Simple games to play with kids (page 1)

INDOOR

Guess the story
An adult reads a few sentences of a well-known story. The children then try to figure out what story they are from.

Guess the story 2
Draw some characters or things from a story, starting from minor ones, and ending with the main ones. An adult covers up most of the poster with a large sheet, slowly revealing pictures until a child guesses what it is.

Puzzle Race:
Everybody makes a simple puzzle. Whoever finishes first wins.

Collect them all:
Everybody takes a large stuffed animal and attempts to collect objects scattered on the floor with the toy’s hands. Every child can then count the things she collected and exchange them with an adult for a treat.

INDOOR/OUTDOOR

Collect them all 2:
Spread some pinecones or other small objects out over the floor. On a signal, the kids begin to gather them. Whoever gets the most in the end wins.

What’s Missing?
Draw several rows of fruit on a poster board in different orders. A grown up then covers up a fruit in one of the rows and asks the kids what s/he is hiding. The kids then have to guess at what it is using the other rows. Categories other than fruit can easily be substituted.

Taste Test:
Several pieces of different fruits and vegetables are placed in a cup. Children are then blindfolded and try to guess the fruit by tasting them.

Treasure Hunt:
The adults hide some sort of treasure and then write up instructions for finding it. The children then follow the instructions from one place to the next. Small children can get help from the adults.

Daisy
Make a large daisy out of paper. Write down a fun activity on the back of each petal: hopping on one foot, solving a riddle, singing a song, etc. Children can then take turns tearing off petals and doing the indicated activity.

Guess the Object:
Gather some small toys and other knickknacks into a box and cover it with a sheet. The children then take turns trying to guess the identity of an object by feeling it and then get it as a present.

String Pull:
Two kids sit back to back in two chairs with a string lying on the ground below the chairs. On a signal, they run around the other’s chair and sit back down in their own. They then pull the string out. Whoever gets it wins.

OUTDOOR

Wet Race
Split players into two teams. Give each team a large sponge. Place water bucket and a milk jug 10-15 feet away from each other. The objective is to fill up the jug with water from a bucket using only the sponge.

Obstacle Course:
This can include things such as crawling under lawn chairs, walking with a ball between your knees, and walking along a winding garden hose.

Catch
Two kids stand facing each other. One holds up a bucket and the other tries to throw a ball so that it lands in the bucket.

Train
Place or draw some hoops on the floor. Every child but one goes and stands in the rings. Then, the remaining child is the engine and walks around gathering the others behind him like a train. When everyone is out of the rings, a grown up gives some sort of signal and everyone dashes to get into a hoop. The remaining child becomes the engine.