So we’ve finally reached the end of the school year, and the end of our unexpected little adventure in homeschooling. My kids love their end-of-year parties so much and they were both super bummed to miss them. So I wanted to give them the best little at-home end-of-year-party I could. I wanted to try a game, something fun and new, so enter…the human piñata.

What it is: An activity involving candy and running. Don’t worry! No one gets whacked with a stick. Instead, kids chase around the “human piñata,” someone with tons of candy attached to their shirt.

Best for: Kids! And one grown-up who’s a good sport

What you need: A cheap or old t-shirt, individually wrapped candy, a hot glue gun, and a piece of cardboard; also, small buckets or bags for children to collect candy in

How to play: Before you play, prepare your shirt by gluing the pieces of candy all over it. There are some tips and techniques to this:

• Use a tiny dot of hot glue for each candy.
• Use a low-heat glue gun, or give the glue just a second to cool down before you stick the candies on.
• Try not to press the candies on too firmly; you want kids to be able to pull them off fairly easily.
• Slide a piece of cardboard inside the t-shirt before you glue so the glue doesn’t stick to the opposite side.
• Use individually wrapped candies. Sealed candies like mini bags of Skittles work better than loose-wrapped candies like Smarties, Starbursts, Dum-dums, or Hershey’s kisses; the loose wrappers can easy tear or fall off.
• If you’re using small individually wrapped chocolates, especially if you’re playing outside, consider throwing the whole shirt (candies and all) into the fridge for an hour or so before you play, just to try to minimize the melting/smushing of the chocolates.

When your human piñata is set, dressed in their candy shirt and ready to run, say “Ready, set, go!” and the kids go crazy! Depending on the age and number of children you’re playing with, you might want to set up some rules (like no tackling the piñata). Make sure you have enough candy for all the children. For large groups, you might even have more than one human piñata. You also might want to give the children buckets or bags to collect the candy in.

This was a lot of fun for us! I think it’s just something so different than what kids usually do, it should create some memories.

Happy summer!

What it is: A kind of silly team relay game

Best for: A large group and an area with plenty of space

What you need: Two to four hula hoops

How to play: First, divide your players into teams of 8 to 15 (ish) players. Have your teams stand in a long line holding hands. Each line of players should be parallel to the others.

Give each team a hula hoop. Start the hula hoop at one end of the line, handing it to the player on the end. At “go,” the players must pass the hula hoop all the way down the line of players. The trick is, since they’re holding hands, they’ve got to do it by shimmying and wiggling their bodies through the hula hoop–no grabbing of the hula hoop allowed.

Once the hula hoop reaches the end of the line, players must return it, passing it back the other way. The first team to return the hula hoop to the original starting player wins!

It’s a simple game, but would make a great relay as part of a larger event. It’s funny to watch, too!

What it is: An activity where you throw marshmallows at each other!

Best for: A larger group, any age

What you need: 

• Marshmallows! The big kind works best.

How to play: Really I can’t make it much simpler: throw marshmallows at each other!

Marshmallows are fun because they’re harmless, and yummy. Also relatively easy to clean up. You can play indoors or outdoors.

The first time I remember playing, we were on a family reunion and I saw my mom emptying some bags of big marshmallows into a tray. I went up to ask her what she was doing and she threw a marshmallow in my face! Once I got over the initial shock, I laughed as everyone joined in, throwing marshmallows all over the room. It was pandemonium. And a lot of fun.

Just watch out for players who try to stick the marshmallows in their mouths or bite them in half before throwing them, because then the marshmallows get sticky.

You can also play with mini marshmallows and DIY marshmallow guns made of PVC pipes. Here’s a tutorial I found online. That works well for a big group outside and is a ton of fun. Again, watch out for those people who stick the marshmallows in their mouths before shooting them, resulting in sticky marshmallow wads stuck to everyone’s clothes and hair. (Ew!) That might be against the rules for you, your call.

So grab a bag of marshmallows and organize a marshmallow fight!

What it is: A variation of freeze tag

Best for: A large group (at least 8 players)

What you need:

• A big, open playing area

How to play: Choose one or several people to be It – the ones who run around and try to tag the rest of the players. Let’s say June and Bobby are It. They stand still, close their eyes, and count to 10, giving the rest of the players a chance to run and scatter. When Bobby and June are done counting, they open their eyes and spring into action.

Bobby and June run around the playing area, trying to tag (touch with one hand) as many people as possible.

Say Bobby tags Raoul. As soon as he does, Raoul has to freeze, standing still in one spot, and put his hands above his head and lean slightly to the side, like this:

See how he’s making roughly the shape of a banana?

Then Raoul stands still and waits for someone to unfreeze him.

In banana tag, Raoul is unfrozen by two teammates, not just one, who come up to either side of him, each grab an arm, and pull his arms down – like Raoul is a banana they’re peeling, get it? Then Raoul is unfrozen and he can run around again, until he’s tagged again.

The game ends when Bobby and June have frozen all other players. I like banana tag more than regular freeze tag because having to have two players unfreeze a frozen player (or, in this case, peel a banana-ed player) makes the game a little harder for the players (and a little easier for It).

Have fun!

Variations: Freeze tag, and the even sillier variant, freeze tag with all your limbs bent or all your limbs straight. Another type of tag is photo tag.

What it is: An easy game of teamwork, following orders, and posing as quickly as possible

Best for: A big group of boy/girl pairs

What you need:

• A big open area to play

How to play: I learned this game at EFY, a week-long religious camp for teenagers. Boys and girls house separately but are put in co-ed groups, attend dances together, and are encouraged to talk to and get to know each other as much as possible, so this game fit right in.

In the game, pairs of players hit poses as quickly as possible. There are three poses.

Bird on a perch, where the boy kneels and the girl sits on his knee:

Monkey in a tree, where the girl hangs on the boy’s back:

Baby in a cradle, where the boy stands and holds the girl in his arms:

To play, each pair stands together in the open play area. A caller calls out two or three poses in any order, and the pairs must hit each pose in order, ending on the last pose and holding it. The last pair to hit the last pose is eliminated. Play continues until only one couple remains, the winners!

So, for example, the caller might call out, all at once, “Bird on a perch, baby in a cradle, monkey in a tree!” Each pair must first hit the bird on a perch pose, then the baby in a cradle pose, then the monkey in a tree pose. Last pair to hit the monkey in a tree pose is out. The caller is also the judge who decides who was last.

The caller can come up with any combination, like “Baby in a cradle, bird on a perch, monkey in a tree!” Or “Monkey in a tree, bird on a perch, monkey in a tree!” For added difficulty, call out more than three poses at a time!

What it is: An easy game for young children

Best for: 4 or more players

What you need: 

• Just an area to play, a big open space you can run in

How to play: First choose one player to be your caller. We’ll call her Mom. Mom stands at one end of the room or area while all of the players stand across from her, facing her. There should be a long space between Mom and the players. It’s also ideal if the players have a wall to stand against or a line to stand behind so everyone starts the same distance from Mom.

When all players are lined up and not wiggling too much, Mom turns her back to the players and calls “Green light!”

This is the players’ cue to run forward towards Mom. But whenever she chooses, Mom says “Red light!” and turns around. As soon as they hear “Red light!” all the players freeze in place. If Mom turns around and catches anyone moving, anyone who hasn’t frozen still, she can send them back to the starting line. (So it may not be in players’ best interest to run as fast as they can, lest their momentum keeps them from stopping in time and gets them sent back to the starting line.)

After Mom has caught anyone who was moving and sent them back to the starting line, she turns around again and calls “Green light!” Players rush forward until Mom says “Red light!” and turns around.

The first player to reach Mom wins! They get to be the caller next round.

Variations: For younger children, you could play without Mom turning around. She just stands facing the players all the time saying “Red light!” and “Green light!” She also doesn’t send players back to the starting line if they don’t stop right away, but she can require players who were slow to freeze to take a few steps back.

What it is: A simple game of chance where you try not to get a face full of water

Best for: A small to big group

What you need:

• Small cup
• Water to put in the cup
• Slips of paper
• Drinking straw (optional)

How to play: Fill your cup with just a tiny amount of water. You could even dip a drinking straw in another cup of water, put your finger over the top, and release the water in the straw in an empty cup.

Choose one person to be It. How about José? Everyone else sits in a circle around the room and José stands in the middle and holds the cup of water.

José chooses a category. You can use the categories list in the word generator (or the categories post has some lists, too) for ideas if you want.

Let’s say the category José chooses is mythological creatures. José announces the category to everyone, then secretly thinks of an item in the category, like a dragon. He writes down “dragon” on a slip of paper, folds it up, and puts it down where no one can read it.

José then starts with one player, like Evie. Standing in front of her with the water cup ready, he has her name an item in the category. Evie says “hippogriff” so José moves on to the next player, Sophia. She says “Big Foot.” José moves to the next player, John, who says “dragon.” So John gets a face full of water. José just tosses it in his face. Then José shows everyone the paper with “dragon” on it, to prove that he did indeed come up with that word beforehand and not just pretend he had picked dragon because he doesn’t like John.

So, in summary, the player who names It’s pre-selected item gets the cup of water in their face. Then that person gets a turn to be It and think of a new category.

You can add a rule that, if any player takes more than 3 seconds to name an item, they get the face full of water. Also, the person who’s It keeps going around and around the circle until someone guesses the item.

Enjoy the suspense that comes from hoping a cup of water doesn’t get thrown in your face!

What it is: A small-group (even two-player) playground game my son and I invented at the park the other day. (Since my son invented the game, I let my five-year-old daughter contribute to this post by drawing the post artwork. So the cat doesn’t have anything to do with the game, but it’s cute, right?)

Best for: A grown-up and some kids at a playground

What you need:

• A camera or smartphone

How to play: The other day at the park, the weather was nice and all I wanted was to take some cute pictures of my kids. My one-year-old, I could understand how it would be difficult. It’s hard to get her to sit still. I didn’t have much luck. My five-year-old, she obliged me a little bit. But my seven-year-old, he’s old enough to know to sit still, right? Old enough to cooperate and let his mom get a good picture of him? Nope, not at all. I couldn’t get a single good shot of his face.

But, on the plus side, it led to us creating a new form of tag that my son loved and was a lot of fun.

We call it photo tag!

It’s kind of like hide-and-seek, and it’s best played somewhere players can hide, like on a playground. One person (the grown-up with the camera) is It. We’ll call her Mom. All the players run and scatter throughout the playing area while Mom counts to ten, then opens her eyes and, armed with her finger poised over the camera button, starts searching for the players.

Mom’s goal is simple: capture a photo of a player that clearly shows the player’s whole face. The players are allowed to run, hide, and evade Mom, but are not allowed to cover their faces with their hands.

At the end of your playing time, Mom can show all the players the pictures she took. The player with the least photos of their face wins. Or, Mom can show players pictures as she takes them.

This probably isn’t a game where you’ll want to take turns being It. Better just let Mom handle the camera, unless you’re playing with teens or above.

Variations: If you are playing with teens or above, let everyone hold a phone/camera, and everyone can be It at the same time. Then at the end of an allotted time, everyone shows any picture they got of someone else’s whole face. The player with no photos or the least photos of his or her face wins! For more creative versions of tag, try banana tag or freeze tag with all your limbs bent or straight.

