Fun Games for 9-Year-Olds

Ball Games

• Divide the 9-year-olds into two teams, and give each player a broom. Inexpensive brooms are available at most dollar stores. Use masking tape or chalk to draw a large rectangle, 40 feet long and 20 feet wide. Place two baskets or buckets of the same size on their side at each end of the box to act as the goals. Players must use the broom to pass a soccer-size ball from player to player to try to score goals in the baskets. The first team to score five goals wins the game.

  For another ball game, the children can play a game of keep away. Two players stand facing each other about 10 feet away. As they toss a soft ball back and forth, a third player will stand in the middle to try to intercept the ball. If he is successful, the player who threw the ball goes in the middle.

Water Games

• Give two players a large jump rope and two other players a large cup of water. Have the two players twirl the jump rope, while the other two players jump with the cup of water. After 20 jumps, the player with the most water left in her cup wins the game. You can also keep playing until one player's cup is empty, which means she loses the game.

  For a water relay, divide the children into two even teams and give each team a bucket of water. Have the team members line up in a single file line facing the back of the player in front of them. Give each team five sponges, and have the team members dip each sponge in the water and pass it down the team line. The children must pass the sponges over their head and through their legs. They must wait until each sponge reaches the end of the line before passing the next sponge. The first team to get all five sponges down their team line wins the game.

Balloon Games

• Mark a standing line, and have all the children line up across the line. Give each child balloons of the same size. When you say, "Blow," the children must blow up the balloon and let it go. The player whose balloon travels farthest from the line wins the game.

  The children can also play a balloon-popping game. Divide the players into groups of three or four, and blow up 20 balloons for each team (giving each team their own color). When you say, "Pop," the team members must race to pop their own balloons. The first team to pop all its balloons wins the game.

Tag Games

• Pin five clothespins on the back of each player's shirt. When you say, "Go," the players must run around trying to grab the other players' clothespins, while trying to avoid having their own clothespins taken. Once a player loses all of his clothespins, he is out of the game. The last player with a clothespin wins the game.

  For another tag game, use tape or rope to mark off a 10-foot square. Select one player to be the lion, and have her get in the box on all fours. All the others player must run through the box trying to avoid the lion. If the lion tags a player, that player is the new lion.