Favorite "Old School" Games? Kick the Can...

Red Light Green Light
A deck of cards is good (Old Maid, Do Fish, Crazy 8's)
A ball for kick ball (will work for dodge ball, too)
A bag of marbles
Here are some sites which explain the rules for lots of games:

http://www.gameskidsplay.net

http://www.indianchild.com/outdoor_games.htm

I always liked the rhymes kids learn when they are choosing who goes first
One potato, two potato
Eeny Meeny Miney Mo

My son came home from preschool with a rhyme I didn't know when I was growing up.
"One two
Skip a few
Ninety nine
One hundred!"

depending on their age I played 500 its a math game where one person throws the football high in the air like throwing a t.d. and as they throw it they yell out a # 25, 50,100 and so on till someone reaches a total of 500 or more. each person is responsible for their totals when they catch the ball. kind of like playing horse. the first to reach 500 gets to throw the ball and so on.

Hi S.-

What fun!!

Some of the 'oldies' I remember are 'freeze tag'...'red light green light'...'mother may I'...'hide and seek'...'charades'...'marbles'...'jacks'...'jump rope'... 'chinese' jump rope....kickball...dodge ball...volley ball...badminton...croquet...football...

Have FUN!!
Michele/cat

I don't see a post with Simon Says in it. One person (simon) is it and says Simon says touch your toes... But if he/she says "touch your toes" and you do, you're out. Gotta listen for the "Simon Says".

Another game I used to play,, Catch the tail (or something like that). kids make a train and the caboose has a tail (sock, rag, clean hanky) stuck in his/her back pocket. Object is for the leader of the pack to grab the tail.

If you have a group of older/not easily frustrated kids, there's Human Knot. Everyone stands in a circle facing each other and grabs a hand of 2 different people (cannot grab immediate neighbors hand) and then they use teamwork to untangle the knot (w/o letting go), should make a complete circle when done... Often helpful for outside eyes to give advice.

Red Rover of course. I'm thinking along the lines of the other response (if you break through, you get an extra person for your team)

my FAVORITE game as a kid....sardines. It's the opposite of hide n seek...only one person hides and they find the smallest hardest spot to get into and as people are looking and find the hider...they hide with them. So the more people you have the more people you have to cram into this little space. It's all the fun of hide n seek...you get to hide and seek all in the same turn. The last person to find the can of sardies is the first person to hide next.

Red Rover, Red Rover send Jack right over.

I'm sure I'm about to duplicate what others have said but as a child I remember playing (either in my neighborhood or at the school playground):

1: Jump rope (double dutch was a favorite)
2: Hide & Seek
3: Ghost in the Graveyard
4: Kickball
5: Bumbard-o (aka, dodge ball)
6: Hopscotch
7: The game where you throw a ball over a structure (house in my neighborhood) to the opposing team on the other side. Whoever caught it had to throw it back over, points were kept but it also tested the honesty of players looking back:)
8: badminton
9: croquet
10: snipe hunting (great game for the little ones that have never played)
11: Kite flying
12: building dams in the gutter with water and mud.

revising my lame o answers kiddo says chardes is way cooler.

someone suggested the 500 game-- I remember playing something, there was one person with a ball, and everyone else was assigned a number by a grownup or the oldest player, the numbers were chronological so if there were 9 other players one was 1, the next was #2 and so on. everyone gathered around the ball person, then the person with the ball tossed it up in the air, simutaniusly calling out a number 1-9 ( I guess you might need to tell them outright what the highest number is if they don't know to count players) Everyone Scatters when the ball is thrown The person whose number is called has to catch the ball, (they have to freeze where the catch it) and i think they need to yell stop so others quite moving. then the person with the ball throws it at the feet of anyone else, if the person catches it they are safe, if it misses them they are safe, if they get hit with the ball they have to be the one to toss the ball in the air and call out a number. whew complicated but fun,.
you could google to find rules on these

my first sthought was 4 ssquare you draw 4 equal boxes with chalk on cement, four people each get one square, then bounce the ball into the square and ther person has to bounce it to a differnent square , not sure of all the rules.

Kickball sounds great for your crowd.

