Games to Play With Three Children

Outdoor Games

• "Hide and Seek" has one player is "it," and "it"has to find the other two players after they hide. "Red Light, Green Light," has one player start as the traffic light. That player has to stand with his back to the other two players and say "green light" as the others walk toward him. The light can turn around and will turn around and shout "red light," prompting the other two to stop. The player still moving goes back to the start.

Creative Games

• A story-telling game can get the three kids engaged in creative thought. Give them a story starter, then have each of them add a line to their story beginning with "fortunately," or "unfortunately." Another game, "Exquisite Corpse," is played on paper. Fold the top 1-inch of a sheet of paper down, fold the next inch down and repeat. Instruct the first player to draw in just the first inch of the drawing, then fold the paper down so just the bottom 1/8-inch is exposed. The paper is passed to the other two players who fill another inch.

Card Games

• Three older kids can make a game like "Rummy" work, while three younger ones can play a simple "Go Fish." "Mexican Train" is a dominoes game for three or four players that involves strategy, problem solving and luck.

Video Games

• A lot of games on the Wii console work with multiplayer players, but they do require extra equipment for each player. For example, "Wii Party," or the "Deca Sports" series have multiplayer modes to accommodate three children. "Wii Party" is a multiplayer board-game type experience with minigames. "Deca Sports" contains 10 sports games. The rules of each game are explained at the beginning.