Many children's games offer family-friendly fun that both children and adults can enjoy. Active outdoor games provide an essential source of physical activity for children, and indoor board games can help children develop creative thinking skills. Both indoor and outdoor children's games provide a social, stimulating alternative to solitary activities such as watching TV or playing on the computer. Designate one night a week as a family board game night, and set aside time in the afternoons to play outdoor games with your children.
Taboo
In this board game, players must make their teammates guess a word by describing that word without using certain "taboo" words. Divide players into teams of two or three. Teams take turns selecting one player to describe words for his teammates to guess. The player flips cards over one at a time from the game's deck. Each card contains a word or concept that the player must describe, such as "baseball," as well as a list of words he cannot use, such as "sport," "inning," "diamond" and "bat." One player on an opposing team must look over his shoulder to make sure he does not use any taboo words. Teams win points for each word they guess within the time limit. If a player uses a taboo word or has to skip a card, his team loses one point.
Wiffle Ball
In Wiffle ball, players hit a hollow plastic ball that does not travel nearly as fast or as far as a baseball or softball. Because the game's ball travels more slowly, Wiffle ball puts adults and children on a more even playing field. You can also play this game in a small backyard without worrying about breaking windows or hitting the ball out of the yard repeatedly. Set up a Wiffle ball field in your yard using cones or other markers to designate home plate, the pitcher's mound and the edges of each scoring zone. The first set of markers along the foul lines designates the end of the single-hit zone. The second set designates the end of the double-hit zone, and the third set designates the end of the triple-hit zone. When a batter hits a ball into the single, double or triple-hit zone, he advances imaginary base runners one, two or three bases. Balls hit beyond the triple-hit zone count as home runs. A team earns points for each run scored by the imaginary base runners. Fielders can get batters out by catching fly balls in the air. A batter gets a strike if he swings at and misses a pitch, but not if he fails to swing at a good pitch. If you play with teams of one, end an inning after the batter gets three strikes. If you play with larger teams, play until the team gets three outs. You can play nine full innings or simply play to a certain point total.
Splash and Score
Splash and Score appeals to children's natural interest in water balloons and splashes. Adventurous adults who don't mind getting wet will enjoy the cool relief of water balloons on a hot summer day. Fill several dozen water balloons and store them in a cooler. Gather half as many plastic buckets or bins as you have players, and set them up in a line, leaving a few feet between each bucket. Fill the buckets with water to prevent them from tipping over and to allow for bigger splashes. Divide players into two groups. One group will begin the game as the throwing team and the other as the batting team. The throwing team must line up about 10 feet away from the buckets, with each player facing one bucket. The batters then line up behind the buckets, each kneeling behind one bucket and holding a plastic bat. The throwing team tosses a certain number of water balloons toward the buckets, while the batting team defends the buckets by batting away the water balloons. The throwing team earns one point for each balloon that lands in a bucket. Play several rounds so that each team gets to throw and bat the same number of times. The winner is the team with highest score after all the rounds.
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