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Games are a fun way to laugh and connect with your kids! From these games that we used to play as kids to our favorite card games for kids (especially our new favorite Taco! Cat! Goat! Cheese! Pizza!) we’ve found that they all do one thing: help us connect with our kids!
Games for kids that require very little setup:
1. Duck, Duck, Goose
This game used to be played everywhere, but no I hardly see it at all! I like to change this up when we play with our kids. We do “IronMan, IronMan, Spiderman” or “Elsa, Elsa, Anna!” There are a lot of ways to make this traditional game a little more exciting for kids, but it really is a great one, even in its most basic form.
How to play: Kids sit down in a circle facing each other. One person is “it” and walks around the circle, tapping everyone’s heads while they say “DUCK”. They tap one child and say “GOOSE” and the goose has to chase the ‘it’ person. The goal is to outrun the goose & sit in their spot before they get you, or you have to sit in the middle of the circle.
2. Red Rover
Split kids into two groups, making a line from each group. The lines face each other, with room to run. One side starts by picking a person on the opposing team and saying “Red Rover, Red Rover, send (NAME HERE) on over”.
That person (name called) lets go of his teammates’ hands and has to run and try to break through the other team’s line. If he can’t make it through, that person becomes a part of their team.
3- Simon Says
One person is chosen to be “Simon” the others listen to instructions. The Simon then calls directions, such as “Simon says touch your nose”. The Simon, when giving an action, can simply state the action by itself…” touch your ears” and whoever does it is out and has to sit down.
Or Simon can say “Simon says, clap your hands” and them everyone must follow those directions. The last person standing becomes SIMON.
4- Four Corners:
Start by getting four sheets of paper. Write the numbers 1-4 one each sheet (example- page one gets #1. Page 2 gets #2). Place on paper in each corner as the label.
Now one child sits in the middle of the room and closes their eyes and counts to 20. Everyone else goes to a corner. The person that is “it” has to guess (with eyes closed) which corner people are in. If they guess your corner, you sit with them. Do this again, until everyone is sitting down. The last person left in a corner is the winner.
5. Hopscotch
Using sidewalk chalk, make a hopscotch grid. Number the squares from one to nine. Pick a rock that is good for tossing. Toss the rock onto a square. Hop to that square, bend & pick it up without standing on it and without falling. Hop to the end. Turn around and do it again.