Samples: Interestingly enough, this game actually led to some of the cutest pictures of the day, candid ones I shot as my son was trying to evade me. Since he was having so much fun, his smiles are genuine. Mom wins!

What it is: A challenge where players race each other to see who can be the fastest to eat a dangling donut

Best for: 5 to 8 players

What you need: 

• One donut per person
• String to suspend the donuts with
• A long stick like a mop or broom handle

How to play: First, you’ll need to do some set up. Count out a donut for each person who’ll be playing. Then cut an approximately two-foot length of string for each donut.

Tie a string through the whole of each donut, careful not to pull too tight so as to not rip the donut. Tie the other end of the string around the pole and space the strings at least a foot apart from each other.

To start the game, have two people hold the pole so the donuts hang at mouth-height of the players. It’s better to be slightly too low than too high.

Have all players come and stand in front of a donut. It might be good to have strings of varying lengths so players can select, based on their height, which donut hangs best next to their mouth.

Once each player has a donut, have all players put their hands behind their back and say go!

Then all the players race to see who can eat their donut the fastest. The trick is no hands are allowed, so players can use only their mouths to eat. With the donuts hanging freely, this is trickier than it sounds! Good laughter is sure to ensue from all spectators.

The first player to finish their whole donut without dropping any on the floor and chew it up and swallow the whole thing wins! (If it drops on the floor, you’re eliminated.) Then the winner gets to eat all the rest of the donuts! (kidding)

If you live in Texas, make sure you use Shipley’s donuts. They’re totally the best.

Have fun!

Best for: All ages, and pretty much any group size

What you need: 

• A roll of masking tape

How to play: Start by tearing a small strip of masking tape for each person. Loop the strips to make a piece of tape sticky on all sides, then have each person stick the piece of tape right on the end of his or her nose.

Game play is very simple. Two players walk up to each other, press the tape on their noses together, and pull back.

The tape pieces will stick together and one person will end up losing their tape, with both pieces sticking to the other player’s nose. The person who lost their tape is out of the game. Meanwhile, the person with two pieces of tape goes up to challenge another player. If they keep their tape, they go on and challenge someone else. Any player who loses their tape is eliminated. Eventually the winners will collect bigger and bigger wads of comical-looking tape on the ends of their noses, until the last two players face each other and one person is left with a giant wad of tape on the end of his or her nose, the winner!

Rules: Except for at the beginning when players are first sticking the tape on their noses, they are not allowed to touch the tape with their hands at all. At the beginning, they are free to press their tape on their nose as much as they want. When two players approach each other to touch tape, they aren’t allowed to touch each other (to prevent cheating).

It’s a short, simple, kind of silly game that will probably get lots of giggles. It would be a very interesting icebreaker, but it’s also fun for a family reunion (it works great with mixed ages) or a group of people who know each other well.

What it is: A toss-and-catch game played outside with water balloons

Best for: At least 4 players

What you need: 

• Players will form pairs, and each pair needs a beach towel
• A good supply of water balloons, because hopefully a lot of them will pop and get your players wet (because where’s the fun if that doesn’t happen?)
  
• Optional: A volleyball net or homemade volleyball net (e.g., a line strung across the yard)

How to play: So first let’s cover a basic water balloon toss. Two players toss a water balloon back and forth with just their hands, trying not to miss or they’ll get splattered with water.

With this version, players don’t use their hands but a beach towel instead. Players form pairs of two, and each pair holds a beach towel. Players hold the short ends and spread out the beach towel between them like this:

If you put a water balloon in one pair’s beach towel, they can lower their beach towel and, by lifting their hands quickly, pop the water balloon into the air. If they aim towards a second pair of players, that pair can catch the water balloon by cradling it in their own beach towel.

So that’s one way to play, if you only have four players. Two pairs of players toss a water balloon back and forth to each other, catching it in their beach towels, trying not to let it pop.

You can also play with more people and set up your game more like a traditional volleyball game, even over a real volleyball net. Put an even number of pairs on each side of the net to form two teams. Then play just like normal volleyball. Instead of trying to pass the water balloon to someone, the players who pop the water balloon into the air will try to land it on the other team’s side and make it pop.

If a water balloon lands on the ground or pops on a team’s side, the other team gets a point. If a pair of players tosses a water balloon out of your pre-set game bounds, the other team gets a point. It is legal to toss the water balloon to another beach towel on your own side, as long as you don’t let it drop. You can play to a max point value or until you’re out of water balloons. Switch up the teams or pairs every now and then if you want!

It’s a less skilled version of volleyball with hopefully more laughs, and a good chance to practice teamwork, with players working in both pairs and teams. Also, hopefully you’ll get wet. Best played on hot, sunny days. Have fun!

This is one of the proudest moments of my life. My six-year-old son, Carson, is writing my very first guest post! The other week I was reading a nice note one of his school friends wrote him that said he liked playing the game “spiers and spotters” with Carson. I asked Carson about it and he said it’s a game he invented himself. Of course I was thrilled and couldn’t wait to get the details. So we sat down together, I helped him color his very own original artwork, and he told me all about it. So now, without further ado, here’s the game spiers/spotters from Carson! (His words, with a little prompting from me.)

What it is: A game that’s kind of like hide and seek

Best for: Recess, and for kids, at least four of them

What you need:

• A playground and two groups of people

How to play: Start at the front of a playground. You’ll need to get your kids together, and they’ll split into groups. The kids can choose their own groups. One is called the spiers and one is called the spotters. The spiers spy on the spotters and try not to be seen. The spotters run around and try to spot the spiers. When a spotter spots a spier, they say “I see you!” Then the spier tries to find the other spiers and ask if they’ve been seen too.

Once all the spiers have been spotted, you’ll get back to the front of the playground and split into new groups. Make sure every kid gets a chance to be both spiers and spotters.

Variations: Spiers/spotters is like a team version of hide and seek. Sardines and hit the dirt are similar games.

Best for: Teens and above, and at the very least six players (preferably more like 12). You also need an even number of players and one player to be the referee.

What you need:

• A playing area: somewhere large and flat like a gym, a large room, or a big slab of concrete
• A way to mark squares on the floor. Painter’s tape or masking tape is great for this (or chalk if you’re outside).
• A pen and paper to keep score
• Optional: A way to distinguish teams from one another. Three bandanas of one color and three of another (or scrimmage vests in two colors) would work great for this.

How to play: First, prepare your playing area.

You want a giant human-sized tic-tac-toe board on the ground. You can start by taping out your typical tic-tac-toe board with strips of tape. Aim to have each square about 3 feet by 3 feet.

Now, in the middle of each of your nine squares, tape a smaller rectangle, just big enough to hold one pair of feet.

If you want, you can skip the first step and forego the long tape lines. The most important part is a 3 by 3 grid of small rectangles just big enough for one person to stand in. Also, tape two lines parallel to and on opposite sides of the grid, spaced a few feet back from the grid:

Next, prepare your players.

First divide them into two even teams. If you have scrimmage vests to wear, assign each team a color and have them put on their vests. Next, give each player a number. Assign a number 1 on each team, a number 2 on each team, a number 3 on each team, and so on. So each player will have, on the opposing team, a counterpart with a matching number. Each player needs to remember his or her number. You as a referee might want to write down the numbers on a piece of paper so you know which numbers are assigned to players.

Have the teams stand behind the lines on opposite sides of the grid, like this:

If you’re playing with bandanas, assign each team a color and put the bandanas on the floor between the teams and the grid.

As a referee, sit or stand off to the side so you can clearly see the grid and both teams. Now you’re ready to start!

To begin, call out three numbers. The three players with those numbers on each team run forward, grab a bandana (if you have bandanas), and try stand on open squares to form a three in a row. The first team to get three in a row wins! With two teams competing for open spots, though, there’s a fair amount of running, teamwork, and communication involved. Still, it shouldn’t take more than a few seconds until one team has made three in a row.

The only row teams are not allowed to use is the one closest to them:

Any other row of three is fair game, for example:

Once one team has scored, mark them a point, send all the players back, put the bandanas back on the ground, and call three more numbers for the next round.

It’s handy to have all the players’ numbers written down because you can mark how many times you call each number so all the players get an even amount of playing time.

The bandanas or scrimmage vests are handy because they make it very easy for players to see and remember whose team they’re on. If you’re using bandanas, players can also hold their bandanas up in the air as soon as they form a row of three, making it easier for you as referee.

After a while you can change up teams, if you like. At the end of your desired playing time, tally up the points and declare a winner!

It’s a simple game, rule wise, with enough strategy to keep it interesting but fast-paced enough to keep it fun. It’s a great game for a big youth group to play.

Enjoy!

Variations: Another variation of the classic tic-tac-toe is 3D triple-decker tic-tac-toe. Ultimate tic-tac-toe brings even more strategy to the game.

What it is: An easy, moderately active gym game

Best for: A large group of children

What you need:

• Something harmless to throw. In this game, you’ll be throwing things across the gym. It can be anything harmless like crumpled up pieces of paper, foam balls, wadded up socks, lightweight inflated balls, etc. The more the merrier!
• A place to play. A gym is ideal. You could potentially play outside. The important thing is you have a clearly marked playing area with a distinct line down the middle, dividing your playing area in half.

How to play: To start, divide up your players into two teams. The teams stand on either side of a line down the middle of the playing area.

Next, take your “garbage” – your harmless things to throw across the gym. Let’s say you’re playing with wadded up paper balls. You can either divide the garbage into two equal piles and put one pile on each side of the line, or you can dump all of the garbage in the middle of the two teams, right down the dividing line.

Then signal the start of the game, by blowing a whistle or playing music or something.

When the game starts, players have only one objective: get the garbage off their side and into the opposing team’s. So players run, pick up, gather, and throw the garbage as quickly as they can. It will most likely be pandemonium.

At the blow of the whistle or when the music stops, all the players must stop throwing. Both sides count up the garbage that remains on their side of the gym. The team with the least amount of garbage wins! Then have your losing team be in charge of cleaning up all the garbage so you can play again!

The game is easily understood by all ages and can be a fun game for a mixed age group. And the more heft your garbage has, the more active your game will be. If you play with paper, for example, paper doesn’t travel far and both teams will hover close to the dividing line, tossing paper across. If you play with balls that travel farther when you throw them, it will naturally lead to more running around the gym.

What it is: A hilarious game! It’s quick-paced, low-strategy, and involves big groups, shouting, and finding your two teammates as quickly as you can.

Best for: A big group, I would say at least 12. You also need players in multiples of three.

What you need:

• You will need specific word lists to play this game. But I’ve got you covered! At the end of the post are some free downloadable lists you can play with.
• Other than that, you need a big area to hold all of your players and, depending on how you play, seats around the outside to sit in. There don’t necessarily have to be enough seats to hold everyone, and they can be couches, chairs, benches, anything.

How to play: To play three deep, first, make sure you have the correct number of players. You need players in groups of three, so 12, 15, 18, etc.

The word lists have words in sets of three, like pig, horse, cow (farm animals), or Spanish, French, Italian (languages), or square, circle, triangle (shapes).

Everyone will end up getting one word, and their goal is to find their two matching counterparts as quickly as possible. The last group of three to find each other is eliminated.

To start, cut your word list into paper strips and fold them. (There are instructions down below about the best way to cut up the word list.) Put the paper strips in a bowl and let everyone pick one.

Let everyone read their word quietly to themselves. Then call “go” and the pandemonium begins.

