With the sun hanging around a lot longer than it has been, and the promise of summer seems to becoming real, it’s time for the kids to get out and play. While outside toys and activities are great fun, they can soon get expensive. Here are some games your kids can play, if they don’t know them already of course! Maybe there’s a few from your own school days you’d forgotten about.
Hopscotch
Yes, let’s start off with a real classic. Kids can play this on any hard surface that chalk will show up on. Don’t worry, it will wash off tarmac or paving slabs! You can also make a hopscotch grid for gardens too, by marking it out on an old blanket or bedsheet with tape, and weighed down with stones.
Draw your grid out and number each square from ’1′ through to ’9′. For each turn, a stone is thrown onto the square marked with a ’1′. The player then hops over to the end, they turn around and come back. The stone is picked up by the player while balancing on one foot, who then hops over square ’1′ to the start. The process is repeated through the following numbers, but if a number is missed by the stone, the player’s go is over.
Simon Says
Simon Says is an easy, and fun game to play, that needs no extra equipment or setting up at all. Someone at the front of the group is ‘Simon’. Simon comes up with instructions for the others to carry out with preceding statement, “Simon says…”. If someone performs the action without the instruction “Simon says”, the player is out. The winner is the last person still playing, and the become Simon.
Musical Chairs
A very easy game to play, and use any chair, bean bag, or anything the players can sit down on. You also need an MP3 player, your iPhone or a set of speakers. Everyone walks around the chairs, but there is one less chair than number players. When the music stops, the players have to sit in a chair, and the player who doesn’t is out. Start the music again, but take one chair away. The winner is the one who manages to get a chair every time. Be careful around the particularly competitive children, it could get messy.
Blind Man’s Bluff
It’s advisable to play this game in an area that doesn’t have too much furniture or obstacles. Much like ‘it’ or ‘tag’, one person is ‘it’ and is blindfolded (hence the need to not have any obstructions!). The player who is it has to catch another player and make them it.
Citations:
Little World Online offesr a great range of Joules clothing which is fantastic for outdoor games when children are out playing!
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