Summer is here so let the fun begin! Many kids find themselves with a lot of free time during this extended break from school. Summer is the perfect time to start a new project, read some new books and have some fun with friends outside in the sunshine. Instead of spending time in front of the television or the video game machine, try having some fun outdoors with your friends. In last week's edition of the Tribune there were a couple of great ideas for some fun outdoor games. Here are a few more outdoor games for you to try have fun and good luck!
This game requires four people to play. The game is played in four squares that all connect forming one larger square. Each square should be roughly 6x6 feet in size. You can designate the squares with anything, but if you need to draw the squares- chalk works best and it can easily be erased. This game requires one large ball that can easily bounce (a rubber kickball works best). Each player occupies one square. Each square also has a rank order from 1-4. The 1 square player begins the game.
The game is played by each person letting the ball bounce once in their square and then bouncing it into another player's square. Play continues until A player hits the ball outside another player's square A player hits the ball before it bounces once in their square A player allows the ball to bounce twice in their square
The player that loses the round must go to the lowest ranking square (# square). All of the other players then move up in order to the higher squares.
Most people know the rules of the simple game of tag. One person is the "it" person and must run around and try to touch the other players. Once someone is tagged, they become the new "it" person. The game continues until everyone is tagged or everyone is just simply too tired. But try these fun variations of the game of tag.
In this version, when the person is tagged, they must freeze with their feet apart. They can become unfrozen by another free player going under the legs of the frozen player. Play continues until everyone is frozen. The last person that is tagged becomes the next "it" person.
In this version, when the person is tagged, they must freeze in place. They can become unfrozen by another free player touching them while yelling the name of a television show- like "Seasame Street". Each television show can only be named once. Play continues until everyone is frozen. The last person that is tagged becomes the next "it" person.
Is your family planning on going on a vacation this summer? Are you going to be spending an extended amount of time in a car traveling with your family? Well we know that sitting in a car with nothing to do for a long period of time can be very boring. So here are some fun car games that you play with your brothers and sisters (and even your parents) while you are on that long car journey. These games are creative and challenging and can turn that long monotonous car journey into a fun and interactive car- riding experience!
This game requires at least two people to play. The first person starts of by saying a letter such as "p". The next person then shouts out another letter such as "i". The trick of this game is that every person that shouts a letter must have an idea of a word that can be completed with the serious of letters that have already been said. For example, many words are started with "pi" such as pink, pillow or piano. The game becomes trickier and more challenging once the series of letters increases. Each player has the option of either saying another letter or challenging the last person that shouted out a letter. If a player (let's call him Player A) challenges the last person to say a letter (let's call her Player B), Player A must say the word that they had in mind. If Player A has a real word in mind, Player B gets a point. If Player A was bluffing and did not have a real word in mind then Player A gets a point. Once someone gets five points they are out of the game.
The Question Game This game begins by one player called the "master" player thinking of a person, place, or thing and keeping it a secret. The other players must then try to guess the identity of this unknown person, place or thing by asking the "master" player a series of yes/no questions. The other players should also try to phrase these questions so the "master" player responds with a "yes" answer to their question. For example, let's say that the "master" player is thinking of Brittney Spears. The other players then start to ask yes/no questions such as "Is it a person?", "Is it male?", "Is this person still alive?", or "Is this person a movie star?". If the "master" player answers "yes" to a question -the other players become closer to narrowing down the identity of the unknown person, place or thing. If the "master" player answers "no" to a question- the other players must gain permission to ask more questions.
The players gain permission by stumping the "master" player. This is accomplished by the other players asking the "master" player to name three things in a particular category. The "master" player has 60 seconds to come up three items in that category. The categories can be as creative as the players can imagine- but the goal is for the category to be challenging enough so the "master" player can not name three items in that category within 60 seconds. Some examples are "Name three animals that begin with the letter p", "Name three movies starring Tom Cruise", or "Name three countries in Africa". The trick is that the player that asks the question must know three correct answers to their own question.
Once the players gain permission they can begin to ask more yes/no questions to the "master" player. The game continues until someone guesses the correct identity of the person, place or thing. The player who guesses the correct identity becomes the new "master" player. If the players do not guess the correct identity after three tries, the "master" player remains the "master" player in the next game.
This object of this game is to search for the letters of the alphabet on billboards and other signs on the side of the road. The players must yell out the letters of the alphabet in order from a to z. Every player gets one point for each letter they find. Once one letter has been spotted by someone, everyone must move on to the next letter. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
This game can also be played with each player looking for all of the letters independently. In this version, each player must find all the letters on signs and billboards in order from a-z. However, the same letter from the same place cannot be used twice. Once one person calls the letter from a particular sign, another player cannot use the same letter from the same sign. The first person to finish the alphabet is the winner.