As winter passes and the promise of warmer days comes around the corner, it's important to have outdoor activities planned to keep your young ones entertained. In this article, we'll go over five fun outdoor games that are entertaining to kids of all ages. While some of these games require purchasing a few materials, many of these can be accomplished with items you already have in your home.
Bubble Fun
To have fun with bubbles, you'll need a variety of materials you can get from your local superstore:
- Brightly colored wire
- Wire cutters
- A hula hoop
- Cloth to cover the hula hoop
- A baby pool
- Store-bought bubbles
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Buy the brightly colored wire and test several in the store to see which one bends the easiest while still keeping it’s shape. When you get home, make bubble wands with the wire. Feel free to make each one in different shapes like squares, triangles, circles, or whatever feels fun. Be sure to leave extra to be used as a handle, and be sure there are no sharp edges. Fill the baby pool one inch deep with the bubbles.
Each child gets a bubble wand and can dip them into the baby pool to make different sizes and shapes of bubbles. Pro tip: you can use the hula hoop to make a giant bubble cone.
Ice Cream Cone Relay
For the ice cream cone relay, you may want to invite over some guests with a sweet tooth. This sweet game can be played with a few simple items you probably already have:
- A sugar cone for each child
- 2 buckets of water
- 2 classes of the same size
Divide players into two even teams and have them line up in two lines with a cone in each players hand. At the back of each line, place a bucket filled with water. At the front of each line, place an empty glass. The last player in line must fill their cone from the bucket and pour the water into the cone in front of them. Each child pours their water into a cone until the water gets to the front of the line.
Then the first child pour their water into the glass and the first team that fills their glass with water first wins!
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Water Balloon Toss
Nothing screams childhood nostalgia like classic water balloons. For this game, all you'll need are some water balloons, however you can also use regular balloons and fill them with water. Once they're filled, store them in a bucket or a plastic tub.
Split everyone up into pairs and have the children form two lines, with the partners facing each other. Make sure to space them about two to three feet apart. Then, give one child in each pair a water balloon. Shout, “toss” and the children will begin tossing the balloons back and forth. Every time a successful catch is make, one child must take a single step backwards.
Continue this process until a team's water balloon breaks. That team is then out. The last team standing with an unbroken water balloon wins!
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Animal Safari
To play Animal Safari, you'll need small plastic animals, allowing for at least two to three for each child. If you'd like, you can also include a goody bag for everyone to carry them home in.
Start by hiding all of the plastic animals in the yard. Be sure to keep track of where you hide them so children don't stray from the yard. Hide the plastic animals in places where the children can still be supervised by a trusted adult.
Explain that they're going on a safari and can keep any of the animals they find. You may want to put a limit on how many each child can find to ensure that all children can get some plastic animals to take home. The game will end when all of the hidden animals are found.
Caterpillar Races
Step 1: Mark a start and finish line, about 30’-60’ apart. Spray paint works well.
When the guests arrive:
Step 1: Split the guests into two even teams.
Step 2: Line the children up in two straight lines. Have each child put their hands on the waist of the child in front of them.
Step 3: When you yell ‘Wiggle!’ each team should run, staying connected towards the finish line.
Step 4: If they become unconnected before they reach the finish line, they must go back to the starring line and begin again.
Step 5: The first team to reach the finish line still connected wins.