Super Bowl Games for Kids

Monkey In The Middle

• All you need for this game is a football and enough players to form a circle. The idea is that all the players but one form the circle, with the remaining player stands in the middle. When the game starts, the other players throw the football about from one to another, with the player in the middle, known as 'the monkey', trying to catch the ball. If she does so, the player in the middle swaps with whichever player's throw she intercepted, and the game continues.

DIY Football Toss

• This game can be played either outdoors or indoors, but try to play outdoors unless it's raining. Wherever you play, clear a space by removing anything breakable and placing most of the furniture to one side. You need paper streamers, perhaps in the colors of one of the competing Super Bowl teams, along with a fairly soft football--a plastic or Nerf version will work. Hang the streamers from the ceiling or from a fence with tape to make goalposts; challenged kids to play quarterback and throw the football through the gap between the streamers to "score."

Guesses

• This indoor predictions game is suited for older children with some knowledge of how football works--with prizes on the line, it could keep them interested in the game. Sit the kids down before the game begins and ask them to place "bets" on a variety of topics: which team will win, what the score will be at the end of each quarter and at the end of the game, which team will win the coin flip, and so on. Each child writes down his answer on a piece of paper, and an adult collects all the guesses until the game is over. The child who guessed right for each category wins a small prize.

Cheers

• Encourage younger kids, especially girls, to watch the game with you by giving them cheerleading jobs. Before the game starts, split the kids into two teams, with each representing one of the two teams playing in the Super Bowl. Give each team pom-poms and perhaps mini-microphones and have them create a cheer to perform when their team scores. Afterward, the adults can judge which team's cheer was the best.