Kids' Outdoor Games on the Fly

Last-Minute Time Fillers for Children’s Parties and Get-Togethers

Jun 20, 2007

Looking for some games to throw together for groups of kids? Here are some new ideas and old favorites.

You’ve got a yard full of your children’s friends, you misjudged your timing and you’ve got a half hour before parents arrive to pick up the crew.

There are games and activities for kids that you can put together quickly and with little or no equipment that will wear them out and win them over.

Shoe Pile

All the children take off their shoes and throw them into a pile at one end of the yard. Designate a starting line at the other end of the yard. When you yell, “Go!” the children take turns running across the yard, put on any two shoes, run back and tag the next player, who does the same.

Treasure Hunt

Send your group out to find a short list of things you tell them. Set parameters on where they can go.

Hula Hoop Weave

Have the children stand in a circle holding hands. Place a hula hoop over the wrist of one child so the hoop is now connected to the circle. Have the children thread the hula hoop through the circle, stepping through it and getting their whole bodies through it, without breaking the circle.

Pizza Box Bowling

Stand up empty pizza boxes like narrow tents and have kids try to knock them down with a tennis ball.

Circle Ball Toss

The kids sit in a circle. A topic is yelled out – “Favorite TV show,” “Favorite movie,” or “What you want to be when you grow up,” and the ball is tossed around. When you catch the ball you yell out your answer. Last one gets to pick the next topic.

Cross Walk

Draw a 10-by-10 grid of squares on pavement (there should be 100 small squares). Have each child stand on a square. Give them each a piece of chalk. One at a time, the children are to move from their square to another square and cross out the square they stepped off. Once a square is crossed off, it cannot be stepped on. As more squares are crossed off, the harder it will be to move from square to square. If a player can’t move to an empty square, he’s out. Last one standing inside the grid wins.

Obstacle Walk

Set up some obstacles in the yard. Let the kids take a good look at where things are. Then one at a time, blindfold them and let them walk from one end of the yard to the other, trying to avoid the obstacles.

Capture the Flag

Divide the group into two teams. Team 1 has the front yard for its territory; Team 2 has the back yard. Give each team a “flag” (a blindfold or piece of cloth) to hide somewhere in their territory. Each team then has to invade the other team’s territory to try to find their flag without being caught. If they’re tagged, they have to go to jail and can only be released if one of their own teammates can tag them out of jail.

Three legged races

Pair up the children. With each pair standing side by side, tie one partner’s left leg to the other partner’s right leg. Race the pairs. Partners will have to hold onto each other and coordinate their steps in order to go the fastest.

The copyright of the article Kids' Outdoor Games on the Fly in Parent-Child Activities is owned by Diane Laney Fitzpatrick. Permission to republish Kids' Outdoor Games on the Fly in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.