You could also take crafts and teach them to knit or crochet.
have fun!!

Oooh. I always liked Red Rover: two lines of people facing each other, everyone (in their line) holds hands, then you call out-"Red Rover, Red Rover send "Janie" right over!". Then Janie had to try and break through the chain.
I don't remember what happened if she broke through but if she didn't break through she would be absorbed by the opposing team.
Maybe if she broke through she took a player back to her team?
Maybe someone else remembers... :)
HTH!

What a cool idea!! No electronics!! Forcing the kids to actually use their imagination. Going to have to adopt this idea soon. Love it. LOL....

I remember playing kick ball on our street. Played touch football. Acted out tv shows (we used to play Dukes of Hazzard - my favorite show at the time) kind of lame I guess but we had fun. Played red rover, hide and seek, simon says......

Have fun!!! Teach them that you don't have to be glued to a screen to have fun.

A million forms of tag....2 of my faves....
* TV tag (you run around and to not be tagged, you ahve to say the name of a TV show we all basically knew, then sit quick to avoid getting tagged)
* Toilet tag...if you get tagged you need to be a toilet...your arm out as the flusher is all you do...then anyone free can "flush" you. All the free peeps run amok flushing their friends.

Kick the can was our fave...always set the boundaries...and if younger kids and older kids...buddy them up a young and an older. We were a neighborhood of games until the "9'oclock whistle" blew...ahhh..those were the days!

Cards are good to have...Crazy eights, Go Fish, War....

Have fun! I love the UP...but I go in winter to snowmobile...closest I can get to deep mountain snow (if they are having a good year) from where I live for a weekend trip!

Drip, Drip, Spash is a fun hot weather game. Played like Duck, Duck, Goose except the person who is It walks around with a cup or bucket of water and places a drip on each person's head until they get to the person they want to splash.

the current game I love to play is Mancala - it's a two person game - but it's a strategy based game....a lot like backgammon

dodge ball - i loved that.
kick ball.....
hide and seek (I know too simple - but fun in the woods!!)

I don't remember the name of the game, but this is what we used to play...everyone has a number starting at one. One person takes a ball and throws it as high as they can as they yell a number. The person with that number has to get the ball. Everyone else runs away (within a boundary). Once the person gets the ball they yell something and everyone has to stop. The person with the ball can take three steps and tries to hit someone with the ball. I don't remember what happens when they hit or miss the person. Maybe its a 3 strikes and you're out deal - if you get hit 3 times or if you are out 3 times then you are out.
Have fun!

I just taught my kids to play Marco Polo on land. The kids who AREN'T it have to pick one place to stay in so the person can track them by voice alone.

Freeze tag.

Ghost in the graveyard (at night)

Catch one, catch all

Scavenger hunts (I make them up) - you can make "the ultimate scavenger hunt" where it lasts all week
.

http://health.kaboose.com/active-kids/summer-backyard-gam...
http://wondertime.go.com/create-and-play/article/backyard...
http://grandparents.about.com/od/projectsactivities/tp/Ou...
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/08/simpleoutdoorplay/
http://www.fungameskidsplay.com/
http://simplekids.net/classic-outdoor-games/
http://ezinearticles.com/?Classic-Outdoor-Games-For-Kids&...
these should keep your group busy
another great source is http://www.familyfun.com for unique games that are easy and fun

hi S.,
i recall any type of tag- freeze tag, cartoon tag, capture the flag, hide n go seek, leap frog, duck duck goose, or now my 8 year old says they play that in the form of drip drip drop at summer camp and use a water balloon........but board games are fun, reading etc..........water guns, chalk, sprinklers, slip in slides you name it, anything that would ware them out!

Its like the movie grown ups! The had paper cup phones in the rooms, skipped rocks, swang into the lake on a rope, go rent that movie, they do lots of outdoor stuff! Made me wanta go camping, almost!

