Outdoor Games for Families

Summer is fleeting so get out and get as much fresh air as you can with your family and friends! During COVID, please practise appropriate social distancing measuring.

KICK THE CAN

YOU WILL NEED A TIN CAN and FIVE OR MORE PLAYERS

  • Put rocks in your can to make it noisy
  • Determine your play boundaries – you should have a few hiding places and an open area in the play field
  • Designate a jail area (park bench, swing set, etc)
  • Choose someone to be THE SEEKER
  • Set up the can in a wide open space
  • SEEKER will close their eyes and count to 10 or 20 to give the players time to hide
  • The SEEKER then must find hiders by calling out their name and hiding spot
  • Once a HIDING PLAYER has been found, he or she has to race the SEEKER to the can and kick it, then hide again
  • If the SEEKER beats the HIDING PLAYER to the can and kicks it first, the HIDER goes to JAIL
  • Hiding Players have to wait in jail to be released by someone who has kicked the can
  • When a player kicks the can, prisoners are released and the game is reset

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VARIATION – PLAY THIS GAME AT NIGHT AND TAG PEOPLE WITH YOUR FLASHLIGHT! MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR PARENTS’ PERMISSION AS PLAYING IN THE DARK CAN ADD DANGER TO THE GAME. ALL PLAYERS SHOULD WEAR A HEADLAMP AND USE THEIR HEADLAMP UNTIL THEY GET TO THEIR HIDING PLACE. PLAYERS SHOULD TURN THEIR HEADLAMP ON TO RUN TO THE CAN TOO.

MAP RELAY RACE

AS SIMPLE (or complicated) AS YOU WANT TO MAKE IT

EXAMPLE OF A MAP  FOR TEAMS WITH 5 PLAYERS/TEAM.

PLAY WITH TWO OR MORE TEAMS: EACH TEAM SHOULD HAVE 3 OR 4 PLAYERS AND ONE COPY OF A HAND DRAWN MAP/TEAM.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN, CHOOSE A LARGE AREA WITH OPEN AREAS, BUILDINGS, BUSHES OR OTHER LANDMARKS. WALK THROUGH THE AREA TO MAKE SURE IT IS SAFE TO RUN THROUGH WITHOUT GETTING HURT BY HIDDEN OBJECTS, BARBWIRE, ETC.

  1. HAVE A NEUTRAL PERSON DRAW A MAP OF THE RELAY COURSE.
  2. THE MAP SHOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
  • STARTING POINT/FINISH POINT (SAME)
  • RELAY STOP #1
  • RELAY STOP #2 (HIDDEN FROM VIEW OF RELAY STOP #1)
  • RELAY STOP #3 (IF YOU HAVE FOUR PLAYERS)
  • ANY NOTABLE LANDMARKS (UNIQUE TREES, BUILDINGS, SIGNS, ETC.)

3.  MAP DRAWER MAKES ONE COPY OF THE MAP/TEAM BUT DOES NOT SHOW IT TO THE TEAMS.

4.  BLIND FOLD ALL RUNNERS AND MAKE SURE THEY DON’T HAVE A PHONE WITH THEM.

4.  ONE RUNNER FROM EACH TEAM REMOVES BLINDFOLDS BEFORE MAP DRAWER ESCORTS THEM TO RELAY STOP #1

5.  MAP DRAWER ESCORTS ONE RUNNER FROM EACH TEAM TO RELAY STOP #2 AND SO ON (ONLY REMOVE BLINDFOLDS BEFORE BEING ESCORTED TO YOUR POSITION.

6.  ONE RUNNER FROM EACH TEAM REMAINS AT THE STARTING POINT.

7.  MAP MAKER GIVES THE RUNNERS AT THE STARTING POINT THE MAP  AND THEY STUDY THE MAP TO FIND THEIR TEAM MATES AT RELAY STOP #1

8.  RUNNERS PASS THE MAP ON TO THEIR TEAM MATE AND RETURN TO STARTING POINT.

9.  THE FIRST TEAM WITH ALL THEIR RUNNERS BACK AT THE STARTING POINT WINS.

BUILD AN OBSTACLE COURSE!

Course organizer can choose whether to do this as a timed event or give points for each obstacle completed or both. Set up the course in advance with numbered flags at each obstacle. Make it safe and have an adult supervisor help! Try some of the ideas below.

  • Walk a log balancing act – take off the branches to avoid injuries
  • Swing on a rope over a kiddy pool or mud puddle. (Ensure that you use strong rope and that it is tied properly to ensure that it doesn’t break or untie while kids are swinging on it).
  • Crawl under a fence or table – Plank fences only, no barbwire!
  • Vertical pole slalom run (use sturdy sticks pounded into the ground)
  • Hula Hoop Run – Lay several hula hoops down end to end. Participants must step into each hoop, pull them up and over their body then lay them back down as they step into the next hoop
  • Putt a golf ball into a cup/into a hole – choose a rough or smooth surface.
  • Climb Over an Obstacle – maybe a fallen tree that’s not too low to the ground
  • Limbo Pole