Hobbies And Interests
Stuck in the Barn
Make a barn with an appliance-sized cardboard box. Cut a rectangular door out big enough for the kids to crawl through on both sides of the box. Paint the box red and use white tape to add barn details. Line the kids up single file in front of the barn. Have a helper play country music while the kids take turns crawling into the barn, rotating in a circle like musical chairs. The child caught in the barn when the music stops is out. Continue starting and stopping the music until only one child remains as the winner.
Animal Round Up
Animal round up is search and find game played with a group. Loosely pile a heap of hay in a big mound. Hay is easily found in the garden center of home improvement stores. For easy clean-up put the hay on top of a tarp. Hide plastic toy farm animals in the hay. Give every kid a quart-size berry basket. The kids gather as many animals as they can before the set time runs out. Whoever gathers the most animals wins. Pieces of candy can also be added to the hay for an added element.
Gathering Eggs
Use chalk to mark two parallel lines in the grass, three yards apart. Divide the kids into two equal teams. Each team lines up single file. The first child on each team places a raw egg on a spoon. The first person in line must walk or run across the opposing team's line holding only the spoon's handle. She then returns to her side and gives the next team member the spoon. The next child then races back and forth and passes it to the next team member. If the egg drops off the spoon they must pick it up and place it back on the spoon. If it is broken, another egg is supplied. The team with the last member crossing the line first with an unbroken egg wins.
Pig Races
Make pigs by blowing up large pink balloons. Add a pig face on each balloon with permanent black marker. Tie a short curly pink ribbon on the other end for the tail. Mark a starting point an ending point for the pig race. Divide the kids into two groups. Each team stands in single file behind the line. When the whistle blows, the first person on each team needs to get his pig to the other line and back to his next team member using a flyswatter. Once the first person returns, the next person in line goes. The first team to have every member return the pig wins. Have extra pigs in case one breaks.