But now, you'll have a list of 31 unique games that even a 3-year-old can join in with. A few of these ideas will be best for the preschool set, but most will work for a wide range of ages!
Click on over here to see the full list, but read on for this great game idea!
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Tag! You're it!
Everyone has played this game (& many of its variations), but there's nothing like it for running off a bunch of kid energy when you've realized your mistake at feeding the group at your house an entire box of freeze pops, washed down with a few gallons of Kool-Aid.
The best thing about this game is, there's no ending!
Sing with me now, "It's the game that never ends...it goes on and on and on, my friends"
Open up the back door, shove the kids outside, and get your sanity back!
I know, I know. Not everyone has a fenced-in backyard...or lives in a climate that's conducive to playing outdoors year-round, but as long as you can find decent-sized open space, you can play this game.
Tag
Players: 3+
Ages: 3 +
Place: anywhere you can romp around easily - the backyard, a field, a gymnasium
Equipment: none
How to play: One player is "it" and closes his or her eyes and counts to ten.
The other players find spots far from "it."
"It" reaches ten and shouts, "Ready or not, here I come!" and then chases down the players. If a player is tagged, (s)he becomes the new "it."
The game goes on (& on & on) until players drop in exhaustion, or until they're called home for dinner.
Variations:
- stooped (players must waddle around like ducks)
- reverse (players can only move backwards)
- tree (players are safe if touching a tree - or anything else designated as "base")
- chain (person tagged must hook arms with "it" and continue game - we called this "Blob" when I was growing up)
- flashlight (capture players by shining a flashlight on them)
- shadow (capture players by stomping on their shadow)
- freeze (tagged player must freeze until another person unfreezes them)
- cross ("it" calls out the name of a specific player, then chases him or her down - but if another player crosses in between, "it" must now chase the crossing player)
- carry ("it" must chase down the player carrying a specific object - which can be passed from player to player)
- skip (players must skip)
- hop (players must hop)
- floating (players are safe if both feet are off the ground - like hanging from a tree or monkey bars)
Do you know any other variations of this classic game? I'd love to hear! Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.
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Looking for other fun ideas of things to do with your little one? Check out my Latticed Learning page here!
This post is part of the write31days challenge!