To many kids these days end up with a video game as their
babysitter when they could be out enjoying the fresh air and getting
excercize while having fun! This page lists some ideas for kids rather
than staring zombie like at the playstation and developing carpal tunnel
syndrome!
Play games- See below for some old favorites!
Check out the YMCA,
Boy & Girls Clubs, local parks and recreation departments, teen
activity centers or even neighborhood community associations. You can
find all sorts of sports leagues, swim teams and outdoor summer
activities. Bowling alleys also offer leagues for various
ages.
Playing is the best form of fun and exercise. Kids are
mentally, physically and emotionally healthier when they’re active. Our
bodies are meant to be in action.
Favorite Kids Games
How about
teaching Your children the games you used to play as kids. Ideas:
hop scotch, duck duck goose, capture the flag, kick the can, red
light/green light, kick ball, water balloon fights, touch football, etc.
“It used to be that kids in neighborhoods would congregate and lead
their own activities but that doesn’t happen as much these days. See
below for some of the rules. This list will grow as the site grows.
Capture the
Flag:
There are two teams.
Team 1 has
the front yard and Team 2 has the back yard, or a field was split
between the two teams. The teams are given a time
period, 3 to 5 minutes, to hide their flag in their part of
the yard or field.
[optional]
During this period spies were sent out to see were the flag was hidden
as well as look-outs to catch the spies.
When the
flag was hidden you call out that you were finished. Then you simply try
to get the other teams flag. If you get caught and tagged by the
opponent on their territory you had to go to jail and could only be
freed by a teammate who grabs you when your opponent isn't
looking.
The first
team to capture the flag and bring it back to their side
wins.
Red Light / Green Light:
In this game, one person plays the "stop light" and the
rest try to touch him/her. At the start, all the
children form a line about 15 feet away from the stop light.
The stop light faces away from the line of kids and says
"green light". At this point the kids are allowed to move towards the
stoplight.
At any point, the stop light may say "red light!" and
turn around. If any of the kids are caught moving after this has
occurred, they are out.
Play resumes when the stop light turns back around and
says "green light".
The stop light wins if all the kids are out before
anyone is able to touch him/her. Otherwise, the
first player to touch the stop light wins the game and earns the right
to be "stop light" for the next game.
Duck Duck Goose:
Kids sit down in a circle facing each other. One person
is "it" and walks around the circle. As they walk around, they tap
people's heads and say whether they are a "duck" or a "goose". Once
someone is the "goose" they get up and try to chase "it" around the
circle. The goal is to tap that person before they are able sit down in
the "goose's" spot. If the goose is not able to do this, they become
"it" for the next round and play continues. If they do tap the "it"
person, the person tagged has to sit in the center of the circle. Then
the goose become it for the next round. The person in the middle can't
leave until another person is tagged and they are replaced.
Hide and Seek:
First you pick someone to be it , then he/she turns
around and counts with their eyes closed at the "base" while the rest of
the people hide. In my neighborhood we counted by 5's to 100. Then
"It" says "Ready or Not, Here I Come" and rushes to find everyone.
The people hiding try to get to base without getting tagged or else they
are "It". If the person who is "It" doesn't get someone in three
tries he gets to pick the next person to be it!
Jail
Break:
Someone is chosen to be 'it'. The person who is
'it' counts one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock rock, four o'clock,
five o'clock, six o'clock rock, seven o'clock, eight o'clock, nine
o'clock rock, ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock rock,
midnight! then tries to find the others who have hidden. When
someone is tagged,
they go to jail (usually the
porch) Those who are not tagged, try to step on jail and this
will cause a jailbreak. The others are free. When all the
children have been sent to jail, the first one in is now the person who
is it.
Tag:
The rules for Tag are very simple. All
you need is a group of kids and a good sized backyard. One person
is designated as "it", and that person runs around and tries to touch
someone else. If they succeed, the person they touch is now "it" and
tries to chase everyone else. The game continues until everyone
is worn out or until Mom finishes that batch of
brownies!
Pickle or Running Bases:
Rules: You'll need two bases (we used cardboard),
a baseball or rubber ball and two baseball gloves (if you
don't have the gloves just use a ball that's not "hard."
Set up the two bases about 20 feet apart.
Two
kids are selected to be "it", one at each base.
The other kids
would divide and go to the bases.
The game started by the two kids
who were "it" tossing the ball to each other.
The object of the game
was to time running from one base to the other without being tagged by
the ball.
If you were tagged then you were "it" and the game
continued, usually until all the kids were too tired to run anymore.
The fun of the game was getting the person who was "it" to throw a
wide pitch or "steal" the base.
Picking Who Is "IT":
This rhyme used to pick who would be it by making
fists and turning them sideways. You would then say the rhyme and
hit the other persons fist as well as yours using your chin as the
substitute for the fist that you were using. Each fist would be hit once
you would say the word and hit the fist at the same time. One word for
each fist. At the end the person whose fist was hit last is out.
They're totally out when both fists are hit. You can also put feet
in the circle and use them instead of fists
One potato, two potato, three potato, four.
Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more.
Then the person
would remove the fist on the word "more" and the game
would begin
again.
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