Active for Life offers ideas for keeping children engaged outdoors with “games that you can set up on the spur of the moment, no gear or equipment necessary!”

Josee Bergeron, in an article for Active for Life, talks about how “having a list of easy-to-organize no-equipment outdoor games is very handy for play dates, birthday parties, family gatherings, and many other situations where you need to get kids moving and having fun at a moment’s notice”.

Whilst many of the games are fun variations on basic ‘tag’ or leader-led “go-go-stop” for school-aged kids, some that suit toddlers and pre-school-aged children as well include:

·      Animal races: Let the kids behave like animals! Line kids up on one side of an area and have them race to a finish line using different animal movements: crawl like a crab, hop like a bunny, waddle like a duck, run like a gorilla, etc.

·      Sardines: This Hide-and-Seek variation is my kids’ favourite. To play Sardines, the “it” player hides while the rest close their eyes and count. The players spread out and look for the hidden person. If a player finds the “it” person they hide with him. This continues until all the players have found the “it” person and are hiding with him.

·      Ring around the Rosie: For this sing-song game, children hold hands and walk in a circle while singing: “Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies, husha, husha, we all fall down!” At the last verse, children all fall on the ground together.

·      London Bridge is Falling Down: For this nursery song game, two children face each other and make an arch by holding hands. The other children walk under the arch one at a time while making a circle. The children sing the nursery rhyme (see the lyrics below) and when the final line is sung—“my fair lady”—the arch falls down and traps the child walking underneath. The games continue until all the children have been captured. [“London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady.”]

·      Simon(e) says: Start by picking one child to be Simon(e) and have the other children gather around. Simon(e) gives commands to the other children by saying “Simon(e) says…” and picking an action. For example, “Simon(e) says hop up and down” or “Simon(e) says clap your hands” or “Simon(e) says quack like a duck.” If Simon(e) gives a command without starting with “Simon(e) says,” any player that does the action is out! For younger children, start with an adult or older child as the leader and keep the actions simple.

·      Follow the Leader: Choose one child to be the leader and have all the other children to line up behind the leader. The children have to copy the movements of the leader, and if they don’t do the movements correctly, they get eliminated. For younger children, start with an adult or older child as the leader and keep the actions simple.