Everyone starts shouting their word as loudly as possible. Players can use hand motions, too. Inevitably all the players end up in a big clump as everyone mingles, trying to find their two matching buddies as quickly as they can.

As soon as a group of three has found each other, they move to the edge of the room and take a seat, but all in one chair on each other’s laps (this is where the “three deep” name comes from). You’ll notice on the paper slips there are letters next to the words: B, M, and T. These stand for bottom, middle, and top. The person with the B slip sits on the chair. The person with the M slip sits on that person’s lap. And the person with the T slip sits on that person’s lap, creating a stack, three deep.

Now, you might not want to play with players sitting on each other’s laps. That’s okay; you can do a variation. Instead of players sitting on each other’s laps, you could have them all sit at the edge of the room on the floor, cross-legged, back to back (to back). Or you could have them go and stand three in a row with their backs against the wall. The important thing is to give them a place to go and a position to stand or sit in that is easily recognizable as done. If you just told them to form groups of three standing up, for example, it doesn’t work so well because you can’t easily tell which group is last.

Anyway, if you choose to play with a no-sitting-on-laps variation, you can use this version of the word lists that have 1, 2, and 3 next to the words, instead of B, M, and T.

Once everyone has found their groups of three, eliminate the group that was last and go again! Prepare new word slips in a new bowl, yell “go” and start again. See if you can keep playing until only one group remains.

Preparing the game: Preparing the word slips the right way will make your job as host a lot easier. I made a video showing the easiest way to prepare these:

Alternatively, instead of handing out new words after each round, you can reuse them. Have everyone who wasn’t eliminated hand their paper slips back and forth to each other. Have them do this while mingling around, passing slips several times, trying to switch things up enough. The words won’t be new, but hopefully there’s enough randomizing to make a new unique round.

Printables: Here are the printable word lists you can use to play the game. There are two versions: one with the slips labeled B, M, T if you’re playing with sitting on laps, and one labeled 1, 2, 3 if you want to play with a variation with no lap-sitting. There are word lists divided by difficulty level (easy, medium, and hard) and some other categories as well.

I also have a version of the game for Christmas, and one in Spanish!

Source: I found out about the game from this post from the blog 71 Toes. She even has a video that illustrates the game very well.

What it is: A funny and kind of wacky tag game to play inside.

Best for: A group as small as 4 or as large as 12ish, either kids or adults.

What you need:

• Each player needs a pair of long socks, like the knee-length kind.

How to play: To start, everyone puts on their socks, but not all the way. Players put the socks over their toes but aren’t allowed to pull the socks up over their heels. It looks something like the image shown.

That way there’s quite a bit of extra floppy sock hanging off the front of your foot.

Everyone stands in a circle and someone says “go.” The object is simple: Step on the floppy part of other players’ socks to pull them off. When both of your socks are off, you’re eliminated from the game. The last player to keep one or both of their socks wins.

This is a great game for mixed groups of kids and adults. It’s silly and fun for everyone, and easy for children to understand, but there’s enough sport in it that it’s fun for adults, too. It’s also nice if you need a quick, easy game, so it’s great for family night.

We played this game several times over out past Thanksgiving break with extended family, mostly adults. It was so fun! It’s pretty hilarious to see everyone hopping around, trying to protect their socks while stepping on other players’ socks. Also there were some pretty intense family members at our gathering, so when the last few players remained, it kind of turned into Extreme Floppy Sock Tag, which was sort of half wrestling match. Quite entertaining!

Variations: You can do basically the same thing with balloons instead of socks.

What it is: A playground game that’s hard to play unless you have the right place and people, but if you do, it can be a lot of fun

Best for: Three to six children and one to two adults or older teens

What you need:

• You play this game at a park on a playground structure. It needs to be the right type, though. Not too big, provides enough places to hide, but offers enough open space, too. And not dangerous to move around in.
• You also need balls–the more the better! Not balls as hard as dodge balls or soccer balls, but those softer, air-filled plastic balls, or foam balls.

How to play: If I remember right, my family made this one up. Basically all the children are on the play structure, and it’s their castle. The adults are out on the ground around the castle. And then they just peg balls at the kids. Lightly, of course, not aiming for heads. (This is why you don’t want to play with dodge balls.) The kids try to avoid getting hit by the balls, and also try to throw them back out of the castle as fast as they can. There’s probably a lot of laughter and screaming involved. There’s no winning, losing, or being eliminated. Just play for the fun of it.

Like I said, I think my family made this one up. We lived close to a park with a play structure in the shape of a giant castle, which made the game perfect there. I remember my dad running all around, picking up balls, throwing them at us, and all of us laughing. It’s probably one of those games that, when you’re a kid, seems all too short because the grown-ups get tired. We didn’t ever play it as a formal game. We probably didn’t play it more than a few times. But I remember loving it. So I wanted to document it here.

What it is: A people-watching game. If you’re thinking from the title that it’s a mean game, don’t worry. It’s not supposed to be at all.

Best for: One, two, or three people.

What you need:

• A place to people-watch. So a mall or airport or a big event like a sports game where there are lots of people to observe.

How to play: When you’re somewhere crowded where you want to pass the time, people watching is a great activity. It can be fun with friends, too. In this game, you look at the clothes other people are wearing and ask yourself, “Would I wear that?”

The goal isn’t to be mean or to judge others. It’s to think about yourself and what styles you like to wear, what you’d be willing to try, what you could or couldn’t pull off, what you think looks good on you and what doesn’t. So I guess it’s not so much of a people-watching game as an…outfit-watching game.

It might be informative, too. Maybe you might get some ideas about clothes you’ve always liked but haven’t ever tried. Maybe you just realize things about your taste that you’ve never noticed before. (For example, I realized that the harder it is to identify a color, the more I like it. Bright, obvious, bold royal blue – ew. But a shirt that’s kind of grayish-purpleish-brownish or maybe orangeish-pinkish-tanish? Love it.)

Variations: There are lots of variations to people-watching – basically sitting somewhere and watching strangers walk past. You could try to guess where they’re from or where they’re going (perfect for in an airport). You could try to invent a crazy exciting backstory for them. You could make it more of a scavenger hunt with a list of things to find. I’ve made some printables for a people-watching scavenger hunt you could play in an airport and one you could play on a date night.

What it is: A throwing and catching game for a small group. Players try to keep the ball away from one player (the “monkey”).

Best for: A small group, maybe 3 to 5.

What you need:

• A ball to throw and catch. It could be a kickball or an inflated ball. You could even play with a soccer ball that you kick and receive, or a frisbee or some other object.

How to play: Monkey in the middle is one of those simple games that’s easily variable. Players toss or kick a ball back and forth between them, but one extra player (the “monkey”) is left standing in the middle. The other players try to keep the ball away from the monkey. The monkey tries to grab the ball, earning him or her a place on the outside of the circle.

When the monkey grabs the ball, the last player to have touched it is now the monkey. You can decide on more specific rules, too. Does the monkey have to grab the ball, or will simply touching it count? You can adjust the rules and playing size to the ages of your players.

This is often one of those games that happens naturally to pass the time or (unfortunately) to bully someone else by keeping something they want away from them.

Don’t play like that. We all know it’s not nice.

But when played with people who agree by common consent to play, it can be a fun game that lasts for a while.

Best for: A big group of teens. You need two or three minimum on a team, but what you really want is multiple teams of three or more players. Then the teams can all compete against each other.

What you need:

• To start, each team just needs one thing: a penny.
• This scavenger hunt also involves going door-to-door, so you either need to be in a neighborhood where the teams can walk the whole way, or you might want cars with drivers.
• If you’re playing with teens, you probably want an adult chaperone with each team, too.

How to play: To start, give each team a penny.

Then explain the game. Each team will take their penny and start going door-to-door. When they knock on a door and someone answers, they ask one simple question:

We’re doing a scavenger hunt activity. Can you give us anything bigger or better?

And they show the penny. Their goal is to exchange the penny for anything bigger or better that the homeowner wants to give them. Since this is so open-ended, it often leads to some funny results. You usually just end up with junk people want to give away, but that can make it funny, too. It might be an old stuffed animal, or a can of soup, or an empty cardboard box, or an ugly wooden chair.

Hopefully the people whose doors you knock on find it kind of entertaining, as well. You can leave them with the old item, or, if they don’t want it, you can take it with you. If someone doesn’t want to give you anything, just move on. Be courteous, kind, and grateful to everyone.

At the end of the predetermined game time, everyone meets back where you started to decide who has the biggest or best item of them all. You can award prizes if you want, maybe one for the biggest and one for the best, maybe one for the quirkiest and one for the most valuable. The end is the best part, with everyone telling funny stories and talking about all the crazy or random stuff they picked up that night. It’s a great time for refreshments or dessert, too! (And…you might need to end the whole night with someone making a donation trip to Goodwill.)

One option I wanted to mention: If you don’t want your teams going to strangers’ houses, you can always pre-arrange for them to go to homes of people you know. If you’re doing this with a youth group at a church, for example, you can let members of the congregation know beforehand that the youth will be doing this activity. Then you can assign each team their own houses to visit, or leave it up to the teams to visit whomever in the congregation they want.

I have some fun memories from playing this in my own youth group. Hopefully it can be a fun experience for you, too!

Variations: If you’re into scavenger hunts, I also have a post on photo scavenger hunts, and a series of posts for a two-person date night scavenger hunt.

What it is: The wonderful game every child thinks he or she invented.

Best for: A small group, or a group to fit however big your playing area is.

What you need:

• You’ll need a place to play. For me and my siblings and cousins, this was always an indoor game, played in a large living room or bedroom (much to our parents’ chagrin). You could easily play outside as well. A playground would be ideal.

How to play: There’s one rule. THE FLOOR IS LAVA! Don’t touch it!

Ah, this is such a fun game. Kids just love to climb and jump, and pretending the floor is hot lava gives you an excellent excuse to do so. So jump from couch to couch, throw down couch pillows to use as stepping stones, step on the coffee table, just don’t touch the floor!

If you play outside, you can make the grass lava, or the concrete, or whatever you want. You can have some spots of ground be safe spots.

Too bad this game, when played indoors, always makes grown-ups so mad. It’s so fun! I remember playing with my siblings and cousins at my grandparents’ house all the time. We played in the upstairs kids’ room, a room with four sets of bunk beds and couches and a chair: a truly perfect setup for hot lava. But if we were too loud as we leapt from furniture to furniture, our parents would hear the banging downstairs and tell us to stop. Once I remember playing in college (you’re never too old for the classics) in our dorm common room, where we took off couch cushions and made paths across the floor, until a resident assistant told us to stop. So much fun!

Variations: Lava monsters are a great variation to have. Either start with one or two at the beginning of the game, or make any player who accidentally touches the lava become a lava monster. The goal of a lava monster is simple: drag other players into the lava, mua ha ha! (This can be literally dragging, or a simple one-hand tag will do.) When players are captured by the lava monster, they become lava monsters, too!

I know you played this as a child, so do you have any variations to share? Or favorite experiences playing? I’d love to hear; leave a comment!

What it is: A reverse game of hide and seek where, instead of one person seeking while everyone else hides, you have one person hiding while everyone else seeks.

Best for: At least 6 players or so, up to a group maybe twice that size.

What you need: A place to play. This is an ideal indoor game, but could also be played outside in a yard or park as long as there are lots of good places to hide.

