Being cooped up inside is not great after a while and there’s only so much you can do with your kids indoors. So, if the weather allows it, here are a few ideas for outdoor games and activities you can try, so that you can have fun with your children!
- Toy Archaeology
Toy archaeology is exactly what it sounds like.
All you need to do to set this up is bury toys in your backyard or sand pit. Then let your kids try to find them and dig them out.
You can make this even more fun by giving your dig site a theme such as: Dinosaur Dig, Pirate Treasure, Sea Treasures, Sea Bed finds…
Encourage you kids to dress up as archaeologists or pirates and seek to uncover the hidden toys.
Some toy shops stock toy dinosaur bones, gold coins, and other toy things that could make it more interesting, or simply use shells and stones collected from the last beach trip.
Make your own dinosaur’s to dig up using these cool dinosaur silicone moulds or these silicone footprint mould.
- Ninja Warrior Obstacle Course
Obstacle courses are amazing and there are many different ways to set them up. You can make them as easy or as complex as you need so they can be tailored to the suite or challenge the skills of your children.
They can have many different themes. A ninja warrior obstacle course combines playground and sports or fitness equipment so it can be a fun workout.
But you can do whatever you want with your obstacle course; the sky is the limit!
For some ideas please have a look at our blog, The Benefits of Obstacle Courses for Children.
- Tug of War
Tug of war is a classic out door game enjoyed by generations of children. It’s guaranteed to test their strength and it will likely tire them out.
You’ll Need:
- A Strong rope
- Some colourful ribbons (to tie in the middle)
- Duct Tape / a Broom Handle (To mark the middle ground)
Then divide your players into teams and have them stand at equal distance from the center ribbons.
The center ribbons should line up with the middle ground marker.
When everyone is ready they can all start pulling to:
- see which team falls first (older kids)
- see who can pull the ribbons closer to their team’s side (younger kids)
- see which team can pull the closest opposing team player over the middle ground line
- see which team can pull the middles ribbons onto their side of the line for the longest time.
Supervision is a must for this game so as to make sure no one gets seriously hurt.
If you only have two kids at home, this game can still work. Or, even better, bring the whole family into it.
- Piggy in the Middle
Adults and kids can have a ton of fun with this one.
The game goal is to keep the piggy in the middle from getting the ball.
It’s a 3-player minimum game.
Two players toss a ball back and forth between each other while the third player tries to intercept the ball and catch it.
If the “piggy” catches the ball, the player who threw the ball gets to be the “piggy” and so on.
You can put a time limit on the “piggy” to make things a little more even!
- Spud
This is one of my personal favorites and it’s also fun for everyone who’s up for it as there is a lot of running involved.
You will need:
- A number card for each player 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,…
- A ball
Some letter cards with S, P, U, D on them
To play, each player is given a number. One of the players will be “it”.
That player will toss the ball up to the air and yell a number.
The player whose number it is has to run and try to catch the ball while all the other players run away.
When the ball is caught the player has to yell “spud!”
Then everyone must freeze so the player can try to hit someone with the ball.
If they hit someone, that person will get a letter (S, P, U, D, and become ‘it’ when they have all the letters, they’re out) and ‘it’ falls back to the previous player.
If they miss, the person who threw the ball will be ‘it’ for the next round and so on.
It’s super fun!
