Games are a great way to introduce kids to new concepts and skills. Some games are designed for specific tasks like language learning or social skills development. Here is a list of a few outdoor games that will help your child’s good upbringing.
- Hide and Seek
Hide and Seek is an outdoor game that is perfect for the summer. It can be played in various ways depending on the age of the players.
This game can be played with any number of players, from just two people to as many as you have in your family or group. The game requires a single selected player who counts down to ten or twenty. In the meantime, the other players in the group hide in different places. Once the countdown has finished, the single-player starts looking for the other hidden players. Once all the person is found, whoever is caught first then that person becomes the seeker in the game.
2. Kick the Can
Kick the Can is an exciting game to play outdoors with friends. The requirements of the game are pretty simple. All you need is an empty can and a group of friends, ideally five or more. The rules are simple as well. In the game, one among the group is designated the ‘It’, who countdown to a specific number, just like hide & seek. The other members of the group hide from the ‘It’ as the person counts down.
They can, however, remain in plain sight. After the countdown, the ‘It’ seeks to find the other players. Once found, ‘It’ sends the players to the ‘Jail’ area. And in the meantime, the other free players try to kick the can before getting caught by the ‘It’. Kick the Can is a fun game that can bring together hide & seek, tag, and capture the flag.
3. Capture the Flag
Capture the flag is a team game that needs a minimum of two teams. The main aim is to obtain the other team’s flag while protecting your team flag.
The first American version of Capture The Flag was played in 1827 at a military school in Virginia.
4. Cubby House
Kids love cubby houses. It comes with different designs and themes; You can easily buy a cubby house online to get a wider variety of designs. Cubby houses are an excellent way to make your kid enjoy imaginative role play.
5. Traffic Cop
Traffic Cop is an educational game that can keep your kid engaged for hours.
This game requires more than 2 players, some children ride- on play cars, bikes, etc. The kids can dress up in costumes for this game as well.
The rule of the Traffic Cop is pretty simple. At the beginning of the game, one of the players among the kids is chosen to be the ‘cop’. The other players ride their ride-on. The objective is to avoid any collisions and to obey the traffic rules as commanded by the ‘cop’.
The player chosen as the ‘cop’ commands the other players riding their bikes & cars to stop at the intersection, and demonstrate hand signals to convey the traffic rules. The players who fail to follow the rules get eliminated. The Traffic Cop is an outdoor game that is not only fun but also very engaging & educational for young children.
6. Four Square
Four Square is a game perfect for kids or elementary-level children. All the game requires is four players and four boxes or courts, and a ball. Each player remains within their respective courts and passes the ball with their hands from their courts to the ones next to them. If a player fails to touch the ball and pass it onto another player’s court, they get eliminated.
7. Hopscotch
Hopscotch is a game that two or more players play on a rectangular court of drawn lines, known as squares. The players take turns throwing a small object, usually a stone.
The game begins with one player tossing the stone from the “home” square (the starting point) to the first Square in one direction of the court. Next, the player must hop into this Square and then onto each subsequent Square, in turn, skipping over one Square at a time before hopping again into each new Square. If there are an odd number of squares on the court, then either player may start from any given side.
8. Memory game on the move
It is a fun game that people can play when walking in a park or outside at a picnic. The players need to find cards with different things, like animals, cars, and trees. When they find two cards that match, they take them off the board and put them in their pile. The first person who runs out in the game of cards is the winner!