Have you ever heard of a Cats Eye Hike? This is something we used to do in Girl Scouts. It's a lot of fun. (I would always have a stash of Kit Kat Bars as a prize at the final clue along with a stuffed kitty) The girls loved it. Here is a link for the game. http://troop1738.150m.com/catseye.html

Some other old fashioned games:
Button Button
Drop the hankerchief
hot potato
Jump rope
cats in the cradle string games. Klutz Books has a really good one
Charades
croquet
frisbee
Ladder Golf
Old Timers Baseball

A new game I just got is called Left, Right, Center (a simple dice game that even the youngest can play. I was able to find it at an educational store.

Mexican Train (dominoes) Also called Chicken scratch or Spinner.

We like playing Trivial Pursuit, Apples to Apples and Buzz Word as well.

Elk Tipping is a popular one here in Colorado.

Have a great trip.

I remember playing Red Rover, Mother May I and Hopscotch. We were in Best Buy the other day and my daughter was looking at a Wii game called Neighborhood Games or something like that. There was a lawn darts game on there - she didn't even know what that was! Sure made me feel old! Have fun!!

Kick Ball, Dodge Ball, you can use the same ball for both. Get a good playground ball so that it lasts all week. You can buy cheap bases at the dollar store.
My kids play ghost in the graveyard. It's just like hide and seek. One person is "it", they count from 1:00 to midnight and scream out midnight when they get there. The rest of the kids are hiding. You can run away if you think that you will be found & caught and the person that is "it" has to tag the person, not just find the person. You play in the dark so it makes it harder, but the kids play during the day as well.

Also they have great kits that have volleyball/ badmitton all in one. The net, ball and racquets come all together. Invest in a better volleyball than what comes with it. You can buy them pretty much everywhere from Menards to Target or Ace Hardware. Bring a rope and play tug o' war. Don't forget a Nurf football....always fun to have a football game, even in summer.

Did anyone say Flashlight tag? That was my favorite.

Wiffle ball
Kick ball
Chinese jump rope (in, out, side by side, on, in out)
the string game - might be called jacob's ladder

Bring a board game! That way if anyone needs a break from all the physical play, there is something for them. Life, Scrabble, Clue....

And don't forget limbo and horseshoes!

Have fun!

Spud! A few people described it by everyone having a number and one person throwing the ball up, calling a number and everyone runs away. Whoever's number was called had to catch the ball and yell "spud" and everyone had to freeze. The catcher could take three giant steps towards the closest person and try to hit them with the ball (legs only!). If you hit them, they got a letter (to spell SPUD). If you missed, you got the letter. When you spelled spud, you were out of the game. So fun!

Also loved stuck in the mud (like freeze tag), ghost in the graveyard, run hot dog run...I can't wait to teach my daugther all these games!

The Snipe Hunt was usually an "initiation" into a camp-out, or sleep-over camp. The old timers (the ones that knew the joke) would all talk about hunting snipe, and how much fun it was.

They then took the 2 or 3 newbies into the woods late at night, with a pillowcase and maybe a flashlight, and tell them to stay there, real quiet, while the others went out and chased the snipe into the pillow case. They would make different noises, like a bird, but eventually they would all just leave ....... leaving the 2-3 others "holding the bag" ....

It was really more of a mild hazing stunt... to see how long the newbies would stay out there. Not sure that is appropriate for your family group.

Uno, card games, etc. In case it rains you will want board or card games too. I have many memories of campling and playing hours of card games as well as the outside games listed below. If there is a swimming pool or beach then that might be the main attraction anyhow. Any other nature activies nearby, such as horse back riding, blueberry picking, etc?

Red Rover
Divide into two teams and each team should form a line facing each other across the playground.

All the people in the line hold hands. One side starts by picking a person on the opposing team and saying "Red Rover, Red Rover, send (name of the person) right over".

The named person lets go of his teammates and runs towards the other line. His must try and break through their line.

If he breaks through, he chooses one person of the opposing team to join his team, and they both go back and join in their line.

If he fails to break through, he becomes part of the other team.

Each team alternates calling people over until one team has all the people and is declared the winner.

Another would be jump rope...lots of fun and good exercise!

Brings back old memories....loved Red Rover and it was explained very well here...Kick the Can...another favorite! And you have other good suggestions that I wasn't familiar wiith..(I'm too old, I guess!) But sounds as if you have enough to keep them all busy!