How to play: First, set the boundaries for your playing area. Then choose one player to be It. We’ll call him Tim. Everyone else but Tim closes their eyes and counts out loud together to a predetermined number, like 50. (The larger your playing area is, the higher the number can be.) While everyone is counting, Tim goes and hides. He can choose anywhere he wants, like inside a blanket closet, for example. Then he sits quietly and waits.

After the rest of the players are done counting, they call out, “Ready or not, here we come!” And then they start to seek. The seeking is done every-man-for-himself style: no teams, just individual players looking for Tim by themselves. Everyone tries to find Tim first.

Say Anna is the first player to open the blanket closet and find Tim. First of all, she’ll want to make sure no other player is watching her. Then as quietly as she can, she slips into the blanket closet and hides along with him. Now Tim and Anna both are as still and quiet as they can be, still trying to avoid being found.

Maybe Louis is the next player to happen along and find Tim’s hiding spot. Now he squeezes in, too, and the three of them hide until they’re joined by a fourth, and a fifth… And everyone hides right along with Tim. If the blanket closet runs out of room, players do their best to hide close by, but it’s best if everyone can fit into Tim’s original hiding spot. (Are you seeing why the game is called sardines now?)

The last person to find Tim is the new It, and a new round starts!

It’s a fun game and (good for adults needing some peace) a quiet game. It’s kind of eerie in a way, too, which I guess is part of the fun. But when there’s 10 of you and you’re all searching for one hiding person and you’re looking and looking and start realizing the other players searching with you are dwindling and dwindling, and you have no idea where they’re all disappearing to, and you keep searching, and finally you open the blanket closet to see all 10 of your friends crammed in there – yeah, all part of the fun.

It’s also kind of hilarious, trying to fit as many people as you can into what’s usually a small hiding place. Sometimes the hiding place is larger, though, like in a walk-in pantry, and that’s perfectly fine too (and a little easier). It’s always, fun, too, to hide along with a group of your friends and cover your mouths and try not to giggle. It takes some of the lonely suspense (which I’m not a fan of) out of the normal version of hide and seek.

Variations: For some other games along the theme of hiding and seeking, check out the classic hide and seek, as well as kick the can, hit the dirt, and capture the flag.

Man, typing all of this up is making me want to go and play! I haven’t played sardines in far too long.

Happy hiding!

What it is: A version of a scavenger hunt where you take pictures of things (and often yourself doing fun things).

Best for: A small to large group, maybe 4 to 10 people.

What you need: A camera and a list of things to take pictures of! (see bottom of the post for my free printable list).

How to play: Just like other scavenger hunts, the goal is to go down the list and cross off as many items as you can. Other than that basic rule, the game is super easy to customize however you’d like. Let me show you an example.

This is a scavenger hunt list I made for the mall. I might use it for a birthday party for a group of 13-year-old girls. If the group is smaller (say 5 girls), I’d give them all one list and set them loose in the mall to take their photos, telling them to meet back at the foot court in two hours or something like that. If the group were bigger (say 10 girls), I’d make two smaller groups of 5 and give each team a copy of the list. Then I’d make a contest out of it. The team who crosses off the most items in the allotted time period wins (with quality of the photos taken into consideration).

A great way to end a photo scavenger hunt is a photo slideshow at home. With technology today, it can be relatively easy to show pictures on an iPad or a laptop or even a TV, and then everyone can watch all the pictures and laugh and comment.

So basically, you need a list of things to take pictures off. Slightly embarrassing photo setups are always fun (like take a picture of your group dancing in the middle of the food court). Use my printables below or get creative and make your own! Then you set your ground rules, including things like:

• Duration of the game
• Boundaries
• Teams
• Whether you’re going for quality or quantity

Then play and have a blast! I think photo scavenger hunts work great for date nights or youth activities. Ha, actually, one of my and my husband’s first dates was a photo scavenger hunt that was such a phenomenal success, we realized how much we liked each other and ended up where we are now.

Happy photographing!

Printables: The photo scavenger hunts I’ve included are for different settings: at the mall (designed for teens or older), at the park (designed for kids or older), at home (designed for younger children), and an alphabet hunt (suitable for anyone). If you have a requests for another list, leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do!

Oh, P.S., for the alphabet scavenger hunt, what I was thinking is you take pictures of objects that happen to look like letters of the alphabet, either objects that you set up or that you just find (like two sticks crossed to make an X, or a door handle that looks like an S).

What it is: A perfect, easy little kid game that’s popular and often learned in preschool or kindergarten.

Best for: A group of young kids

What you need: Just people to play and a large, flat area big enough for everyone to sit in a circle with no obstructions around.

How to play: First, have all your players sit in a circle. Choose one player – we’ll call her Mary – to be It. Mary stands outside the circle while everyone else sits.

Mary starts the game by walking around the outside of the circle. As she passes each player, she touches his or her head and calls them either a “duck” or a “goose.” If Mary says duck, nothing happens. But if Mary touches Jane’s head and says goose, then Jane (the goose) must immediately jump up and try to tag Mary. Mary runs all around the outside of the circle (no cutting corners or changing directions) back to Jane’s empty spot and tries to sit in it. If Mary makes it back before Jane tags her, Mary sits in Jane’s spot and Jane becomes the new It, walking around the circle and calling duck or goose. If Jane happens to tag Mary, then Mary is still It and must try again.

Play continues for as long as you want to play!

Variations: We always played with the mush pot variation. In this variation, the middle of the circle is called the mush pot. Say Mary is running around the outside of the circle, trying not to be tagged by Jane. If Jane does tag Mary, then Mary has to go sit in the mush pot. When we played, everyone would then pat the ground of the mush pot together and yell out “Mush! Mush! Mush!” Yeah, super humiliating. Then Mary has to stay in the mush pot until someone else gets sent there.

Also, just because it’s a little kid game doesn’t mean it can’t be fun for older players, too. The chasing and tagging could get more extreme in this case, and more fun. I guess the classic games are just always classic.

What it is: I Spy Bingo is a version of classic bingo. In classic bingo, everyone has a 5 x 5 grid of randomly placed numbers. Someone reads off a number at random, and players look for the number on their playing card and mark it off if they find it. Players try to get 5 marked-off squares in a row. First person to get 5 in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) shouts out “Bingo!” and wins. In I Spy Bingo, instead of listening for numbers called out loud, you’re watching for things you might see in real life.

Best for: 1 to 6 players.

What you need: Everyone will need a game card. You can make your own or use my free printable ones! (see end of post). Everyone will also need a pen or something else to use to mark off squares (like candy, especially M&Ms, which are our favorites). You also need somewhere specific to play: in this case, a Halloween costume party, or the day at school when everyone comes dressed up, or trick-or-treating night…basically anywhere you can see lots of people in Halloween costumes.

How to play: Halloween costume I Spy Bingo is pretty simple. Everyone gets a 5 x 5 grid of squares. In each square, write a costume you think you might see someone wearing this Halloween. (My free printable cards already have costumes written out.) Once you’re at your party or school day or wherever you’re going to play, just keep a lookout at all of the cool Halloween costumes going by and cross off any costume you see on your card. First player to get 5 in a row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) shouts “BOO!” (instead of “bingo”) and wins!

You can also play the blackout version – where you have to cross off all your squares, not just 5 in a row, to win. Other than that, you can set up your own rules however you’d like! Here are some suggestions.

On the printable cards I made below, some of the costumes might overlap (e.g., fairy and Disney character; if you saw someone dressed as Tinkerbell, that could count for both). But I say you can only use each individual costume to cross off one square on your card. However, it’s up to you if you want to use Tinkerbell to cross off fairy or Disney character, bringing in a slight element of strategy. But if you do see two or more Tinkerbells walking around on Halloween night (from what I can gather, it’s a pretty popular costume), you can cross off both. You might have to settle some disputes as you play (like whether Princess Leia counts as a Disney princess), but that’s all part of the fun.

You can set a time limit, or just make the game last the duration of the party. You can play at a costume party, at school, or Halloween night (especially if you’re the one stuck at home alone handing out the candy. Why not call up another friend at home and have them play, too? Text each other pictures of your finished card when you win). Play by yourself or with a small group; it’s a very adaptable game. You can even have prizes for the winner(s), like pre-purchased candy bars, or some sweet deal like winner gets all the Snickers bars of the Halloween candy haul. Make it fit your group and make it fun!

Variations: There are lots of variations to I Spy Bingo. In addition to holidays or holiday parties, you can play on a road trip, in the airport, at the mall while people watching… I have some other ideas I’m working on that I’m excited to post, so stay tuned!

Printables: To make your Halloween Bingo easy, here’s some free printables! The first one comes with 6 unique cards already filled out. (But even if you want to play with more than 6 people, it would probably work just fine as long as there’s enough variation in the costumes you all see). The second one is blank so you can fill in your own costumes. This would be a great way to play and encourage creativity. Just come up with some basic rules, especially if you’re playing with a lot of people, and let the fun begin!

Halloween Costume Bingo

Halloween Costume Bingo: blank cards

Happy Halloween! I hope you all enjoy!

What it is: A simple, flexible time-killing activity for anyone who loves music and guessing games.

Best for: 2 to 8 players.

What you need: Nothing!

How to play: This is just a simple guessing game involving singing, but singing a song only one word at a time. One person, like Lucy, starts out by thinking up a song. Then Lucy starts singing the song out loud, but only the first word.

So let’s say Lucy chooses the song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” She would start singing the first note: “Take…” Then there are several different ways you can play. You can have other players guess what song Lucy is singing by adding what they think is the next word. Ryan, for example, might think Lucy is singing “Take on Me” (he’s an eighties fan). So Ryan would start singing “on…” Lucy could either shake her head no and let other players continue to guess, or, for a more fluid game, the song could change and now all the other players have to guess what Ryan is singing. The song might change several times as players take turns adding notes and words to what they think the song is. You can have play go in a circle, or just have players sing out in any order when they think they know the next word.

Variations: Another similar game you can play is when one person says a word (like take, for example), and the next player has to think of a song with that word in it. You can play with song titles or song lyrics in general. We played this a lot as just kind of a time-killer, not keeping score or having much structure, but just shouting out words and singing songs as they occurred to us.

Some more similar games are Name that tune and What’s the name of that song?

So if you like music and have friends who know a lot of songs, they can be some fun games to play to pass the time or try to stump each other.

What it is: A very similar game to winks, just more physically active, with more physical contact.

Best for: A big group of 9 to 21 players (ish).

What you need: You’ll need an odd number of players, and kind of a bigger group. Also somewhere to play. You’ll basically be wrestling on the floor, so keep that in mind. I most often played in a carpeted building with a big room (lots of space, not many breakables). I also played in a bouncy castle once. That was fun.

How to play: Divide your number of players in two (except, since you’re playing with an odd number of players, one half will have one extra person). The bigger half all sits cross-legged in a big circle. Then all the rest of the players sit cross-legged in front of someone already sitting, creating an inner circle. But one poor person, like Jeremy, will be left sitting cross-legged with no one in front of him. He’ll start the game.

When everyone is ready to play and attentively watching Jeremy, he chooses the names of two people sitting in the inner circle and calls them out loud, like “Stephanie and Charlie!” Then Stephanie and Charlie both try to race across the circle and tag Jeremy’s outstretched hand. Whoever does so first moves spots and sits in front of Jeremy, and someone else will be left without a parter. Then it’s his or her turn.

