Games from the Past to Enjoy with Your Children

Growing up we were outside as much as possible. The thought of staying in the house and looking at a screen was boring; we couldn't wait to go outside and play games with our friends. Back then playing in the street was not a big deal. We simply moved to one side whenever a car came by. Back in the 60's, few cars did come by, and for the most part we could play without interruption.

Of course today, playing in the street is not advisable, but you can certainly play in the front or backyard with your children. Getting them outside for fresh air and exercise will be easy once they can see how much fun it can be.

There are many outside games, but I have some from my childhood that I wanted to share, along with the rules of each game. We had many hours of fun playing these games, and I hope that you will enjoy playing them with your children.

Red Rover

• Two teams make two lines of kids facing each other and holding hands.
•  One side begins by calling out to an opposing teammate: "Red Rover, Red Rover, send "Nancy" right over."
• Then, "Nancy" lets go and runs toward the opposing team's line. The goal is to break through the line by breaking the hand-holders' grip.
• If she gets through, she chooses a person from that opposing team to join her own team, and they both have to go back to her line.
• If she fails, she becomes part of the opposing team.
• So, back and forth each team calls people over until one team has all the people and becomes the winner.

Red Light, Green Light

• One person is designated to be "it."
• This person stands at one end of the field with the rest at the other end.
• The "it" person turns their back and yells "green light!"
• Everybody then runs as fast as they can towards "it."
• At any time, "it" can turn and yell "red light!" and everyone must stop.
• If anyone is still seen moving, they have to return to the starting line.
• Basically, the first person to reach the "it" person, wins.

Hide and Seek

• One player closes his or her eyes for a brief period (often counting to 100) while the other players hide. 
• The seeker then opens his eyes and tries to find the hiders; the first one found is the next seeker, and the last is the winner of the round. 
• In one of many forms of the game, the hiders try to run back to “home base” while the seeker is away looking for them; if all of the hiders return safely, the seeker repeats as seeker in the next round.

Tag

• The "it" player tries to touch another player in order to make them " it.". 
• Once a person has been tagged, continue the game with the new "it" player trying to tag someone. 
• Stop the game when everyone is done playing. When the game stops, the person who is "it" loses.

Keep-Away

• Keep Away is played by drawing a circle on the ground about ten feet in diameter. 
• One person stands in the center and is called it, and the rest stand outside the circle. 
• A player outside the circle must then throw the ball through the circle to another person outside the circle with the goal being to prevent the person who is it from getting to the ball. 
• This continues until the person who is it catches the ball or otherwise gains possession due to a failed catch, deflection, etc.
• An intended recipient who fails to catch the ball replaces the person in the middle, unless they fail before the ball touches any part of their body. The ball cannot be torn out of any of the player's hands.

Dodge Ball

• Needed: Several playground or soft balls and a minimum of 4 players. A large playing area.
• Object of the game: Avoid being hit by balls the other team is throwing and eliminate the other teams players.
• Set up: Divide the playing area in half with a line. Place a line or object in the center of this line to mark it as the middle. Draw 2 attack lines 10 feet from the center line in each direction. Draw an “end line” rectangle at the far end of each teams playing field. Place the balls on the center line - spaced evenly.
• How to play Dodgeball: Players start the game at the end line with one foot in the rectangle. 
• At the whistle teams rush toward the middle and grab the balls only to the right side of the marker on the center line. 
• Team members throw balls at the opposite team only after they have crossed back over their own “attack” line. Players may never cross the middle line or step out of bounds.
• Players who are hit with the balls are out of the game.
• If you catch a ball thrown at you (before it hit’s the ground) then the thrower is out.
• ** Bonus: After catching the ball an eliminated player from your team gets to come back.
• Hitting a player in the face eliminates the thrower.
• Warnings: Use only soft playground balls!

A couple of others are Kick-the-Can and Tug of War. The rules for these games can easily be found online.

I hope that you have a great time playing these games with your children! The fresh air and exercise will do everyone a world of good, and they will have something to pass on to their children some day.