#MIKidsCan Monday: 4 “Old School” Games to Share with Your Kids
Adriane Davis
| 3 min read
With the popularity of video games, television and cell phones, it can be difficult to get your child outside to play. Do you remember what it was like to get home from school, rush through home assignments and jet out the door to play with your friends? You can make playing outside just as fun for your kids by dusting off a few games that you probably forgot about.
Capture the flag
What you’ll need:
- 10-20 players
- A large playing area
- Two objects that will serve as flags
How to play:
Split the players into two teams and decide where to split the playing field in half. The two halves will serve as territories for the respective teams. Both teams have to decide where the jails are located, for captured players. Each team will secretly decide where to hide their flag on their respective sides. In order to capture the flag, a player must be able to move past their opponents, unnoticed, and bring the flag back to their territory. If a player is caught or tagged on the opposite side’s territory, they will be sent to jail. Players can escape from jail if another member of their team can distract the guard.
TV tag
What you’ll need:
- 3-15 players
- One person to start off as “it”
- An open playing area
How to play:
TV tag is a just a variation of tag where when players are tagged, they have to immediately touch the ground and yell out a television show. The person who is “it” has to choose a genre for the television show such as comedy, reality, etc. If the person who is tagged takes too long to answer, repeats an answer, or forgets to touch the ground with their hand, they will be out of the game for that round.
Hopscotch
What you’ll need:
- 2-15 players
- Sidewalk chalk
- A rock, bottle cap, or coin as a marker
How to play:
Start by drawing the traditional hopscotch squares from numbers 1-8 or 1-10, depending on how difficult you want the game to be. The first person has to toss the marker into the first square, number one. If the first player misses the first square, they have to go to the end of the line. If they make it, they have to hop over the first square and into the second and third and so on until they reach the top. After they have reached the top, they have to turn around and hop back without stepping on any lines and skip over the first the square again. Their turn will continue by tossing the marker into the second square. They will only be out if they miss the square with the marker or step on any lines.
Monkey in the middle
What you’ll need:
- 3-5 players
- A ball
How to play:
Monkey in the middle is a traditional game of keep away. One or two players are in the middle and two other players, on each end, are on the outside tossing a ball back forth to each other. The goal is for the people in the middle to catch the ball and switch places with the outside players. There are many variations of this game including a version in a pool.
What are games that you play with your kids? Tell us what we missed in the comments below.
This blog post is part of #MIKidsCan, an initiative created by Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan to promote positive change in the health and well-being of Michigan youth. To learn more about the campaign, visit https://www.ahealthiermichigan.org/mikidscan
Photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography
