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GAMES YOU CAN PLAY OUTSIDE

How many times have you heard the expression "Go outside, it's beautiful today!" Well guess what,

pardners? It's true! (Depending on where you are, of course.) So turn off this computer, get out of yourchair, and get out there! While you're there, why not try some of these fun activities? There's one forevery letter of the alphabet!The group, sitting in a circle, chants Ali Baba & the 40 thieves, repeating an action as they chant. On thebeat, the leader changes the action, prompting the next person to repeat it. The action goes around thecircle in time to the beat. The leader must change the action each time, so that eventually each player isperforming a different action.In pairs, players stand back-to-back. It calls out back to back, and the players back up to each other. Atthe prompt face to face! partners turn to shake hands. Each time the call changes, players must switchpartners. If it gets a partner, there will be one player left over. That player is now it.

With everyone in a circle, two players are picked, one a cat, the other a mouse. The mouse must catch thecat in the center of the circle. Whenever the mouse runs between two players, they are to join handstrapping the cat. If the cat catches up to the mouse, however, he eats him.

Tie rope to a tree trunk. Pick a bear. The bear holds the rope. The remaining players run around tauntingthe bear. If the player is tagged, he joins hands with the bear, helping to catch players.

String a rope from a tree or fencepost. Players try crossing the fence without getting electrocuted. Thisis a good team building exercise.

Two players stand in front of the group. They each deliver speeches on a topic simultaneously. At the endof the allotted time, everyone else must decide who held the attention of the crowd for the longer time.Can also be played with three, four, five, or more speakers.

A player is chosen to be captain. He is blindfolded. Someone says Good morning, captain! The captainthen attempts to identify the speaking player. If the captain chooses correctly, the speaker takes over ascaptain. If not, the game continues.

Each player takes a place lying their heads on the belly of the next player. The first player yells Ha, andthe next person follows by shouting Ha ha! It continues down the line until hilarity ensues.

Place islands on the ground using hula hoops or coiled jump ropes. As the music stops, everyone mustfind an island. Remove islands one at a time until theres only one left. Everyone must crowd together onthe same island.

Teams stand in a circle. One person tosses a ball to another. He follows suit. If the ball touches theground, game over. Continue adding balls to increase excitement.

Like juggling, only instead of using their hands, players must keep the ball in the air using only their feet!

Form two lines of players. Sitting down, facing one another, players pair off. When the correspondingnumber of their pair is called, they must run through the line, over the legs of other players. The first

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person back to their spot wins a point for their team.

As a team, players must re-enact the motions of a large machine. Each player should represent a differentpart of the machine. No talking. The remaining players attempt to guess the machine.

Form a circle. One player chugs along the circle. As he meets a player, he tells him his name. The playerresponds in turn, and grabs on. The train proceeds, chanting the name of the new car as it goes. Eachtime it picks up a new car, the chant changes to the new name.

Everyone is blindfolded and assigned a number. Without using words, the players must line up in propernumerical order. How youre supposed to do this, I have no clue.

Lying in a circle, players pass a ring or other small object around. A person who is chosen as it sits in themiddle, attempting to guess where the ring is.

The is arranged in a circle. Six players enter the middle. They bend over, grabbing their ankles, and walkaround backwards. If they bump into one another, they must shake hands between their legs and heywait a minute. Perhaps you should skip this one in favor of dodgeball or something.

Toss tennis balls around the area. When the leader calls out rapid nuggets! the other players must keepthe balls moving constantly. If the leader sees an unmoving ball, he cries Dead nugget! and beginscounting down from three. If the ball is not moving before he reaches zero, that is one strike. The gamecontinues.

Players stand in a circle. Inside the circle the samurai passes his sword either over the heads of players orunder their feet. You should probably not use a real sword for this game.

Two teams. Team taffy links arms, legs, and hands. The taffy-pullers try to pull them apart. For extra fun,everyone should actually be covered in taffy.

Like football, only a disc is used. Players are not allowed to run with the disc. There are two ways to getturnovers dropping the disc or an interception.

Everyone is blindfolded. People may bump into one another with no consequences, but if they bump intosomeone whos been appointed vampire, they too become a vampire. Good clean fun.

Set out a tray with many different objects. After the players study it carefully, hide the tray and remove an

object. The first player to guess the missing object is the winner.There are no games that begin with X. Invent one.

Each player is given a cracker. The first one to eat his cracker and whistle Yankee Doodle is the winner.There are other versions of this game, but it doesnt count unless you whistle Yankee Doodle.

The player who is it indicates another player and says either zip or zap. If its zip, the player mustname the person to his left. If zap, the person to his right. Pretty crazy.