Games to play outside like tag

Physical: Outdoor play is active play at its best! More Expert Advice. Debora B. Heather Welch. International Brand Manager, Edx Education. Fox tags someone, they become the Mr. Note: feel free to substitute Ms. Fox for Mr.

Before playing, designate safe zone circles. The number of safe zones is one fewer than the number of non-It players. When a player is in a safe zone, he cannot be tagged. Only one player is allowed in a safe zone at a time. Tip: determine how long a player can stay in a safe zone at any given time, such as 10 seconds.

When a player is tagged, he becomes It. There are no other tag games At least, according to the kids around here. They play it all the time!!! Duck, duck, goose is still a favorite Doggi,doggie, where's your bone? A tisket, a tasket, a green and yellow basket I wrote a letter to my love and on the way I dropped it Red rover Mother may I?

Banana Tag. One person is it. When they tag you, you freeze with your arms together above your head. To be unfrozen, someone must come and peel you by grasping both arms and pulling down. These hula hoops are battery charging safe zones where Good Robots can hang out for 10 seconds without being tagged.

The game ends when all robots are evil. Bom, Bom, Bom is a fun mix of tag and charades. Split the group into two teams and pick a captain. Then pick a home base for each team to run to. Each team must pick an occupation they want to act out, like in charades. Then the teams chant the following. Team 1 then acts out their occupation and Team 2 has to guess it. But not every school is so lucky. Want to learn how to get a new playground for your school?

Click HERE to learn more. If one of the un-captured players manages to kick the can, the captured players are released. The game is over once all the non-"it" players are in the holding pen.

Equipment : A metal can. This game is most fun when played with a large group. Split the group into two teams, each team having a flag or other marker at the team's base.

The object of the game is to run into the other team's territory, capture their flag and make it safely back to your own territory. You can tag "enemy" players in your territory, sending them to your jail. They can be sprung from jail by a member of their own team running into your territory, tagging them and running back, with one freed person allowed per jail break.

It is sometimes played that all the people in jail could hold hands and make a chain back toward their own territory, making it easier for members of their team to tag them. We also played a similar game called Steal the Sticks.

It had almost the same rules, but several sticks were used instead of one flag. Number of Players : A large group. Equipment : Two flags or other markers. Fun for kids of all ages, this game involves a large round parachute, preferably with handles, with people holding the parachute all around the edges. It helps if someone is in charge telling people what to do. Players can just ruffle the parachute up and down a little bit, they can go all the way up and all the way down, or all the way up and then run underneath, sitting on the edge of the parachute, which can create a bubble of air with everyone inside.

Players can also place light objects such as wiffle balls or beanbags on top of the parachute, and make them jump by ruffling the parachute. Also, one person can sit in the middle of the parachute and everyone ruffles it near the ground. If there is a smooth floor and a light child, the child can sit in the middle on top of the parachute and everyone else can walk partway around still holding the parachute edge.

Then everyone pulls backward, spinning the child. There are countless variations. Number of Players : Depends on the size of the parachute, but usually eight to ten. Equipment : A play parachute. These aren't as hard to find as you would think. Try here and here. This game works best on a street with little to no traffic, or in a large paved area of some kind. You need bikes, wagons, pedestrians, scooters or whatever is available. One person directs traffic to make sure kids don't run into each other.

It is more fun than it sounds, and helps kids learn about waiting to cross the street and about traffic safety. Number of Players : A small group. Equipment : Bikes, wagons, scooters, anything on wheels. This ball game is played on a square court further divided into four smaller squares, numbered one through four. One player stands in each of the squares, with the highest ranked player in number one, lowest in number four.

You bounce the ball among the players, bouncing once in the other person's square before that person catches it. When I played this as a kid, we had countless additional rules to choose from. The person in square one got to choose the rules. Anyone who violates the rules will have to move down in the ranking, or be eliminated with another player rotating in to square four.

Number of Players : Four, unless you take turns. Equipment : A four square court or sidewalk chalk, a playground ball. Use some sidewalk chalk and make a hopscotch grid. Number the squares from one to nine.

Pick a rock that is good for tossing. Small ones can bounce too much, and larger ones are hard to throw. Start by tossing the rock onto Square 1. Hop over the rock and hop with a single foot or both feet to follow the hopscotch pattern all the way to the end. Turn around and come back, stopping on Square 2. Balancing on one foot, pick up the rock in Square 1 and hop over Square 1 to the start.

Continue this pattern with Square 2. And so on. If you toss your rock and miss the correct square, your turn is over. This game can be played with any number of people, but only one person can go at a time. If it's raining or dark or too cold, you can get indoor hopscotch mats or foam pieces, or just find a pattern on the floor to follow, perhaps using a beanbag instead of a rock.

Number of Players : One at a time. Equipment : Hopscotch grid, rock or beanbag. One of the biggest ways I spent my recess time as a young girl was jumping rope. I got quite good at it for my age, both in speed and in skill. It was fun to jump by myself, but it was even more fun to have a long rope and jump with a couple of friends. That's where jump-rope rhymes come in. They turn a simple exercise into a fun game, to compete against yourself and others.

Then there's double dutch. I was always in awe of the older girls who could do double dutch. The first time I tried it, I got tripped up almost immediately. However, once you understand how to do it, it isn't as hard as it looks.