Suggestions for Fun Outdoor Activities for Field Day

Froggy Finds a Pad

• This fun game idea from Education World is a little trickier than kids may expect. For each team, you'll need about five plastic disks (such as a Frisbee) and at least five bean bags. Choose five students from each team to complete this activity. Lay the disks, which are your "lily pads," on the grass about four to five feet apart, with the smooth side up so there are no edges to stop the beanbags, which represent "frogs."

  On his turn, each player must toss a "frog" onto a "lily pad" with the goal of keeping it on the pad. Points are awarded for beanbags that either land--and stay--completely on the "lily pad" (10 points) or that may be hanging over the side (five points). If the beanbag slides completely off the pad, don't award any points. After all five students have taken their turn, add up the total number of points to determine the winning team.

Fireman's Relay

• This relay game idea from Mr. Gym is fun for students, but it can get very wet--which is nice when Field Day is held just before summer vacation. For each team, you'll need a shallow, plastic wading pool filled with water, a sand pail with about six holes drilled in the bottom and a five-gallon bucket. Choose five to six players from each team and have them line up next to the wading pool. At the opposite end of the field, place a five-gallon bucket for each team.

  The object of the game is for students to use the sand pail to collect water from the pool and run it to the five-gallon bucket, dump it in, then return with the empty sand pail so the next player may take her turn. You can measure the amount of water collected in the bucket after every player has had a turn. Alternatively, Mr. Gym recommends allowing players to continue rotating through the line for two minutes and measuring the amount of water after time is up. The team with the most water collected wins.

Bubbly Ball Hunt

• This game will make a mess, but students love it. You'll need a plastic wading pool, bubble bath solution, water and 20 ping-pong balls--five each in four different colors. (You can use more balls if your pool is a large one.) Pour bubble bath in the pool and use a hose to add water, creating an overflow of bubbles. Drop the ping-pong balls into the pool in random places.

  Divide the kids into four teams and assign each team a ball color. Choose one player from each team to come to the pool and dig through the bubbles to find those balls (if you use lots of bubble solution, some will sink and others will be stuck in the bubbles). After one minute, the team that has collected the most balls--in their own color--wins.

  There are a couple of variations on this game. For instance, you can let students use their bare feet instead of their hands to collect the balls, which gets really wet, but kids have a blast. You can also have students use tongs to find balls.