Hey GEMS! Are you starting to get bored this summer?
The weather is nice, and It’s a great time to play outside, so here are 6 fun outside things to do to bust that boredom!
#1 Go to the Playground!
We love to go to our park playground. We climb, swing, play, and have lots of fun! We bet you love to do that too. If you go to the park, make sure you bring water to drink. You could even pack a lunch to eat in the park.
#2 Play Tag!
Have you played tag lately? If you’re not sure of the rules, it’s super easy to play. First choose one person to be “it”. Then “it” runs around chasing the others players. When “it” tags (touches) another player then the tagged player becomes “it”. The person who is “it” constantly changes, which makes the game move super fast and fun. You’re usually not sure who is “it” which is a huge part of the fun!
#3 Ride Your Bike!
Summer is a great time to ride your bike or scooter. Make sure you find a safe place to ride, like the sidewalk, a park, or a walking track. Don’t forget your helmet!
#4 Go Swimming!
We hope you’re getting lots of chances to go swimming this summer. Going to the pool is always a great way to spend the day! It’s fun to go with friends or your family.
#5 Hide-and-seek!
You can play Hide and Seek with your friends, or family. First set the boundary of how far you can go – for example you might say you can hide anywhere in your yard. Next you choose one person to be the SEEKER. Everyone else is a HIDER. The Seeker closes his or her eyes and counts to 50 while the Hiders hide. Then the Seeker calls out to be sure if everyone is ready. If they need more time to hide, they call out to let the Seeker know. Here’s an old fashioned rhyme that our Grandma uses when she is the Seeker.
“Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie. Whoever’s not ready, holler I”
If you’re not ready, you yell “I”, and the Seeker counts again to 50. This time if everyone is ready the Seeker opens their eyes ands begins trying to find everyone. The first person found will be the next Seeker.
HOME BASE: Another way to play Hide and Seek is with a Home Base. If you do it that way, the Hiders try to sneak back to the home base while the Seeker is out looking for them. The Seeker ‘tags’ them if he sees them. If all of the Hiders sneak back to base without getting tagged, the Seeker has to be the Seeker again for the next round.
#6 Play Hopscotch!
The court
First you draw a hopscotch court with chalk on the sidewalk or patio. You can use a standard design like in this picture, with 10 squares, or make up your own. It should have a combination of 2 squares next to each other, and some single squares. At the top of the course is the SAFE area where you can turn around to go back where you started. Number the squares in the order they will be hopped, 1-10. Some courses draw a semi-circle at the top and write “Home” in the semi-circle.
Playing the game
Choose what you are going to use as markers. It could be a coin, a flat rock, a bean bag, a charm, or something else. Every player needs a marker. You toss the marker onto the court. It needs to land inside box #1. Then you hop through the course, skipping the square with the marker in it. Single squares must be hopped on one foot. Side-by-side squares are straddled, with the left foot landing in the left square, and the right foot landing in the right square.
You can put in additional neutral squares marked “Safe” or “Rest”. You can put both feet down, turn around, or do whatever you want on these. After hopping to the end you are in the “Home” area. You turn around and return through the course (square 9, then squares 8 and 7 to the end) on one or two legs depending on the square until reaching the square with the marker. You stop in the square before the marker and reach down to pick up the marker and continue the course, without touching a line or stepping into a square with another player’s marker. If this is a single box, you will be standing on one leg to pick up the marker!
If you complete the course successfully, it’s still your turn. You continue by tossing the marker into square number two, and repeating. If you step on a line, lose your balance, touch any other square, or any other player’s marker your turn is over. It’s the next person’s turn. After the other players have had their turn, and it’s your turn again, you pick up where you left off. So, if you were on square 2, your marker will still be there, and you continue by hopping through the course and trying to pick up your marker from square 2 on your return. The first player to complete the entire course for every number is the winner!
GEMS, we hope you get to play some of these fun games this summer. Let us know in the comments if there are other outside games that you like to play!
