal the Sticks.

It had almost the same rules, but several sticks were used instead of one flag. Number of Players : A large group. Equipment : Two flags or other markers. Fun for kids of all ages, this game involves a large round parachute, preferably with handles, with people holding the parachute all around the edges. It helps if someone is in charge telling people what to do. Players can just ruffle the parachute up and down a little bit, they can go all the way up and all the way down, or all the way up and then run underneath, sitting on the edge of the parachute, which can create a bubble of air with everyone inside.

Players can also place light objects such as wiffle balls or beanbags on top of the parachute, and make them jump by ruffling the parachute.

Also, one person can sit in the middle of the parachute and everyone ruffles it near the ground. If there is a smooth floor and a light child, the child can sit in the middle on top of the parachute and everyone else can walk partway around still holding the parachute edge. Then everyone pulls backward, spinning the child.

There are countless variations. Number of Players : Depends on the size of the parachute, but usually eight to ten. Equipment : A play parachute. These aren't as hard to find as you would think. Try here and here. This game works best on a street with little to no traffic, or in a large paved area of some kind. You need bikes, wagons, pedestrians, scooters or whatever is available. One person directs traffic to make sure kids don't run into each other.

It is more fun than it sounds, and helps kids learn about waiting to cross the street and about traffic safety. Number of Players : A small group. Equipment : Bikes, wagons, scooters, anything on wheels. This ball game is played on a square court further divided into four smaller squares, numbered one through four. One player stands in each of the squares, with the highest ranked player in number one, lowest in number four.

You bounce the ball among the players, bouncing once in the other person's square before that person catches it. When I played this as a kid, we had countless additional rules to choose from. The person in square one got to choose the rules. Anyone who violates the rules will have to move down in the ranking, or be eliminated with another player rotating in to square four.

Number of Players : Four, unless you take turns. Equipment : A four square court or sidewalk chalk, a playground ball. Use some sidewalk chalk and make a hopscotch grid. Number the squares from one to nine. Pick a rock that is good for tossing.

Small ones can bounce too much, and larger ones are hard to throw. Start by tossing the rock onto Square 1. Hop over the rock and hop with a single foot or both feet to follow the hopscotch pattern all the way to the end. Turn around and come back, stopping on Square 2.

Balancing on one foot, pick up the rock in Square 1 and hop over Square 1 to the start. Continue this pattern with Square 2. And so on. If you toss your rock and miss the correct square, your turn is over. This game can be played with any number of people, but only one person can go at a time. If it's raining or dark or too cold, you can get indoor hopscotch mats or foam pieces, or just find a pattern on the floor to follow, perhaps using a beanbag instead of a rock.

Number of Players : One at a time. Equipment : Hopscotch grid, rock or beanbag. One of the biggest ways I spent my recess time as a young girl was jumping rope. I got quite good at it for my age, both in speed and in skill.

It was fun to jump by myself, but it was even more fun to have a long rope and jump with a couple of friends. That's where jump-rope rhymes come in.

They turn a simple exercise into a fun game, to compete against yourself and others. Then there's double dutch. I was always in awe of the older girls who could do double dutch. The first time I tried it, I got tripped up almost immediately. However, once you understand how to do it, it isn't as hard as it looks. Number of Players : One for single jumping, three with a longer rope or for double dutch.

Equipment : One or two jump-ropes. This game requires three people, or just one or two people with really good chairs. It is easily done inside, assuming a sturdy floor. This game resembles regular jump rope in that you jump.

A lot. But you jump in a pattern. Two people or chairs put their feet inside the rope and stretch them out, standing far enough apart for the third person to jump between them. The third person, or jumper, faces one of the people holding the rope and jumps in a pattern of left, right, inside, outside and on the ropes.