Hi All,

I am back after a long time. I had been busy with my little venture Creative Bits.

And I really need a break. Hope you are also able to catch some days off. Away from the hustle, bustle of the everyday life, away from the internet, away from TV, just relaxing, restoring and rejuvenating.

So, now that the kids are having holidays, I am sure all moms are finding out various ways to engage them.

Have you read our earlier post on Nine activities and a happy child. It has activities which you can do at home.

Outdoors play does channelize a child’s energy. Here are a few benefits of outdoor play.

Also it gives you a chance to get away from your household tasks and visit the park or play ground for at least few minutes a day. I highly recommend to take your child for outdoor play whenever you can.

Warning: You need to have a lot of energy to play with boisterous kids.

Kids usually have great ideas of their own and when you use their ideas, it makes them want to get involved more and more. So, here is the list of the games we played. I really do not know the “official” or “traditional” names of the games so, you might have heard of them but, with some other name.

Also I am mentioning the person taking the den as a “denner”. I don’t know if this term exists but, if it helps you understand the rules of the game then, let’s use just that.

We generally start playing these games with one or two more kids and sometimes it is just me & my daughter but, soon many kids join in and even suggest their own favorite games.

Color game: Tippy Tippy Tip Tap, which color do you want?

The rest of the kids ask the denner, “Tippy tippy tip tap, which color do you want?”

The denner says his color. For example, “Purple”.

The task is to touch anything with purple color the quickest. The person to touch the color first becomes the new denner.

When we play, we usually do not go by the quickest rule. When all kids have found the color object, we change the denner. So each child gets a chance to be a denner and tell a color.

Chain Chain:

The denner has to catch or tag someone. Then the two of them hold hands and tag a third partner. Now, all the three hold hands.

And so on, till they make a long chain and tag all the kids. It’s fun as they all huddle along holding each others hands to catch the remaining kids.

Longer the chain, more the fun.

Treasure hunt:

Use some simple treasures. They could be shiny aquarium glass stones or chocolates. Choose an area in the play ground. Set the boundaries and ask the children to turn around and close their eyes. Now, hide the treasure over a larger area than a room. So, may be a garden or only the play area.

Be sure they will peek so be smarter.

The task is to find all the treasures and collect theme in a common basket or bowl, if they are stones.

If they are chocolates, well, then finders keepers!

Cross the ghost River:

We used to call this “bhutachi nadi” in marathi. The children split up on two sides of an imaginary river. Draw some lines to depict the banks. The denner is the ghost of the river and shall stay in the centre.

The task is to cross the river without getting caught by the denner. The ghost can move anywhere inside the river but, once the children reach the sides they are safe.

The child the denner catches becomes the next ghost.

Dog and the bone:

This game has two teams. If there are five players in each team, each of the player shall be assigned a number by their team captain. One adult could be the “number caller”.

Draw a circle and keep a handkerchief inside it. Draw two lines equidistant on either side of this circle. Both teams will stand behind these lines facing the handkerchief.

The number caller will say any number between 1-5 (if 5 players are present in each team).

As soon as the number is called, the kids assigned this particular number (from both teams), shall have to come running towards the handkerchief in the circle. No other team member should come forward.

The task is to snatch the handkerchief and bring it back to your side of the line without being caught or tagged by the other team’s player. If you succeed then your team gets one point. If you are caught, the opposite team gets a point. You have to replace the handkerchief in the circle and the game continues.

Keep playing till all the players have had a turn and then some more.

Land and water:

In the park, designate some areas as being “land” and some areas as being “water”. The denner will move around in this entire zone. When he or she shouts “land” the kids in the water zone HAVE to travel to a land zone. If someone gets caught before they reach the land zone then they are out and they get to be the next denner.

If the denner is unable to tag anyone then they continue playing till he or she does.

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So, give it a try with your kids. May be you already knew these and some more?

Do share with us your childhood games and if this post brought forth any nostalgia.

It’s so much fun to teach the kids the games you used to play as a child. 

Take care and have fun playing outdoors.

Love,

Poornima