But here’s what makes it hard: The people sitting behind Stephanie and Charlie (we’ll call them Parker and Julie, respectively) do everything they can to keep their partners from making it to Jeremy. That’s where the wrestling part comes in. It’s basically anything goes, except mean behavior: hitting, scratching, biting, you know. Oh, and tickling counts as bad behavior. Play nice.

So let’s say Parker and Julie are both trying their hardest to keep their partners in place, and Parker puts up a good fight, but Stephanie is just too tenacious and wiggles away to tag Jeremy’s hand. Then she gets to sit in front of Jeremy and it’s Parker’s turn to call two names.

There are some other rules you could add to adjust your game to the skills and desires of your players. First, it’s fun if the people in the inner circle and outer circle get to switch places; then they don’t get too tired of always being called or always being alone. So you could say that each time someone gets a new partner, they switch places, and each time someone in the inner circle fails to get away from someone in the outer circle, they switch places, too. (So, in the above example, once Stephanie got to Jeremy, they’d switch places so now Stephanie is in the outer circle, and once Julie successfully kept Charlie as her partner, they’d switch places, too.)

Then, if two pairs are wrestling for a long time and it looks like no one’s getting anywhere fast, you could call it a draw and make the two inner-circle players switch with the outer-circle players. Then Jeremy calls two new people.

I played this game regularly with some friends in high school, and it was a lot of fun. Definitely lots of physical contact. But it could be fun to play with just family, too, if your family is bigger.

Cautions: Because you’re wrestling on the ground, make sure that everyone plays nice and doesn’t hurt each other. But be warned that a few small injuries (especially rug burns) might be unavoidable.

Variations: Winks is a similar game, just not as active or full contact.

What it is: A game played outside on a playground, perfect for recess at school. (For me, it brings back all sorts of great memories of fourth grade.)

Best for: 6 to 8 players.

What you need: A good playground. The more things to climb on, the better. Even best if there are isolated toys at the playground that you can’t reach without touching the ground.

How to play: First, choose one player to be It (we’ll call her Monica). Monica stands on the playground with her eyes closed and counts to ten. While she’s counting, all of the other players run quietly to the playground equipment and climb on something so they’re no longer touching the ground.

After Monica reaches ten, she keeps her eyes closed but moves towards the playground equipment. The object of the game is for Monica to tag another player so Monica is no longer It. The other players try to avoid being tagged. Rules: Monica can’t open her eyes, and she can’t leave the ground. (So since Monica is walking around a playground with her eyes closed, make sure you play safely: no running for Monica, she should walk with her arms outstretched to avoid crashing into anything, and make sure you’re playing in a safe area.)

So it might seem like a kind of hard game for Monica, but there are some tricks she can use, and some other ways to get someone else to be It.

First, the other players aren’t prohibited from touching the ground, but if Monica catches someone else standing on the ground or even touching the ground, that person is It. If Monica suspects someone of touching the ground, she calls out “Monkey on the ground!” Say Timmy was touching the ground, trying to run from one piece of playground equipment to another. Timmy would be the new It, and Monica would open her eyes and join the other players.

If Monica calls out “Monkey on the ground!” but no one is touching the ground, all of the other players in unison have to call out, “Out of town!” to let Monica know that she’s still It – and to give Monica a hint as to the players’ whereabouts. (Monica can even call out “Monkey on the ground!” even if she doesn’t suspect anyone’s on the ground, just to hear everyone’s voices for a hint.)

So Monica shouldn’t be at too much of a disadvantage, and should be able to tag someone else so they become it.

Though more rare, it’s possible that Monica could call “Monkey on the ground!” and more than one person is on the ground. In this case, either all of the people on the ground become It together, or they play rock-paper-scissors to decide who’s It.

Ways to cheat: When you play, you’ll want to watch out for these ways to cheat and make sure everyone’s playing honestly. First of all, Monica (or the person who’s It) can’t call out “Monkey on the ground!” too often, like every five seconds. That’s cheating.

Also, the players can’t be too good – that is, they can’t all just climb up to the very top of the equipment and just stay there silently. They need to move around some, even touch the ground every once in a while. They can also call out and make noise to tease the person who’s It (and make it slightly easier).

Finally, there was always that one kid I played with who would wear dark sunglasses every time he was It. As if we didn’t know he was peeking…seriously. So no dark sunglasses for the person who’s It.

Variations: This game is kind of like the pool game Marco Polo (watch for a post coming soon), but on a playground instead of in the pool. I like monkey on the ground better, though.

What it is: Next to tag, hide and seek is probably one of the most basic kid games out there. It can be played indoors or outdoors and is easily adaptable for lots of ages and playing areas.

Best for: From as little as 3 or 4 to as many as 20 players.

What you need: You’ll need somewhere to play that has places to hide. This could be almost anywhere: inside a house, in a yard or neighborhood, in a park, in the library (if your public library happens to host a fun lock-in over the summer as a reward to kids who read)…basically anywhere but a big open field or gym.

How to play: Hide and seek is simple. First, set the boundaries for your playing area. Is it one room, one house, one yard, a whole neighborhood? Make sure everyone’s clear on the boundaries at the beginning. Then gather all your players together, choose one person, like Jack, to be It, and have It count out loud to a designated number, such as 20. (The number can be as low as 10, for really young kids in a small room, or as high as 60 or more for older kids in a bigger playing area.) While Jack counts, all of the other players quietly sneak away to hide. Once the other players have hidden, they must stay put until they are found. Everyone tries to hide, silently hoping that Jack will never find them…

Once Jack is done counting, he opens his eyes, calls out loud, “Ready or not, here I come!” and then starts to seek. He searches all over the playing area for the other players. All he has to do is spot someone (not necessarily tag them or anything) and then they’re found. If Jack needs help finding those last few players who had really good hiding spots, the people who are found can help him.

Once everyone has been found (including that last small sneaky player who always gets the best spots and is always last to be found), the game starts over with a new person as It. For us this was usually the first person Jack found (kind of a punishment for choosing such a lame hiding place, I guess). Then play as many rounds as you want!

Variations: Hide and seek was never my favorite game. Too quiet, too slow – and the suspense, fear, and tension of hiding and waiting to be found pretty much always gave me an anxiety attack. You could change the rules a little and allow players, once they’ve hid, to move around and find new hiding spots, at the risk of being seen by It when they move. Or for some more exciting or complex variations along the lines of hiding and seeking, try kick the can, hit the dirt, capture the flag, or sardines.

What it is: A great outdoor running game, kind of a cross between hide and seek and tag. Can be played during the day, but also makes a great night game.

Best for: A big group of at least 12.

What you need: First, you’ll need somewhere outdoors to play, preferably with lots of trees or things to hide behind. The best place my siblings and cousins and I played was at our grandparents’ house, which had a huge front and back yard that were connected (no fences) so you could run all the way around. Yeah, a house to run around and hide behind makes a great game setup.

Then you’ll need one to six empty cans. We always used three or six of the metal soup can variety (rinsed and saved kindly by my grandma for whenever we’d visit). Just be careful you don’t cut yourself. In place of metal cans, you could use cardboard oatmeal containers or something similar. If you have just one can, it could be bigger, like a pail or a bucket. If you have more than one, be sure your items can stack (see above picture), and it’s more fun if they make noise when they bang around.

How to play: First, choose a jail in your playing area, or a place players will have to go when they’re tagged. The jail should be a central place from which a shout by a player can be heard all across the playing area. The jail should also have a flat surface, like concrete, on which to stack the cans.

Then choose someone to be It (we’ll say it’s Tony). Tony takes the cans and stacks them in the jail area. Then he closes his eyes and counts to a designated number, like 30, which can vary depending on the age of the players and the size of the playing area.

While Tony counts, all of the other players scatter across the playing area and find somewhere to hide. Players don’t have to stay put in their hiding places for the duration of the game.

Once Tony finishes counting, he opens his eyes and goes out to find people. The object of the game for Tony is to find and tag all of the players, sending them to jail. The players try to prevent him from doing so.

So Tony walks wherever he wants around the playing area, looking for players. If he sees someone, like Shelby, he chases after her so he can tag her. If Shelby is tagged, she walks to the jail and stays there, next to the cans.

The players who are hiding don’t have to stay in their hiding places; they can sneak around the playing area, trying to avoid being tagged. And trying to free other players from the jail.

Say Shelby and two other players are stuck in jail while Tony is going around looking for more people to tag. If Asher hasn’t been tagged or found by Tony yet and he sneaks safely to the jail without Tony seeing, he can free all of the players in the jail at once by kicking over the stack of cans and yelling as loud as he can, “Kick the can!” He should yell loud enough so Tony can hear.

As soon as Asher kicks the cans, he and the other players from jail scatter and hide again. Once Tony hears the yell and the cans being scattered, he has to go back to the jail and set up the cans (and, depending on how many players you have, how many cans you have, and how big your playing area is, maybe count to like 10 again) before he can go find people to tag.

If for some reason Tony doesn’t get around to setting up the cans right away, the jail can’t hold anyone; that is, if a player is tagged by Tony and heads to the jail but sees the cans already scattered, that player is automatically freed from jail.

If you’re playing with more than one can, it’s a good strategy to kick them as hard as you can so they scatter far; that way, it’s harder for Tony to set them up again. But no deliberately hiding the cans from Tony or carrying them far away; that’s cheating. Also, it’s okay if someone kicks the cans in plain sight of Tony, as long as Tony doesn’t tag him or her first.

Variations: I think we almost always played with two people being It, just so it was a little more fairly matched.

What it is: A night game, one you play outside when it’s dark in a big park and you have lots of energy to use up. For big groups.

Best for: A big group of at least 10 players.

What you need: Somewhere to play. A big park is perfect. You want somewhere fairly open, but you’ll also need landmarks (like trees or something). And the more people you have to play, the better.

How to play: First, set up your playing area. Choose an area of the park to be the home base (this can just be a spot of ground, or a tree or something). Then you’ll need to choose several landmarks around home base, maybe about three to seven, depending on the size of your playing area and desired difficulty of your game. These can be trees, playground equipment, etc. They should all be visible from the home base area, which should be in the middle of the play area.

Then choose someone to be It (say it’s Johnny). Johnny stands on home base and everyone else scatters and hides around home base, but not too far; you can set up boundaries for the game at the beginning. Players really shouldn’t need to stray beyond any of the landmarks. And they should also stay close enough to hear Johnny shout.

The point of the game (for everyone but Johnny) is to make it to each of the landmarks and finally to home base without being spotted by Johnny. The point of the game for Johnny is to spot everyone else.

Here’s how it works: Once everyone is situated and hiding around the playing area, Johnny shouts out a number, any number, like “Fifteen!” Johnny should be sure to shout loud enough so everyone can hear him. Then Johnny starts counting out loud up to that number, also loud enough for people to hear. And while Johnny counts, he closes his eyes.

When Johnny closes his eyes, that’s everyone’s chance to move. All the players get up from their hiding spots and book it to their next destination (maybe the closest landmark, or maybe another hiding point somewhere along the way, if the next landmark is far).

When Johnny reaches the number he said he would count to, he immediately opens his eyes, so that’s everyone else’s cue to hide lickety split. (If you’re close to a hiding spot, reach it; if you’re not, hit the dirt and freeze and hope Johnny doesn’t spot you.)

