HT Games
Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt is a fun and easy game for a few kids or a large group. Design a scavenger hunt around your home, backyard or garden with a theme that fits the space. For example, design an educational garden hunt with items such as sparrows, butterflies and rosemary. Create the list of objects based on the particular plants and flowers currently growing. Have the kids document their findings with a digital camera, rather than picking the flowers or trapping animals. Another home-based scavenger hunt is a themed treasure hunt. Design the hunt around a favorite movie, comic or cartoon. Lead the kids to a grand prize, such as a DVD or stuffed animal, with a series of clues. You could also design the hunt around a list of items hidden in the house or yard.
Hopscotch
Hopscotch may seem like a game best played on concrete, with colorful, chalk-drawn, numbered squares. As with many timeless games, hopscotch has evolved so that your kids can enjoy it on a level backyard or in your home. Modern hopscotch sets are made with numbered foam squares that interlock. The rules of hopscotch remain simple: Toss the marker into one of the numbered squares, hop over the square where the marker lies, and continue hopping onto each of the squares and back again. You must retrieve the marker as you pass the square on your return. Balance is critical to successfully navigating the squares, as you must hop on one foot unless you pass two squares that are side by side. The winner is the first competitor to make it through all of the squares without toppling over or using two feet on a single square. This fun and easy game is ideal for two more players.
Poor Kitty
Poor kitty is a game best played with at least six players. The kids stand in a circle with one person in the center. The center person is ‘it’ and must be blindfolded. The players in the circle walk around the center player and then stop. The center player approaches any child in the circle, who must then say “poor kitty” in a disguised voice, followed by a meow. If the blindfolded player cannot identify the chosen player, they continue as ‘it’ until they are successful. When the blindfolded player gets it right, the two players change places and the game continues.