Children's Games About Horses

H-O-R-S-E

• Perhaps the most famous children's game about horses is the H-O-R-S-E basketball game. The children stand in a line and take turns trying to make a basket from various points on the court. A child chooses where he wants to stand each time he takes a shot and if he successfully makes a basket, all of the other children must make a basket from the same spot. The first child to miss gets the letter "H" (and then "O" and then "R" and so on) and play continues. When a child gets all the letters of "horse" he is out of the game. The winner is the last child who has not completed spelling "horse."

Galloping Horses

• Teach students the following song:

  Gallop, gallop
  Just like a horse
  There's a river! Watch out!
  Slow down, of course.

  Sing this chant as you run together, first quickly for the first two lines of the song and then slowly at the third line, until you stop entirely at the last line. Repeat this over and over again to help preschool kids get out their excess energy. Make sure that you do it outside in a large open area. Alternatively, you can have them sing the chant as they run around in a circle inside.

Make Believe Horses

• Using an image of a horse from a coloring book, make an extra-large copy of the picture and trace it onto a piece of poster board. Cut out the horse and let your child decorate it. You can even use torn strips of newspaper or tissue paper for the mane and tail. Then let your child play with her horse around the house, giving it meals (possibly from a bucket), combing its mane and riding it around the pasture (or the backyard). If you have several kids, you can arrange for horse races or have the horses play together. This game is perfect for imaginative kids who love horses.