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Games for Active Young Children

Children need to get outside when they are active, so they can move around and play with other kids. Physical activities offer the best way for active, young kids to exercise and develop teamwork skills. In addition, these games provide agility and problem solving lessons that help kids learn lessons that they will retain as they grow older.

Snake in the Gutter
- To start, Three or four children line up with about five feet of space between them. These kids play the snakes. The rest of the kids playing the game stand at a distance of 15 to 20 feet away. The parent or leader of the game shouts, "Snake in the gutter." Now the kids must run towards the line of snakes and try to get through the line without getting tagged. If tagged, they must now become the snakes. The game is played until everyone gets caught.
Red Rover
- Kids separate into two groups of equal numbers and line up in a straight line across from another. The members of each group hold hands with their team members, about three feet apart but they get closer when trying to block a child from breaking through. Then one team starts the game by singing, "Red rover, red rover, send ______ right over," with a child's name filling the blank. The called child runs forward and tries to break through the held hands of two kids on the opposing team. If he or she breaks through, then he or she chooses a player from the opposing team to go back and join hers. If called child fails to break through, then he or she joins the opposing team. Then the other team calls over a child in the same way. One side wins when they have all have all the players on their team.
Blanket Ball
- Kids get into two or three teams of four. Each player holds a corner of a blanket. One team starts by placing a volleyball in the center of their blanket, then lowering and lifting the blanket quickly to toss the volleyball into the air. The opposing teams then have to move and catch the volleyball, then send it up into the air again for another team to catch and do the same. The game continues until one side drops the ball or fails to catch the ball in their blanket.
Hide-and-Seek
- First, someone is chosen to be "It" and becomes the seeker. With eyes closed, the seeker faces the opposite direction of the other children playing and counts slowly to 10 or 20 (or more, depending on the number of people and size of the hiding space). When finished counting, the seeker shouts, "Ready or Not," and starts to seek the hidden players. Now the hidden players must avoid being found out by the seeker, who tags the first person he or she is able to catch. The caught player becomes "It" for the next round.

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