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Go Outside
Games We Loved
Listed are some fun games we played as children. They stir up wonderful memories and we hope that you can enjoy playing them with your children! Click on the names of the games to view the playing rules.
If you have a game that you used to love playing when you were a child, please send us an email. Just don't forget to include the name of the game, how to play, your name and hometown, so we can give you the credit for sharing some fun!
Red Light, Green Light
The player who is “it" stands at one end of the play area, while the rest of the players are at the other end. "It" turns their back to the other players and yells out "Green light!" The players then run as fast as they can towards "it". At any time, "it" can turn around and face the players, calling out "Red light," and the other players must freeze in place. If anyone fails to stop, they are considered “out” or they have to return to the starting line. The first player to reach the person who is "it" wins and they become "it" for the next round.
Other variations include calling out "Yellow light" as a diversion, or where they walk instead of run to "it", however, calling “Yellow Light” has does not have any consequence.
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Dodgeball
There are many variations of the game, but each involve players trying to avoid being hit by a ball that players on the other team are throwing at them.
This variation was played in a circle. Two teams were formed. One team was inside the circle and the other team created a large circle around them. The second team forming the large circle threw a rubber playground ball at the players inside the circle. The players inside were allowed to run around where ever they wanted, but could not leave the circle. Safety Rules were established where the ball could only hit players inside below the waist. If a ball was thrown and hit someone above the waist, the thrower was out temporarily. If a kid in the center was hit, they became one of the players outside the circle. The game was over when only one person was left inside the circle. This was one of my favorites!
Another method requires a long wall or side of a house and a big rubber or kick ball. Everyone lines up in a row against it and one person throws the ball at the wall in an attempt to hit a part of the players lined in the row. Whoever gets hit must switch and now throw the ball. The object is not to throw the ball hard, but accurate enough to catch someone trying to dodge the ball.
Another variation is:
Two teams would be formed. One team would form two lines facing each other. They normally had two rubber playground balls. The other team would be scattered about between the lines of the first team. The first team would throw balls at team two. If a player of team two was hit below the shoulders, they were out and had to stand aside. If a player on team two catches the ball in the air (not after a bounce), then they receive a free "life" (but if they were hit again, then they used up a "life" it cancels out). (Some play: If a player on the opposite team catches a ball you threw before it bounced, then the thrower is 'out'.) A player may not receive more than three "lives." The fourth, fifth, etc. time a player catches the ball; they may bring players who were out, back into the game by calling a name. If and when all players of team two are out, the teams then switch places.
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Capture the Flag
Two Teams are formed and each team has a flag (or other marker) and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it back to their own base. One method of playing includes a "jail" area in addition to the flag on each team's territory. If a player of one team gets tagged by a player of the second team in the second team's territory, the tagged player must sit in “jail” either for a pre-determined time limit, or until an untagged member runs through the jail. In some cases, particularly if the jail is far from the boundary line between territories, players may be allowed to form a "human chain" from the jail towards the boundary by holding hands together. The more players that are in “jail” can make it easier to be "rescued". This variation reduces the possibility of the game ending in a virtual stalemate: if one team has nearly all its players in jail, allowing the opposing team to focus only on the remaining members, this can prevent them from affecting either the release of prisoners or the capture of the flag. With this variation, with mutual consent from both teams, "Jail Break!" may be called, and all the players in jail have a chance to run to their territory sides to freedom.
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Kick the Can
A player or team is desinated as “It” and a can (paint can, metal pail/bucket or similar object) is placed in the open (usually the middle of a backyard, a cul de sac, parking lot or lightly traveled street). The other players run off and hide while the player(s) who is "it" covers their eyes and counts to a previously decided number. "It" attempts to find and tag each of the players or other team. Any player who gets tagged (caught and touched) is brought to the holding pen or jail, which is a designated area for the captured players to congregate, in plain sight of the can. Any player who has not been caught can then"kick the can". If they can kick the can without being caught, then they release all of the captured players free. If "it" catches all of the players he or she wins that round and generally a new "it" is designated for the next round.
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