What are some fun outdoor games for kids?

Capture the flag is a fun outdoor game for bigger groups, but a smaller group works as well - our family plays it with 4-6 players all the time! Divide the playing area into two territories and the players into two teams. Each team has a flag or other token which they hide or place somewhere on their territory. The goal is to find and capture the other team’s flag and bring it safely back into your territory. But beware! If you get tagged while in the other team’s territory, you go to “jail,” freeze, get sent back to your territory or whatever other consequence players decide ahead of time.

Ghost in the graveyard is an especially fun outside game to play at night in the dark. The object of the game is to find the "ghost." This is the player who is hiding. The player who finds the ghost’s hiding spot yells “Ghost in the Graveyard” to alert the other players as to where this person was hiding. The player who finds the ghost is designated as safe. All the other players must race back to space designated as the base. The ghost tries to tag someone else before they do and that player is IT for the next game.

Sharks and minnows is fun, and it gets played a lot at school. Players stand along a starting line, and must reach the finish line without being tagged by the shark. Any minnows who are tagged by the shark become sharks, too. Repeat racing across until all remaining minnows have been tagged. The winner is the last minnow to be tagged.

Hide and seek is one of the best childhood games for kindergartners or preschoolers to play with bigger siblings! The person who is "it" covers her eyes and counts while the other players hide. The seeker must find all of the other players, and the last one to be found becomes the new seeker. You can play variations where the seeker must tag the other players, or where there is a home base that the hiders need to reach to become safe.

Four square has been the go-to outdoor game for us. Draw one large square (8-10 feet across) with chalk and divide it into four equal squares. Squares are numbered 1-4, and one player stands inside each square. Player 4 bounces and taps a playground ball into an opponent's square to start play. When the ball enters any player's square, he or she must tap the ball into another square. Any player who misses the ball, lets it bounce more than once, or sends it out of bounds must move to square 1, and all other players move up one square.

What's the time, Mr. Wolf? is an outdoor game my kids discovered thanks to one of our favorite cartoons of all time, Bluey. One player is the Wolf, and stands with their back to all the other players. The other players line up a good distance from the Wolf - how far depends on how challenging the players want to make it, but probably at least 15 feet or so to be fun. Players yell out, "What's the Time, Mr/Mrs Wolf?" and the Wolf responds with a time - 10 o'clock, 3 o'clock, etc. Players have to take that many number of steps toward the Wolf, whose back is still to the players. This exchange keeps repeating until the Wolf answers, "Dinner Time!" Players then have to race back to the starting line before the Wolf tags them.

Monkey in the middle, or keep away, is one of those outdoor games that seems to start pretty organically anytime you get kids playing with a ball! Basically, two or more players throw a ball to one another, trying to keep another player (the "Monkey") from getting it. If he or she does catch it, then whoever last threw the ball switches places to become the new Monkey.

Sardines is a fun outside game to play that is a take on traditional hide and seek. One person hides and everyone else tries to find them. Whenever a player finds the hidden person, they quietly join them in their hiding spot. Soon, the hidden group starts to look like a bunch of sardines. The game ends when all players join the same hiding spot.

Duck Duck Goose is an especially fun game to play outside for younger kids. Players sit on the ground facing each other in a circle. The player who is "it" walks around the outside of the circle, tapping each player on the head and saying either "duck" or "goose." The player tapped as "goose" must jump up and chase "it" as he runs around the circle to try to sit back down in the newly vacant spot. If goose doesn't tag the runner, he becomes the new "it."