When Johnny opens his eyes, he can look all around the playing area, trying to spot players. If he does see someone, he shouts out to them (he doesn’t have to identify them by name) and they’re out of the game. For example, he might say, “I see someone hiding behind the tall pine tree!” The person behind the tall pine tree (you know who you are) would be eliminated.

(For those of you who don’t like games where players are eliminated, you could modify the rule to say that any player spotted has to go back to home base and start their quest to touch each landmark over, but can remain in the game. This will make it impossible for Johnny to “win,” though.)

Once Johnny is done spotting, he shouts another number and counts again. Johnny will want to choose a good mix and balance of high and low numbers to call out. If he picks a number too low, like three, maybe none of the players will be daring enough to move at all. That won’t do Johnny any good. But if he throws out a bigger number, like thirty, the players might get really daring and aim for something far – giving Johnny the advantage if the players miscalculate the distance to their next hiding spot. It might take some tries to figure out the ideal range of numbers for your playing area.

The whole time, Johnny never leaves the home base. All the other players try to strategically and sneakily make their way to each landmark and finally to home base. They have to touch each landmark on the way, and make it all the way to home base (basically right next to Johnny) before he sees them. The first person to successfully accomplish this wins. Then the winner gets to be it (or maybe choose someone else to be it, if that’s more of a reward for you and your friends).

If Johnny happens to eliminate all players before anyone can touch home base, he wins.

Variations: I’ve also heard this same game called “commando.” And I guess it’s kind of a (more intense) variation of hide and seek.

Best for: A group of 3 to 6.

What you need: First, you need a metal muffin tin. If you have an old one that you wouldn’t mind sacrificing, that would be best. (If not, that’s okay, too.) Then you’ll need a bag of marshmallows, not the mini kind. It’s also helpful to have some way of marking a boundary on the floor (masking tape works well) and a way to keep score (like pen and paper). Finally, if you have some sticky labels, like the small neon circle kinds, and a black Sharpie, you’ll be set.

How to play: The game is really simple: players take turns tossing marshmallows towards the muffin tin, scoring points based on where the marshmallow lands.

To set up the game, you’ll want to assign a point value to each row or each hole in your muffin tin. That might look like this:

 Or like this:

Whatever you want. You can use the sticky labels to assign the point values or, if you don’t want to put stickers on your muffin tin, just write down or remember which points correspond to each row (shoot, you could print out one of those pictures right above) or just make sure the stickers will come off.

Then set the muffin tin up, either flat on the floor or propped up slightly on a book or something, and mark a line on the floor a few feet away. The distance of the line will depend on the age/skill of your players. In my family, where players ranged from my parents to my youngest sister not yet in Kindergarten, we had a few lines for varying ages.

Then to play, just have your players take turns tossing the marshmallow towards the muffin tin. If a marshmallow lands in a hole and stays there, that player gets that number of points. Each player might get three marshmallow tosses, and you can cycle through your players as many times as you want. The player with the most points in the end wins and gets to eat all the remaining marshmallows, mua ha ha! Or, just…win. Either way.

Variations: It’s a really simple game, but you could add some of your own rules if you wanted to make it more exciting. For example, you could give some of the muffin holes negative point values for added variability.

What it is: An outdoor group game, not terribly active, but it does involve kicking/catching/pegging (traditionally with a hacky sack).

Best for: Group of about 6 to 8.

What you need: A ball to play with, usually a hacky sack. You could also try with a bigger ball, like a soccer ball. Or for a really easy game with smaller kids, use one of those kickball-sized lightweight rubber balls filled with air, like the ones you see at Walmart in those big nets, you know?

How to play: First everyone stands in a circle. One player, like Cole, starts by holding the hacky sack and then volleys it to another player, like Sarah. Then Sarah passes it to someone else in the circle, using her feet, knees, or head, but no hands. (Or, go ahead and allow hands if you want. No one’s going to stop you.) As Sarah passes the hacky, everyone counts “one” out loud. Then as the hacky is passed again, everyone counts “two” out loud. After the hacky is passed a third time and everyone counts “three” out loud, anyone is allowed to catch the hacky with their hands. Say Cole happened to catch it again.

Now Cole gets a chance to try to peg another player and eliminate them. He can’t move his feet at all, but everyone else is allowed to take exactly five steps away from him. After they do, he looks around and carefully chooses someone to peg, like Sarah. If he’s successful in pegging her (from the neck down), Sarah is out. If Sarah catches the hackey in her hands, Cole is out. If Cole misses, nothing happens. Then start the three volleys again. Continue playing until one player remains, the winner.

Variations: I think this game is also called wacky sack (haha). And you could easily adapt or modify the rules for the size of the group or the skill of your players. You could have more than three volleys, for example, before someone is allowed to catch the hacky. You could have players take three steps away from the pegger instead of five. You could make a rule that if someone tries to peg someone but misses entirely, they’re eliminated. Or if a player is pegged, instead of being eliminated right away, you could give them a letter and then once a predetermined word is spelled, like spaz, for example, they’d be out of the game. Anyway, just experiment with the rules if you want to and find something that works for you.

Also, the game spud is a little similar and a little more active (and, personally, I think that one’s a little more fun).

What it is: A simple variation of regular tag.

Best for: A big group of 10 or more players.

What you need: A basketball court, or preferably one of those combined basketball-and-volleyball-courts-in-one. (There are more lines drawn on the ground that way, and lines are the point of this game.)

Not the most accurate picture ever, but you get the idea.

How to play: Just like in regular tag, choose someone to be It. And just like in regular tag, It runs around and tries to tag the other players, making them It instead. But unlike regular tag, all players (including It) can only run on the lines of the court. So no touching the ground unless you’re on a line. (But it is way cool when you can jump from one line to another, haha!)

It’s a fun game because you kind of have to think ahead, or else you can easily get cornered by It and tagged. The game also requires more finesse and balance than regular tag. Oh yeah, finesse and balance, that’s so totally my kind of game…well, not really. But still, I have fun.

And that’s the game! Once It tags someone, that person becomes the new It and runs around trying to tag someone else. Depending on how many people you’re playing with, you might want to have more than one person as It. Also, when I played, I seem to remember a rule that you couldn’t run, only walk. But I think that was mostly because my sisters, friends, and I played at our church building. Well, just on week nights while we waited for our moms to finish chatting after their activity…except for maybe those few times on Sunday while we waited for our moms to finish chatting after church. And that’s when we defintiely tried to walk and be quiet, because if we got caught, we’d have to stop.

Variations: You could play with the variation that once someone is tagged (or is caught stepping off of a line), they have to sit down in place, thus blocking other players from passing them on the line. The player who is It can pass the blocks, but not anyone else, making it a little more challenging for everyone (and making it possible for It to trap people and win more easily). If you play like this, you could make a rule that the last person (besides It) who is standing wins the round.

This is also one of those super easy adaptable games that you could easily make your own rules to. Like, if you’re tagged you actually have to run backwards or something. Anyone have any good rules or ideas to share?

Best for: A group of about 6 to 12 people.

What you need: Nothing!

How to play: The basic game play consists of players telling three facts about themselves. Two of the facts must be true, but the third one should be a lie. Then the other players have to guess which one is the lie.

So here’s how you could set up the game. Have all of your players sit in a circle and choose someone to start, say Mark. Mark would then think of two true facts about himself and one lie, then say them aloud in any order, trying to conceal the lie as a truth. For example, Mark might say, “I can finish a whole large pizza in one sitting…

“…I’ve had my picture in the newspaper…”

“…and I’ve been skydiving.”

Then the rest of the players would be able to think, consult, and decide together which fact about Mark is false. If you want an easy, no-score game, just have the players discuss and guess, and then have Mark reveal the lie. If you really want to keep score, you could let all of the players guess individually. Whoever is right gets a point; whoever is wrong doesn’t. You could also give Mark a point for every person he fooled. Whether you’re keeping score or not, after Mark reveals the lie, then the next player in the circle takes a turn.

Strategies: When you’re giving your three facts, since you’re trying to fool the other players, it’s good to disguise the lie as a truth; that is, something that people would believe you’ve done. Alternatively, you could try to disguise your truths as lies (so say things you’ve done that are kind of unbelievable, kind of like Mark did). Also, I’ve seen people play where they name very common things as their truths and lie, making it pretty difficult to guess. But either way, you’re trying to say things about yourself that others don’t know, making this a good get-to-know-you game.

Variations: If you wanted, instead of having players reveal their lie right away, you could have everyone in the circle say their truths and lie, and then go back around the circle a second time and let people reveal what was true and false.

Best for: Big group of at least 10 players.

What you need: You’ll need two flags. And you’ll need somewhere to play. While a forested area or park is often fun for regular capture the flag, flour bomb capture the flag works best in a flat, open area, like a big parking lot or a field or yard. Oh, and it’s also best when played during the daylight.

Then you need people to play, preferably all wearing dark-colored clothing. You could have one team in black shirts and one team in navy blue shirts, for instance. But the different colored t-shirts aren’t necessary. White t-shirts, however, make this game not nearly as fun.

Finally, you’ll need flour bombs. You’re going to want at least as many flour bombs as you have players, but it would be better to have double that, maybe more.

So, what’s a flour bomb? It’s just a handful of flour packed inside a tied-off portion of panty hose.

When you throw the flour bomb at someone, it leaves a white mark on their shirt. Think of it as a painless, easy, kid-friendly version of paintballs.

To make your flour bombs, gather up as many old pairs of panty hose as you can find, or purchase some cheap ones. Cut each leg into, oh, three or four pieces. Then make sure that each piece is closed at one end (the toe pieces will already be like this; for the middle pieces of the leg, just tie a knot in one end). Then carefully put about a cup of flour into each portion of panty hose and tie off the other end. Try to make your bombs as packed as possible, not too floppy. And voila! You have flour bombs. They’re pretty messy to assemble and store, so don’t try to make them in your living room. And it’s nice to store them in a big bucket.

How to play: Game play is the same as regular capture the flag, with one difference: instead of tagging other players, you peg them with flour bombs. To start, at the beginning of the game, put all of the flour bombs on the dividing line between the two teams. Have players line up on their side equal distances from the dividing line. When someone yells “go,” all players can make a run for the flour bombs and grab as many as they can. Then hang onto your flour bombs until you want to use them to peg someone. When you’re out of flour bombs, pick up more from the ground.

You can’t peg members from the opposing team while they’re on their side, of course. And you can’t be pegged while you’re on your side. The white marks left by the flour bombs will help settle disputes as to whether someone was pegged or not (which is why white t-shirts are just no fun). Also, if you’re wearing dark shirts, you can all line up at the end of the game and see who got pegged the worst.

You might want to outlaw gathering and hoarding flour bombs, too (or maybe that’s fair game in your game; you decide). And one important rule: No pegging players’ faces or heads. Though when we played, the end of the game often turned into simply a free-for-all peg-each-other-with-flour-bombs activity, which inevitably turned into a free-for-all open-the-flour-bombs-and-dump-them-in-each-other’s-hair flour fight. Ah, good times. This was an annual tradition for my youth group at church. Lots of fun.

Variations: Ooh, I’ve never played this way and I’m not quite sure how it would work, but wouldn’t it be kind of fun to somehow add colored chalk to your flour so each team could have their own colored bombs? That way might even be fun with more than two teams (and definitely white t-shirts). There are also other variations of regular capture the flag, like playing at night with glow sticks.

