Game On!

July/August 2008 Issue | Posted by Daria Sockey in Mind Games

At an outdoor family party, a crowd of children — even quiet, polite ones — can really dull the edge of one’s scintillating after-dinner wit. The temptation is to herd them all indoors and pop in a DVD. Don’t! Instead, set them up with one of these back yard games. They’ll get plenty of exercise, and will enjoy the beauty of a summer evening. Who knows? You might just want to ditch the grown-up gabfest and join in.

Limbo

Play this on the grass. Get a pole, broom handle, or piece of rope. Play “The Limbo Song” (downloadable for 99 cents from Amazon.com), or just teach the kids to sing it (with “la-la-la” in place of lyrics) while clapping hands. Two kids hold the ends of the pole while the others take turns going under it, bending backwards as needed. The pole starts high and is lowered a little bit each time around. The last one to crawl under without hitting the ground is the winner.

Jump, Frog, Jump

Play on the driveway. Tie an old shoe to the end of a rope. One player holds the end of the rope and spins around slowly so that the rope sweeps in a circle, low to the ground. Players must jump over the rope as it passes them. If the shoe or rope hits a player’s foot, he’s out. The last player left gets to turn the rope for the next game. Optional: Turn the rope progressively higher every few sweeps.

Ghosts in the Graveyard

A good hiding game as it starts to get dark. Half of the players hide, while others wait at the base and chant, “One o’clock, two o’clock …” up to “Midnight, midnight, we’re off to find a ghost!” They then search together or separately. The hiding “ghosts” may jump out at any time, shrieking appropriately, and try to tag the others. Those who are tagged must be the new ghosts, or if you prefer, just switch sides each time.

Sardines

One child hides while the others count. Break up for the search. Each player who finds the hider must squeeze alongside him. When the last person gets close to the hiding place, all must jump out and chase her back to the base. If she gets there before being tagged, she can start the next hiding process.

Signal Search

You need a big yard for this. Players pair up; each pair gets a flashlight. Agree upon a unique signal (a certain number or combination of long or short flashes). Players get one minute to scatter to opposite areas. At a given signal, all begin sending signals. Each pair tries to reunite quickly and be the first to return to the base.

Flashlight Tag

One child is “it.” He counts while the others hide. Then he searches, with his flashlight on the entire time, and captures other players by shining the flashlight on them and calling out their

names. Any player he can’t identify may run elsewhere and hide again. Identified players must go wait in a “jail” spot until all others are captured. Uncaptured players may run and change hiding places as desired. The last one captured is “it” for the next game.

— Daria Sockey

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