1. Have a football throw. Have the kids split up into teams of 5 or 6 and compete as individuals, and as a team for the top throwing distances.
2. Have a bean bag toss. Break your kids up into teams and let them toss bean bags or Nerf type balls at a basket about 10 feet away. You can have another student hold the basket and try to catch the bean bags. The smaller the basket, the bigger the challenge. This is also a really fun game to play for a summer party, with water balloons instead of bean bags.
3. Have a kid’s bicycle derby. Our school is having a bicycle derby this year. Every child has to bring their own
   

   Image via sxc.hu

   helmet, but they have a few people bringing in bicycles to use for the event, and the kids will share bikes. Have the children go through a derby course that helps teach them safety rules, such as stopping before crossing a pretend intersection, signaling to turn right or left, and the proper side of the street to ride on.

4. Have a beach relay. To prepare the kids for a summer at the beach or pool, have them practice dressing for the occasion. Divide the children into teams and have them race to dress themselves with or carry beach or pool items to to other members of their team who wait about 20 to 30 feet away. Have the next person put on all the gear and race back to another team member. When they’ve finished their turn have them sit down. The winning team is the team with everyone sitting down first. Some items you can use for the relay include, flip flops, a beach towel, a beach ball, sun glasses, and a sand bucket and shovel. Have the children wear or carry all the items from one end to the other, then help the next child get dressed.
5. Egg and spoon races are a classic field day event. Don’t be afraid of the classics, they’re classic because they’re fun. The kids have to race down to the finish line without dropping the egg off of their spoon. You can have them compete as individuals, or in teams.
6. Another classic game is the two legged race. The two legged race is a great game to help the kids learn to work together and build team spirit.
7. The wheelbarrow race is another great classic field day event that helps kids learn to work together. One child holds on to the other child’s ankles while they try to crawl on their hands to the finish line.
8. Sack race relays, need I say more?
9. Another field day standard is tug of war. Make sure you use a strong heavy rope, created for the game. Try to keep the teams weights distributed as evenly as possible to keep the game fair.
10. Let the kids enjoy a field day ball game they can divide into teams and play a game of kickball, or baseball.

Do you have a favorite field day event? Please feel free to share, I’d love to hear some more fun ideas.

More field day activity ideas for kids.

Tug of war image via Scott Ableman Flickr creative commons

Post from: Play Library

I have a summer birthday and so had many outdoor parties as a kid. I loved the games that my mom would think up to play in the yard, and never laughed so hard as when I was watching my friends rolling eggs with their noses and such!

My daughter recently had her first Field Day with teachers and other students who belong to the same homeschooling program as we do. Some of the games brought back fun memories for me. I loved playing mushroom with the giant parachute! And others made me think that they’d work well as outdoor birthday party games. Here are a few from the Field Day, and a few that my mom used to have us play:

Egg relay (played like a regular relay with teams, or as individual races): 3 variations

1. Roll the egg with your nose

2. Carry the egg on a spoon with your hand

3. Carry the egg on a spoon with your teeth

Water balloon toss:

Played in pairs where each team tosses the water balloon back and forth, moving a little farther apart each time. The team that makes it the farthest apart without busting the balloon wins the game.

Parachute games:

You can actually get your hand on a parachute through Oriental Trading Company. I don’t think these are as big as the one the kids used at Field Day, but some of the games could still be played with them, I’d think.

Mushroom: My favorite! I loved doing this in gym class. Everyone lifts the parachute as high as they can, then pulls it around them while they run under the parachute and sits on the part they just ran under. When done right, the parachute has air underneath and looks like a mushroom.

Boys/Girls: Everyone lifts the parachute as high as they can and then either the boys or the girls run under it and switch places to a new spot on the outside of the parachute.

Marble toes:

I’d never seen this one until Field Day, but I knew my kids would be great at it because we all have a freakish ability and desire to pick things up with our toes. Basically, a circle is made with a string or rope in the grass. A bag’s worth of marbles is spread around in the circle. Then, with 3-4 kids playing in each round, the kids are given one minute to pick up as many marbles as they can with their toes! I really wanted to try that one, too.

What are you favorite outdoor games for kids’ parties?

Post from: Play Library