Playground games

I've been spending as much time outside as I possibly can - I think I might be addicted to vitamin D, or maybe I'm just preparing myself for next winter by soaking up the sun while I still can! This is all fairly new to me, when I was little I was not an outdoorsy kind of kid.  This means that I sympathize with my students who don't really know what they're supposed to do when they're on the playground.  I started teaching the children the games that I did enjoy playing outside, and it surprised me that most of them had never played any version of tag before.

I think that we've become so fascinated with finding brilliant new ideas on Pinterest for our kiddos, that we forget about the great, simple things that we did when we were children.  The things my students always loved the best were also the simplest activities.  Here are 15 easy, classic games that preschoolers can play outside with very basic instruction.

1. Tag
2. Freeze tag
3. Ring around the rosy
4. Hopscotch
5. Red light Green Light
6. Mother May I
7. Hide and seek
8. Sardines
9. Simon Says
10. Tug of war
11. Three legged races
12. Duck duck goose
13. Hot potato
14. Relay races
15. Obstacle courses

I made some cards to take out on the playground, so the next time you're in need of a quick game you can have a child choose a card, and then teach them how to play the game that they've drawn! Download the cards here and be sure to laminate them before you take them outside!