Outdoor Games For Kids
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Author: Austin Stanfel
In this current time, children are spending a lot of time inside and attached online to smartphones, video games, and computers. Whatever is the hottest trend in gaming, they are doing that more than going outside to have fun out. This is unhealthy. Parents must make more of an effort to keep them outside because youngsters can quickly get bored. Outdoor fun is easy with countless games without the eyes glued to a screen. Playing outside isn’t expensive and traditional yard games or even on the driveway. There are ways to play games that date to even our school days and is not dangerous at all.
Let’s start with multiplayer games. Something one we studied in Kindergarten, “Duck, duck, goose.” Everyone sits in a circle, and one person is it, the one who tags. One walks around the ring of people sitting down, touching their heads and saying, “Duck, duck,” until they decide to call, “goose.” At “goose,” the person tagged must get up and try to catch the tagger around the circle before they can claim the open spot. If the tagger is found, they have replay the role as a tagger and call “goose” on another person. Here’s another game to play: Red Rover. One parallel line of people must get to the other side where one person then calls on an individual or a group of people to run without getting tagged. One is labeled, one joins the middle in tagging others when they get invited to run across.
Now, games with the use of a ball. There’s the common boxball, or four corners, where the court is a giant square with four equal-size squares inside made by chalk or tape. One person is in each square and designated with 1-4, number 1 being the top square and server. The server hits to another square, where the ball must bounce once and in bounds. If the ball hits twice the ground, the person who is supposed to return serve is out. If the ball goes out of bounds or short of the intended square, you’re out. With monkey-in-the-middle, it’s at least three people with one standing in the middle. A ball is thrown past the person, who must intercept the ball and force the thrower to be the monkey in the middle.
There is, of course, sports games like baseball, basketball, soccer, and football that can be played in the park. Frisbee, volleyball, and croquet are also other games for children to enjoy. Some games can even take place in a pool, and a scavenger hunt can encircle the neighborhood. It’s plenty of exercises to give to children because it is a lot better than indoors (unless it’s raining, of course). There was a time before the computer sucked in everyone to sit on their butts and hold remotes where children desired to go outside for fun. It can be still.