Hobbies And Interests
Hide and Seek
Encourage the children to hide while you close your eyes and count out loud to 20. If there is a child younger than 4 years old, have him help you count or pair him up with an older child. When you get to the number "20" yell "ready or not, here I come" and begin to look for the kids. You can make a big show of looking in obscure places, like under the radiator or in the mail slot. Younger kids think that is hilarious. After everyone is found, the first person who was found counts to 20 while everyone else hides.
Board Games
Playing board games works best with children who are old enough to understand the rules and have the patience and attention span needed to complete the game. Younger kids, under age 4, often have a difficult time following the directions and staying on task long enough to play the game as intended. If you are tending to preschool-aged children who want to play board games, be flexible with the rules. If the younger kids just want to count the dots on the dice and call it a game, go with it and encourage accurate and independent counting. However, if the children want to play the actual game and it is age appropriate, instill the sense that the rules are for everyone to follow and are there to help everyone enjoy playing.
Charades
Charades is typically played with book, movie or song titles, a popular saying or a celebrity's name, but when you play with younger children it is fine to use common household items, animals and family members as the subject.
One player stands in front of the others and states the category his subject is in, such as animals, movie title or song title. He acts it out while the other players try to guess what his subject is. The mime can give clues, such as tugging on his ear to indicate one of the subject's words rhymes with the action he does, or he can hold up fingers to indicate how many words are in the movie title or subject he's chosen. If it is a movie, he can make actions like he's holding an old movie camera and must crank it. If his subject is a book title, he can mimic someone reading a book.
The person who correctly guesses the subject first, wins.
Simon Says
Simon Says is a game most children age 2 and up can play. One person stands in front of everyone else. This is "Simon," the leader. She calls out for the other children to do an action, like "scratch your head" or "hop on one foot." She must say "Simon says" before calling out the action for anyone to follow her. If she does not say "Simon says scratch your head," and just says "Scratch your head," no one should complete the action. If someone does the action without a "Simon says," he is out of the game.
Freeze Tag
Freeze tag is best played outside where there is plenty of room to run and spread out. It also works best with at least five players. One person is "it," and she tries to tag the other players. When a player is tagged, she must "freeze" in one spot. The other players can unfreeze her by tapping her on the shoulder or crawling through her legs, whichever the players are most comfortable with. Once everyone is frozen, the game starts over. The person who was tagged first becomes "it" in the new round.