Creative Games for Children

Water Balloon Basketball

• Kids will be able to cool off on a hot day with this water balloon game. Fill a bucket with several water balloons and fill another bucket with water. Spread a piece of masking tape along the ground about three or four feet away from the water-filled bucket to indicate where children should stand. Kids take turns trying to shoot water balloons into the water-filled bucket. The child who is shooting the water balloon stands on the tape while his opponents stand around the bucket. Whether the balloon lands in the bucket or not, the opponents will get wet -- which makes this a perfect game for a hot day. The child who lands the most balloons in the bucket wins the game.

Sit Tag

• Most kids enjoy chasing one another while playing tag; provide them with a new twist on this classic game. Select one person to be "it." She chases the rest of the children, trying to tag them. Upon being tagged, a player must sit down in the place he was standing. If he can reach out and touch someone else who is running past him, he is back in the game and the person he touch sits in his place. The object of the game is for "it" to tag all of the players.

Where's the Bone

• In this guessing game, one child is selected to play the part of a dog. The dog sits in a chair with his back to the rest of the players and an object -- a block or a ball, for example -- is chosen to represent his bone and is placed underneath the chair. While the dog has his eyes closed, choose a player to take the bone and hold it behind his back. Before the dog turns around, all of the players must put their hands behind their backs to try to fool the dog. The dog turns around and gets three chances to try to guess who stole his bone; if he guesses correctly, the person who stole the bone is the new dog. If he doesn't guess, he plays the role of the dog again for the next round.

Bubble Gum Search

• This game is for children (and adults) who don't mind a mess. If you're playing with a group of children, split the group into teams of three or four children; if you're playing with a smaller group, children can play individually. Place a piece of bubble gum on a paper plate and completely cover it with whipped cream, with one plate for each player or team. With his hands behind his back, one player from each team or each child must use his mouth to eat or move the whipped cream until he finds the piece of bubble gum. Upon finding the bubble gum, players must chew it and blow a bubble. The first person to do this wins the game, or earns a point for his team. If the game is being played with teams, allow each player to have a turn and the team who collects the most points wins.