ABC Matching Game
Making this game requires frozen juice lids, paper, scissors, tape or glue, and clear adhesive paper. Print the alphabet onto sheets of paper, once in lowercase and once in uppercase. Make each letter small enough to fit within a juice lid, and leave enough space between letters to fit a juice lid. Cut out the letters and tape or glue them to the juice lids. Then cover the lids with clear adhesive paper to make them smooth. The game is played by turning the lids over and playing a matching game. The upper and lower case letters count as a match (B, b).
Balloon Powered Race
This game is fun for children ages 5 to 13. Balloon cars are made from: balloons, water-bottle caps, cardboard, straws, kabob sticks, rubber bands, non-drying clay and masking tape. Form a car using cardboard as the base and bottle caps as wheels. Use straws and kabob sticks for axles of the car, using the clay to hold the sticks inside the straws. Place a straw inside the balloon and use the rubber band to hold the straw in place. Tape the balloon to the top of the car. To play, the balloons are blown up and released at the same time. The car that goes the furthest wins.
Beanbag Game
Games with handmade beanbags are classic. The bags can be knitted or made from pieces of cloth sewn or glued together, with beans placed inside the bags as weights. There are several variations of this game that kids can play. For the first game, draw a series of squares on the ground in chalk. Have the children stand back from the squares and throw the bean bags onto the squares. The child who reaches the square furthest away wins. For another game, have children compete to knock something over, such as a bowling pin. Another variation of this game is to have children toss the bags into a target such as a box, trashcan or cardboard cutout.
Can Stilts Race
This is a fun racing game that is best played on grass to avoid skinned knees. This game requires several coffee cans (two for each racer), a can opener (that can punch through metal), kabob sticks and nylon clothesline. Punch two holes in each can near the edge of the unopened end, placing the holes on opposite sides. Poke a kabob stick through each hole and trim it so that it is just a little longer than the can (this is done to prevent the string from getting cut by the can).Tie two lengths of string to each end of the stick. Tie the ends of the string together. Have the children grab hold of the string and stand on the cans. Allow the children to race across a flat, grassy area. The first one to the finish line wins.