What it is: A fun variation of tag that gives players more of a chance to rest between runs. The game is played using pairs, which is why we always called it missionary tag (missionaries often preach in pairs).

Best for: An even number of players in a big group (like at least 10).

What you need: Just a big, open space outdoors to play. An open grassy area is best.

How to play: First, have all your players find a partner in order to form pairs. (The pairs will switch up a lot as the game goes on, if that makes it less stressful for any of those who are afraid of commitment.)

Let’s say Rick and Tammy form a pair. Next instruct all your pairs to stand side-by-side, linking arms as shown.

Rick and Tammy are ready to go.

You should be playing with an even number of people, so everyone should have a partner. Each pair should stand spaced out from the other pairs in a circle, or just kind of a spaced-out jumble works, too.

After all your pairs are set, choose one pair to be It and the first person that It chases. We’ll say that T.J. starts out as It, and Jenny starts out as the person T.J. chases.

T.J. gives Jenny a few seconds’ lead, during which Jenny takes off running from T.J. Soon T.J. follows. If he tags Jenny, she becomes It and immediately starts chasing T.J.

But Jenny can escape from T.J. by running up to any pair in the game and linking arms with one of the partners. For example, say she runs up to Rick and Tammy and links arms with Rick’s free arm. As soon as Jenny hooks arms with Rick, that means the third player – Tammy – is T.J.’s new target to tag. So Tammy better run away ASAP, or T.J. will tag her and she’ll become It.

Any player being chased by the person who’s It can hook on to any pair at any time. The only rule: you can’t hook on to a pair right next to the pair you just left. It’s a lot of fun and a game you can play for a lot longer than normal tag since you get a chance to rest. Enjoy!

Variations: If you’re playing with a really big group, you might want to try having more than one person being It and more than one person being chased at one time. It adds to the excitement of the game and keeps things moving at a faster pace.

What it is: A fun kid outdoor game (and one that involves pegging, if you like those kind) that actually has nothing to do with potatoes (even though they’re like one of my favorite foods).

Best for: A big group of about 20.

What you need: A big open area. A flat, grassy field is perfect. You’ll also need some sort of ball, which you will be using to peg each other. I’ve played with a kick ball, but you could also do a tennis ball (ouch) if you’re tough or a hacky sack or soccer ball.

How to play: First, assign each player a number, starting at 1 and ending at however many players there are. (Players will need to remember their number, but not anyone else’s.) One person, like Toby, starts out as it. He stands holding the ball and everyone else stands around him in a circle.

To start the game, Toby takes the ball and throws it straight up into the air as high as he can, at the same time shouting out a number that he knows belongs to one of the other players, like “Seven!” And as soon as Toby shouts out a number, all of the players including Toby run away from the ball as fast as they can – all except player number seven, who we’ll call Julia. As soon as Julia hears Toby call her number, she runs to catch the ball (or pick it up as fast as she can, if she doesn’t catch it). And as soon as Julia is holding the ball in her hands, she shouts “SPUD!” as loud as she can, and all players immediately freeze wherever they are.

Julia then gets the chance to peg another player to get him or her out. She must freeze where she’s standing, too, but she can look around and survey who’s closest to her. Say she decides to aim for Robbie because he’s closest. She gets to take three steps towards Robbie and then has one chance to peg him.

If Julia succeeds in pegging Robbie, he gets the letter S. Once a player gets an S-P-U and D, they’re out of the game. If Julia misses or Robbie catches the ball, she gets an S. While he’s being targeted, Robbie can’t movie his feet or he gets an S, and Julia can’t move hers, either, or she gets an S.

Once Julia or Robbie has a letter, Julia picks up the ball again and gets to start a new round by throwing the ball high in the air and shouting out another number.

The game continues until only one player remains, and he or she wins.

Variations: For a shorter version, you can play single elimination, meaning as soon as a player is tagged once, they’re straight out of the game.

Also, depending on the ball you’re using and the ages and strength of your players, you might want to do away with (or modify) the take-three-steps rule.

Caution: As with all throwing-and-pegging games, don’t hurt each other. Only allow pegging from the shoulders down, and make sure the size and hardness of the ball is adequately matched to the age of your players.

What it is: One of those big-group, invade-your-personal-space teambuilding games (the kind my husband actually hates because they can be awkward). But perfect if you have a lot of teenagers and you want to build team spirit and unity…spunity, if you will.

Best for: A big group of at least 20 people.

What you need: Just people to play, and somewhere like a big field where you can all fit in a circle (best played outside).

How to play: This is really more of a teambuilding activity than a game with winners and losers. There are no teams; just gather all of your participants together and have them stand in a tight circle, shoulder to shoulder. Then in unison, have everyone turn to the right so everyone is facing the back of the person directly in front of them. If necessary, have everyone scoot in slightly so you’re all standing pretty close. Have everyone hold the shoulders of the person in front of them.

Then on the count of three, have everyone sit (on the lap of the person standing behind them). This needs to be done in unison or part of your circle will fall on the ground (which can be fun, too). Practice until you’ve successfully completed the human chair and everyone is sitting and stable on someone else’s lap.

*Very spunified human chairs will even be able to shuffle forward (kind of walk) all around the circle in unison, while sitting. Yep, something to aim for, for sure.

What it is: Just what it sounds like: playing catch with an invisible frisbee.

Best for: 2 players or however many more you want.

What you need: An invisible frisbee, ha! Okay, just kidding. This game is great because you don’t need anything to play, just somewhere to play. (Probably outdoor, but indoor could be fine – there’s not very much danger of an invisible frisbee knocking over your favorite lamp, is there? Well, I guess someone’s arm still could…maybe scratch the indoor idea…)

How you play: Well, it’s just like regular frisbee, but you’ve got to use your imagination a little when you throw and catch. Just pantomime throwing a frisbee to your friend Alex. He can exaggeratedly make a dramatic dive and catch it, and toss it towards your friend Lizzy, but maybe Stephanie jumps up and intercepts it and passes it back to you…just have fun! It’s not really a winner-or-loser (or even different teams) game, but more of a silly fun activity to pass the time (like when you’re on a long car trip and you take a pit stop and want to stretch your muscles but you left your frisbee at home). It can be a real blast, too (especially for people like me who don’t have a ton of athletic coordination to catch and throw real frisbees and like pretending for once that they can make an awesome dive or pass).

Variations: It doesn’t have to be invisible frisbee; it could be invisible anything! Hacky sack, basketball, football, soccer, you name it – just get creative and have fun.

Examples: Once I was with some friends, standing around, killing time, and our other more talented friends pulled out a hacky sack and started to play. We weren’t good enough to join the hacky sackers, though, so (maybe only a little out of spite) we started our own invisible hacky sack game. It was great! And probably way more fun than the real thing. Seriously.

Or, another time my siblings and I were in a big open field, I think after fireworks on the Fourth of July, and as we were walking back to our car, we were filled with so much energy and good spirits that we started tossing around an invisible frisbee, that became a football, that became a baseball. Ah, good times.

What it is: An outdoor, physically active group game (dare I say sport?) for lots of people.

Best for: Big group of at least 10 players.

What you need: First, you’ll need two flags (one for each team). These can be a variety of things; we always used two rags or cloths. You could also use two bandanas, t-shirts, etc., or, if you’re playing at night, two glow sticks.

You’ll also need somewhere to play, which can also be a variety of places, depending on how many people are playing and what type of game you want. I’ve played in front and backyards, big parks, parking lots…just anywhere with lots of space to run around outside, and a way to divide the playing field in two.

Finally, you need people to play, probably at least ten, but up to many more, depending on how big your playing area is. And, depending on how many people are playing, you might want a way to distinguish teams. (If you’re playing with a small group, that probably won’t be a problem because everyone could remember who’s on their team, but if you’re playing with a huge group, different colored t-shirts or bandanas might be a good idea, for instance.)

How to play: First, divide your players into two teams. Then, divide your playing area into two equal sides. (If you’re playing in a park, you can choose trees or other landmarks as dividing lines; if you’re playing in a yard, you could drag a hose across for a divider line; you could lay out shoes or t-shirts in a field; you get the idea.) Within each side, somewhere kinda far away from the dividing line, you’ll also want to designate two areas to be jails (this could be around a tree, in a corner, etc.).

Each team gets a side and a flag, and each team then puts their flag somewhere on their side. You could have a designated flag place picked out beforehand, so both team members know where the flags are, but it’s more fun if teams get to hide their flags, so the opposing team doesn’t know where the flag is. (If you do choose to hide flags, you might want to set some rules, like the flag has to remain visible, or it can’t be placed above players’ shoulders, etc.)

Then you’re ready to start the game. Your team’s goal is to find and bring the opposing team’s flag back to your side, while keeping your flag protected from the other team (because they’re trying to do the same thing). Any players are free to move anywhere in the playing area (on their side or the opposing team’s side) whenever they want, but here’s the catch: when you’re on the opposing team’s side, anyone from their team can tag you and send you to jail.

So that’s basic game play: players run onto the opposing team’s side and try to find and bring back the flag without being tagged and sent to jail. If one of your teammates is caught in jail, you can free them by running onto the opposing team’s side, making it to the jail untagged, and bringing back your teammate.

So while the basic game is simple, play can get very strategic and fun.

Your team could plan a specific attack, for instance, that involves all key players making a mass rush for the flag. Or, you could focus on defense, gather as many players of the opposing team in your jail as possible, and then make a move for the flag. You can have scouts that run and search for the flag, then come back safely and help plan. You can have decoys, trick plays, and kamikaze attacks. The possibilities are endless! It’s a great game for strategy, adrenaline, and teamwork.

It’s also a game that needs some well-defined rules beforehand, because disputes may often arise. Here are some things you might want to agree on with all players before the game starts:

1. When a player rescues a teammate from jail, do the two players get a free walk back to their side? Or do they have to make a break for it and run the risk of getting tagged again?
2. If you make a jailbreak, how many players can you bring back with you? One? Two? All?
3. Is puppy guarding allowed? (Puppy guarding: noun. The act of defensively guarding the flag by standing right on top of or very close to it.) How far from the flag must defenders stand?
4. What constitutes a tag? One-hand touch? Two-hand touch? Full tackle? (I’ve never played that way, but wouldn’t that be awesome?)
5. How will players in jail be penalized for breaking free illegally?
6. If a player finds the opposing team’s flag, grabs it, makes a run back to their side, and gets tagged in the process, what happens to the flag? Does it have to fall where it lands? Do the defenders get to take it back to its hiding spot?
7. Are challenges allowed? (I never played with challenges growing up, but my husband informed me how they work. Two players from opposing teams stand to face each other, right over the boundary line, both safe on their side. Then they declare a challenge, reach over the boundary line to grasp hands, and try to pull each other to their side. The player who gets pulled to the other side goes to jail.)

Any other rules anyone can think of?

Variations: Like I said, there are many ways you can play capture the flag: outside at night with glow sticks as flags, with big teams or smaller teams, during the day… But one of my favorite and tried-and-true variations is flour bomb capture the flag, perfect if you want to get a little messy.

What it is: A way fun classic, one I mostly played in elementary school.

Best for: Big group of at least 8 players.

What you need: A big, open area indoors (like a gym). And lots of non-hard balls (like ones made of foam or rubber). And lots of people to play.

