Home >> Games & Cards >> Kids Games

Great Lakes Games for Kids

The Great Lakes offers beautiful and unique beaches. The fresh water rolls ashore in typically more mild-mannered waves than the ocean. The average summer air temperature is in the eighties and the shoreline is flanked by woodsy sand dunes. Organize a few games for your children to play along the Great Lakes shoreline to help enjoy the unique beauty of the Midwest.

Castle Battle
- Put a flag atop the castle and try to steal the other.
  
  The coarse sand of Great Lakes beaches packs well when moist, making it easy to run across. Divide a group of children into two teams. Place an "X" in the sand about 20 yards apart and draw a line in the sand mid-way between the two castles. Each team must build a sand castle on their "X." The teams must place a flag atop their castle. At the signal, each team must try to run across the beach to capture the others' flag and bring it back to their own castle without getting tagged. To defend their castle, children must tag a runner from the other team as they cross over the mid-line. Tagged runners must go back to touch their own castle and can try again.
Marble Track
- Moist, packed sand will create a smooth track to roll a marble on.
  
  The coarse sand along the Great Lakes is comprised primarily of crushed rock rather than the crushed shells along the ocean. When moist, this sand packs together well and holds its shape. Divide a group of children into teams of four. Give each team a marble and the instructions to use the sand to construct a marble track that will roll their marble as far as possible. Use a tape measure to measure whose marble travels the farthest from starting point to the place where the marble stops.
Driftwood Balance
- Whether deposited by creeks and rivers or washed ashore from boats, the beach is peppered with driftwood.
  
  There is very little animal life that washes ashore on the beaches of the Great Lakes. However, driftwood peppers the sand. Countless streams and rivers feed into the lakes carrying wood pieces smoothed over time by the waves and sand in the lake. Divide a group of children into two teams. Each team must search out a small piece of driftwood they will carry on their foreheads. Line the two teams up next to each other. About 20 yards away, mark the turn around point. At the signal, the first runners in line must balance the driftwood on their forehead, run around the turn-around point and pass the driftwood to the next runner only after they have run past the next runner. This runner will take the driftwood and attempt the same course. If the driftwood falls off the forehead, runners must replace it on their head, take three steps backward and try again. The first team to cross every runner over the finish line is the winner,
Dune Race
- Race down the majestic sand dunes.
  
  The Great Lakes beaches boast the largest freshwater sand dunes in the world. They are a beautiful habitat to many unique forms of life. Have children climb up to the top of one of these remarkable formations of nature. Once at the top, soak in the view of the water and shoreline below for a few moments. At the signal, tell the children to race to the bottom of the dune. Gravity will pull them faster than their legs can carry them and many racers will find themselves tumbling head-over-heels into the soft sand of the dune. The first runner to reach the bottom is the winner. Challenge them to another dune running race.

Kids Games