Games for a 9-Year-Old

Egg Games

• Play a couple of games outdoors using eggs and a few 9-year-olds. Have the children select a partner and give each team an egg. See who can toss the egg the farthest distance without breaking or dropping it. Have an egg and spoon relay race by marking a starting line. Mark a run-to line 20 feet away. Give each child an egg and a plastic spoon. The first player to run to the run-to line and back carrying the egg on his spoon wins the race. If a player drops an egg, have him start over with a new egg. Alternatively, play this game relay style by having the children pass the eggs off to each other. The first team to finish wins the race.

Funny Games

• Ask the children to stand in a circle and select one player to go first. The first player will say "Ha." The next player must say "Ha, Ha." Each player must add a "Ha." If a player messes up the number of "Has" or laughs, she is out of the game. The last player remaining wins the game. With the children still standing in a circle, toss a feather in the middle of the circle. They must laugh and chuckle until the feather hits the ground. Any child caught laughing when the feather is not in the air is out of the game. The last player remaining wins the game.

Water Games

• Split the kids into teams of two. Give each team a water gun and a cup. One player must hold the cup five feet away from the player with the water gun. When you say "Go," the players must squirt the water into the cup to try to fill it. The first team to fill the cup up with water using the water gun wins the race. Place a bucket on the ground for the children to use to fill up their guns. The children can also play a game of drip, drip, splash instead of duck, duck, goose. "It" will drip water on each player's head from a cup until he chooses the player he wants to chase him and he will dump the entire cup on his head.

Other Games

• Other games include homemade bowling games and scavenger hunts. Make a homemade bowling game using empty plastic bottles and a soccer ball. For a summer party, use pineapples as bowling pins and coconuts as bowling balls. Create an indoor or outdoor scavenger hunt using small rubber balls. Spray paint the balls different colors to correspond to different point values. The player who earns the highest amount of points wins the game.