How to play: Divide your players into two teams, and divide your gym into two sides with a line (real or imaginary) down the middle. Place all the balls on the line and instruct the players on both sides to stand a designated distance away from the line.

The purpose of the game is to get players on the opposite team out by pegging them (from the neck down) with a ball. So when someone says “go” or a whistle blows, all the (brave) players rush to the line to grab a ball and start trying to get people on the opposite side out. If you’re pegged anywhere from the neck down, you’re out and have to go stand against the wall. But if you catch the ball or get pegged above the neck, the person who threw the ball at you is out. Balls end up bouncing around on the floor, and you can pick one up at any time, but be careful no one pegs you in the process! Also, players aren’t allowed to cross the line in the middle.

The game turns into a big crazy melee, with balls flying and players running, throwing, and, of course, dodging, until one team has completely vanquished the other by getting all players out. There’s one catch, though: if everyone else on your team is out and you’re the last player in, and someone throws a ball at you to peg you, but you catch it, your whole team is back in, hooray! Then the game keeps going.

Variations: I’ll admit that I was never a huge fan of dodgeball—I’m just too afraid of things heading at high speeds aimed at hitting me, I think. But for some reason, I love glow-in-the-dark dodgeball, though it could be said that it’s decidedly more risky and intense. For a much less risky and intense version, try playing with softer balls with kids on a playground. I also think every-man-for-himself dodgeball is more fun, so give it a try!

What it is: A fun, lighthearted outdoor group game (and one of my personal favorites). This game was taught to me by a friend from Mexico, and there you say “castles and beavers” castillos y castores (which is a bit more catchy, huh?).

Best for: Big group of at least 13 players.

What you need: A group of people, probably at least 10, and either a big open room or some space outdoors.

How to play: First, make sure you have the right number of players. You need enough to divide all players into groups of three and have one left over. So, you could have 10 players (3 groups of 3 plus 1), or 16 players (5 groups of 3 plus 1), or…well, you get the idea. Next, divide everyone up into groups of three and choose one person to be It.

Now the groups of three have to get into position. Let’s say Jane, Maria, and Sam are in a group. Two of the three (Jane and Maria) will form a “castle” by holding hands like this:

Then Sam will be the “beaver” inside the castle, like this:

So once all your groups of three have formed castles and beavers, the game can start. The point of the game is for the person who’s It (say, Michael) to be part of a castle/beaver group and not be left out anymore. So Michael can call out one of three things:

• Castles!
• Beavers!
• Castles and beavers! (or, if you want to keep in touch with the Mexican roots of the game, ¡castillos y castores!)

If Michael calls out “castles,” all of the players forming castles must lift their arms up (without breaking hand holds) and find a new beaver. All the beavers stay where they are. So if Michael said “castles,” Jane and Maria, still holding hands, would together run to find a new beaver. (Michael would hope that one of the castles would find him so that he’s no longer left out.)

If Michael calls out “beavers,” all of the players who are beavers must duck out of their castles and go find a new one. All the castles stay where they are. Michael would run with the beavers to find a castle to call home, leaving another player left out.

If Michael calls out “castles and beavers,” all the castles let go of the hands they’re holding, and everyone runs to form totally new groups of three. Then castles can become beavers and beavers can become castles, and the result is usually pandemonium—and hilarious.

No matter what Michael calls or how players rearrange themselves, in the end one player should be left out again—say it’s Sam. Then it would be Sam’s turn to call something out and try to join a group of three.

So there’s no real winner or loser, and the game just kind of goes on until you don’t feel like playing, or until everyone collapses on the floor with laughter, because every time I’ve played it it’s been hilariously fun.

What it is: An active, outdoor game that’s intense enough for the very athletic and fun enough for everyone

Best for: Big group of at least 10 players.

What you need: A good frisbee and a large field outdoors, preferably with a way to mark end zones (like trees, fences, shoes, or some other sort of boundary).

How to play: First, set up the field by designating the playing area with two end zones for scoring (like in football). It’s best if there are clear boundaries on the end zones and playing area, to avoid disputes later. Next, divide the players into two even teams.

Then you’re ready to play. The game is fundamentally like football: each team starts at opposite ends of the field, and each team tries to get the frisbee into the other team’s end zone to score. So, pretend you’re on one team, standing on the field, facing the middle. Behind you is the end zone the opposition is trying to get to in order to score—the end zone you’re trying to protect. In front of you, across the field, the other team is standing in front of the end zone your team is trying to get to.

One of the teams (say, for now, the other one) starts off with the frisbee and throws it off to your team. Your team spreads out to catch the frisbee as the opposing team rushes towards you. You so happen to catch the frisbee—woo hoo! Now you have to advance it up the field by passing to your teammates. But while you have the frisbee, you are not allowed to move your feet more than three steps; you can only pass. So you quickly pass the frisbee to a team member and your team starts advancing up the field. You can pass to team members in front of you or behind you, it doesn’t matter.

But someone gets clumsy and misses a catch, and the frisbee lands on the ground. Then it’s the other team’s turn, and they get to pick up the frisbee where it fell and move it down the field the other way. Your team switches to defense, trying to block the opposition from catching or throwing the frisbee, even trying to knock it out of the air. For example, as an opposing team member passes the frisbee, in a leap of glory you knock the frisbee onto the ground. Then it’s your team’s turn again, good for you. Or, if your team member actually catches the frisbee while playing defense, its also switches to your team’s possession.

Play continues like this, moving up and down the field. It’s usually pretty fast-paced, with a lot of running involved. The first team to get a player to catch the frisbee with both feet on the other side of their end zone scores. Then the other team takes a walk of shame to the other side of the field, and the teams switch sides until the next point.

Variations: I’ve played ultimate football before, which is the same thing, but with a football. Also, I’m sure there are variations on rules (for example, the three-step rule that allows the person holding the frisbee to take three steps between catching it and throwing it again could be the two-step rule), or more specific rules I didn’t mention. Anyone have any rules to share?

What it is: One of those invade-your-personal-space group games that leaves you laughing in the end.

Best for: About 9 players.

What you need: A pair of longer-than-ankle socks that you don’t particularly care about, because they’ll probably get a little stretched out. And a room with enough space for everyone to sit in a circle on the floor.

How to play: First, get ready by taking the pair of socks, wadding one sock into a ball, and stuffing it into the toe of the other sock. Then pick one person to be It (let’s say it’s Tom). Next, have everyone else form a circle by sitting on the floor with their legs bent in front of them, feet flat on the ground, knees up. The circle should be tight enough that everyone is shoulder-to-shoulder with the person next to them.

The person who’s It, Tom, kneels or squats in the middle of the circle. Everyone in the circle puts their hands under their legs so Tom can’t see them. To start the game, someone in the circle starts out with the sock. The point of the game is to pass the sock from person to person, under everyone’s legs, without Tom seeing (or at least grabbing) the sock. If he sees or suspects he sees it, he makes a grab for it. If Jill has the sock and is trying to pass it off to Melissa, but Tom sees and grabs it from Jill first, that means Jill is the new It.

Strategies: If Tom is It and in the middle of the circle and his back is turned to you, and you have the sock, you can get daring and pull it out and bop Tom with it (the sock is the perfect shape for that). Then you’ve got to move quick to pass the sock on before Tom grabs it. But it makes the game more fun (or mean, I guess).

What it is: An old classic, and one of my favorites—when played with people I knew well. Otherwise…well, let’s just call it a get-to-know-you game.

Best for: Big group of 10 to like 18 players.

What you need: A bunch of people.

How to play: Have everyone stand in a circle, shoulder to shoulder. Tell everyone to put their right hand in the middle and then grab someone else’s hand (preferably with no peeking). Repeat with everyone’s left hand. Now you should have a big mob of people—a knot, if you will—and everyone should be holding on to two other people’s hands. The task? Untangle the knot! It will involve teamwork, communication, stepping over arms, twisting around, and probably lots of flexibility. The only rule is that no one may break a hand hold. Once the knot is untangled, you should have a big circle, or maybe two separate smaller circles, or maybe two circles that interlock. Either way, the knot is untangled. Ta da!

Variations: Playing in the pool can be extra fun because the weightlessness makes it easier to duck around and through the knot. Just make sure that everyone can reach the bottom! I’ve also played with a “doctor”—one person who isn’t part of the knot but who walks around and directs everyone on how to untangle it.

Best for: Big group of at least 10.

What you need: A bunch of people and somewhere outside to run around.

How to play: It’s just like normal freeze tag with one variation—all players must keep their arms and legs either all bent or all straight, always. So start by picking someone (or perhaps more than one someone, if you’re playing with a large group) to be It. Then everyone (including It) chooses how they want to start—with all their limbs bent, or with all their limbs straight. To illustrate this somewhat silly concept, I’ve drawn these amazingly accurate and clear animations:

All clear? Good. So let’s say Matt, Ann, and Leroy are playing (along with a big group of their friends from yearbook camp). Ann is chosen to be It. She counts to a designated number while the other players run away (remember, with all their limbs either bent or straight). Then Ann finishes and starts chasing people, and the game works just like freeze tag, except any time Ann tags someone, she switches the way she’s running. So if she starts the game with all her limbs bent, then tags Matt, as soon as she tags him she switches to all her limbs straight.

It works the same for the other players. Say Matt starts the game with all his limbs straight, and then Ann tags him. First, he has to freeze (it’s funniest if you set the rule that he has to freeze in whatever goofy position he was in, no moving allowed). Then after Matt is unfrozen by Leroy touching him, Matt switches from all his limbs straight to all his limbs bent. So basically any time you are unfrozen or tag someone, you switch. And that’s the game!

Experiences: I think your first experience with something can really influence how you feel about it forever after. My first experience with this game was with a bunch of friends on a study abroad in Europe. We had been aboard a bus for hours and hours, and when we got out at a rest stop before driving for lots more hours, someone suggested we play this game. It was a blast! Maybe it just felt really good to run around after being so cooped up. Maybe it was just that I was with a bunch of silly friends and we were in Europe and feeling exhilarated. Or, maybe, this game really is just that awesome. So try it and find out!

Variations: Besides the regular freeze tag, give banana tag a try! Kick the can is another tag variant, kind of a tag and hide-and-seek combo. Have fun!

What it is: Freeze tag is a classic. And a good way to get rid of a lot of spare energy.

Best for: Big group of at least 8 players.

What you need: A bunch of people ready to run.

How to play: First, choose someone to be It—let’s say it’s Joey. Joey counts to a designated number to give the other players time to run away. When Joey’s done counting, he runs after the other players, trying to tag them. If Joey tags you, you have to freeze where you are until one of the other players comes over to unfreeze you. (Unfreezing is typically done by crawling under the frozen person’s legs, but there are many variations.) Once someone unfreezes you, you can run around again and try to unfreeze other players. If you get tagged by Joey again, you’re frozen again. The game ends when Joey freezes all of the players and a new It is chosen.

Variations: One of my favorite variations is freeze tag-with-all-your-limbs-bent-or-all-your-limbs-straight. Another variation is banana tag. Know any other fun variations to share?

Some other creative versions of tag are missionary tag, photo tag, line tag, and kick the can.

So if you’re planning a family reunion, throwing a party, entertaining bored kids, or just getting together with any group of people looking for some fun, I hope you can find the right game here. Enjoy!