Hobbies And Interests
Hide and Seek
If your play set features nooks and crannies -- such as little rooms, areas to hide underneath the structure, and slides and monkey bars for easy get-away -- you can play hide and seek. Have all children designate a safe spot, such as a nearby tree or the play set's "driving wheel," and designate a seeker. The seeker walks to a spot where he can't see the play set, covers his eyes and counts to 20. As he counts, the other children hide around and on the play set. After he finishes counting, he searches for them, aiming to tag a hider. The hiders try to reach the safe spot before they are tagged. Once there, they are immune to the seeker's touch. Once the seeker tags a hider, the game ends and the child tagged becomes the seeker in a new game. If all children make it to the safe spot without being tagged, the game starts over with the same seeker.
Swing Races
If your play set has two or more swings, then you can challenge children with a timed swinging competition. Children sit in a swing and, upon your saying "go," start swinging back and forth to gain height. You allow the children to swing for a set time period, such as 10 minutes, during which the children attempt to swing as high as they can. Once 10 minutes have elapsed, identify the child who swung highest. If more children than swings are participating in the competitions, you can hold several rounds, and winners of each round can compete against each other to determine the "ultimate winner."
Tag
Tag is a classic game that can be played nearly anywhere, including play sets. Playing it on a play set allows for more physical exercise, challenges and opportunities for children to problem solve, such as determining which route is the fastest to escape the tagger and which route will slow the tagger down. To start, have children designate a "tagger" among the group. This child runs around in an attempt to tag another child so that he can relinquish his tagger title. All other children, dubbed "runners," try to avoid the tagger so that they don't get tagged. The game continues after a player is tagged and after the new tagger has allowed for five seconds to pass before attempting to seek runners. Throughout the game, players must keep track of, and avoid, the tagger by asking other players of his whereabouts or seeing others get tagged.
Obstacle Course Race
Obstacle courses are extremely versatile, allowing for any part of the play set to be included in the game, and requiring children to practice their ability to take turns. Before the game, help children determine the course's route, such as up the ladder, down the gliding apparatus, one trip along the monkey bars and two trips down the spiral slide before reaching the sliding pole, or the "home base" that signals the end of the course. Once the course is set, line children up and have each child run the course, timing each child as she goes. After all children have gone, determine who ran the course the fastest. This child is the winner.