Encourage Your Kids to Go Outside and Play Games

There are many no-tech games kids can play outside. Games can be played with one friend, by yourself, or with a group of neighborhood friends. Use your imagination, make up your own rules, and have fun!

Tag - A person within a group volunteers to be "it". This person then chases the others around, trying to tag someone with their hand. The first person tagged is the new "it".

Hide and Seek - One person is chosen and counts to 100 or whatever number is agreed upon. After reaching that number, they find each person from the group that is hiding. 

Musical Chairs - Place chairs in a line back-to-back using one chair less than the number of people in the group playing. One person needs to oversee the music. The players begin walking around the chairs when the music begins. Players must sit in a chair as soon as possible when the music stops. Whoever doesn’t have a chair is out and removes a chair out of the lineup with them. The game continues until the person in the final chair is the winner.

Simon Says - One person is Simon and begins each sentence with “Simon says,” then tells the group an action to perform. Each person in the group must complete the action. If Simon commands an action without stating, “Simon says,” anyone that performs the action is out. The winner is Simon for the next round.

Kickball - Pick teams and determine your own rules for the game.

Hopscotch - Using sidewalk chalk, draw a hopscotch grid. Number the squares from one to nine. Choose a medium-sized rock and toss it into Square 1. Follow the hopscotch pattern and hop over the rock with a single foot or both feet to the end. Turn around and hop 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.