Old Tyme Games

What you need: 

1 egg for each participant (we suggest hard boiling them before play so they don’t make a mess when they drop!) 

1 spoon for each participant

Start and end line

How to Play:

Each player has to balance the egg on their spoon from the start to the end line.

Players can’t touch the egg to help it balance. 

First player to reach the finish line with their egg still on the spoon wins! 

Variations: 

1. If a player drops the egg they are out
2. Players can pick up dropped eggs and continue the race after returning it to their spoon.
3. Try different ways of holding the spoon! You can do race where everyone has to hold their arm all the way out and then try holding it close to your body. See if one is harder than the other! Try holding the spoon in your mouth for an extra challenge!

 

What you need: 

1 hula hoop for each participant

1 “stick” for each participant. If you don’t have a stick or dowel around the house, a wooden spoon’s handle works perfectly. If you can’t find anything to use as a stick you can try using your hand! 

Start and end line

How to Play: 

The object of the race is to get your hoop to the finish line by making it move with the stick. 

Place your hoop upright and guide it using the stick to roll it to the finish line. You can use the stick on the inside or outside of the hoop to keep it rolling and keep it going the right direction. 

First person to each the finish line with their hoop wins! 

What you need: 

At least 4 players

1 piece of rope for each team

Start and end line

How to Play: 

Separate into teams of 2. 

Tie the team players together at the knee using the rope. 

The object of the game is for the players to work together to get to the finish lines. Teammates have to work together to use their tied up legs as one leg! 

First team to make it to the finish line wins!

What you need: 

At least 2 players, 4 to make it a race

How to Play:

Select which player will be the walker and which will be the ‘wheelbarrow” . Take turns trying each way!

The ‘wheelbarrow’ starts the game on their hands and knees with the walker behind them. 

The walker hold the ankles of the ‘wheelbarrow’ player so the ‘wheelbarrow’ can walk using only their hands. 

The first team to cross the finish line wins. 

What you need: 

1 apple per player

1 large bowl, the large the better

water to fill the bowl 

timer 

How to Play: 

Fill the bowl with water and add the apple

1 player will hold the timer and the other will bob for the apple. 

The player bobbing for the apple will try to grab the apple out of the water using their mouth and without using their hands.

You can either have a set amount of time each player gets to try to grab the apple, or allow each player however much time they need to grab it and then compare times to find the winner. 

We suggest completely cleaning the bowl and refilling with fresh water after each player or giving each player their own bowl to keep germs away. 

 

 

What you need: 

1 checker board

12 similar pieces for team 1

12 similar pieces for team 2

How to Play:

Decide what your pieces are going to be. Rocks, leaves, acorns,flowers, paper clips, hair ties, the options are endless. Collect 12 of two different types of items. 

Set your 12 pieces on the black squares on one side of the board. You should have 3 rows of 4 pieces. Repeat for player two on the opposite side of the board. 

Players take turns moving their pieces. You can only use the black squares 

Pieces can only move diagonally forward 1 square. 

If your opponent is in the next square you can jump over their piece to the next open space. The piece that was jumped over is ‘captured’ and removed from the game board. 

If your piece reaches the last row of your opponents side of the board you may ‘king’ that pieces with one of your captured pieces. King pieces can move forward or backwards on the game board. 

The object of the game is to capture as many of our opponents pieces as possible. The winner of the game is the person who has the most pieces left at the end of the game. 

 

What you need: 

6 cups water (distilled water is said to make the best bubbles, but tap water will work) 

1 cup dish soap (unscented/uncolored works best)

1 tablespoon glycerin

Large container

How to Play: 

Fill your container with 6 cups for room temperature water. Add the cup of dish soap. Gently mix the water and soap, be careful not create too many bubbles or foam. Add the glycerin and gently stir until everything has dissolved. Mixture can be used right away or stored for a day for even stronger bubbles. 

Make your own bubble wand:

What you need:

2 straws

length of string 

How to Play: 

Thread your string into both straws. Tie the string to make it into a circle. Use the two straws as handles to dip into the bubble solution- Make bubbles! 

More ideas for at home bubble makers: Straws, colanders, slotted spoons, your hands! 

 

What you need:

A variety of items that all players are able to identify

A towel (A tray can also be used to set items on and then removed from sight during guessing)

How to Play:

1 person chooses a bunch of items and arranges them on the table. The rest of the players then enter and have 30 seconds to look over and memorize the objects. Cover with towel or remove tray from the room. Each player then has 1 minute to write down all the objects they saw. 

Other ways to play:

1. Try more objects and less time to make the game harder
2. Instead of writing the objects have players draw the objects they saw. 

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