Back to School Games for Kids

15 Seconds

• Choose a seeker and have all the other children stand around them. With the seeker's eyes closed, the other players have to place one hand on the seeker's shoulders for 15 seconds. After the 15 second countdown, the players must run and find a hiding place. Once the seeker reaches zero, they are allowed to take three steps, however their eyes must remain closed. After the three steps, the seeker can open their eyes and search for the other students. This game continues when someone is found and tagged; now that person must try to find the hiding players.

Four Square

• Draw a ten foot square on a paved surface with chalk. Divide the square into four smaller squares and number the squares one to four. The object of this game is for the four players to bounce the ball back and forth into each others square. One player is the server and they must tap the ball (after one bounce) into another student's square and the game commences until someone misses the ball, lets the ball bounce more than once or hits it out of the square boundary. The player who misses the ball steps out of his square, the remaining players rotate up to the server position and another player is able to step into the empty square to play.

D.E.A.R. Tag

• This game is a variation of the Drop Everything And Read acronym which is used in the classroom. A player is picked to be "It" and has to chase the other players, who must carry a book. In order to save themselves from being tagged, the players can stop running, open their books and begin reading aloud. As long as the students are reading and standing still, they cannot be tagged. Those students who are tagged are sent to the "library" (which is a designated spot on the playground). To free them, other players have to run to them and swap books. When all but one player remains, he becomes the new "It."

No Way Out Tag

• To begin this tag game, designate one student to be "It" and another to be the "Runner." The remaining students join hands in a circle. Count down from three to start the game, and have the children drop their hands to allow "It" to chase the "Runner." Both players weave in and out of the students in the circle and each time the "Runner" passes between two students in the circle, they must immediately lock hands while yelling "No way out" This causes the child who is "It" to no longer able to pass between those students with clasped hands. When "It" tags the "Runner," the two must exchange roles or other students may be chosen for these positions and play continues.