Kid game ideas (non board games)

[ChristusG]

Tonight we played Duck, Duck Goose and Four Corners. We've done Musical Chairs and Doggie Doggie before. Are there any other kid friendly games that are sort of active yet can be played indoors? Yes, there are only four of us so the games were a little dull LOL.....but my kids are only 6 and 3 and were thrilled that we were playing them. We also play Hide and Seek often....sometimes with the lights out.

[Mejane]

We loved Freeze Tag, Red Light/Green Light, and Simon Says as kids.

[mo2]

My Girl Scout girls love to play Poor Kitty. You sit in a circle and choose one girl to be the kitty. The kitty goes up to a girl of her choice and pretends to be a kitty. They can meow, purr, pretend to wash their face with their paws, whatever. The girl they chose has to pet the kitty on the head and say "Poor kitty, poor kitty, poor kity" without laughing. If the person doesn't laugh, the kitty moves on to someone else. Simple, but the girls seem to love it. Lots of giggles with this game.

 

ETA: What are Doggie Doggie and Four Corners?

[Guest]

In the evenings when it's dark, you can play Flashlight Tag -- the "it" has to catch the others in the light's beam. If your kids aren't afraid of the dark, this is a fun game both indoors and out. Or you can just lie on a bed or on the floor, and play at chasing each other's flashlight beams on the ceiling.

 

Klutz has a little booklet packaged with three very soft balls and some really fun and easy games to play with them, a number of which of which could be done with young children.

 

We also hung a tennis ball on a long piece of rope from the middle of a doorway so that it would swing just barely off the floor. Then you can set up various things as bowling pins or skittles and swing and release the ball to knock them over.

 

There are some fun beanbag games, or you can just buy or make a batch of beanbags and try to throw them into hula hoop rings, rings made with yarn on the floor, or little suction-cup basketball hoops. There's a wild game called Bucket Blast, in which you buckle plastic containers around your waist and then run around chasing one another trying to put your beanbags into someone else's container while avoiding getting ones in your own. But you'd need a big room for this to work indoors.

 

Treasure hunts are fun if you have the time to plan them out and hide clues beforehand. We played a lot of "Hot or Cold" with hidden toys or candy.

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

You stand at one end and the kids at the other. They have to ask Mother may I take 5 steps, or however many. And you decide yes or no based on if they asked correctly.

 

We had spoon races, put an egg on the spoon and whoever crosses the line first wins.

 

Pillow Fights. :D

[Sasharowan]

My kids like hide and seek with stuffed animals. "It" hides the animals while the others are in another room and then they come in and find the animals when "it" is ready. Even ds4 can do it alone whereas in regular hide and seek, he needs help counting and doesn't like to hide alone.

[aggieamy]

I really like the book Unplugged Play for suggestions on games like that:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Unplugged-Play-Batteries-Plugs-Pure/dp/0761143904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289833836&sr=8-1

 

Great resource for parties and kids activities. They have recommendations for indoor activites, outdoor activites, games for groups of kids, games for a few kids, little kids, big kids. Great book.

 

[Jayne J]

Kitty wants a corner is fun. One person stands in the center of the room and the others each find a corner to stand in, The person in the center calls "Kitty wants a corner" and everyone has to switch corners. Whoever doesn't get a corner is now Kitty.

[Doodle]

Doodle loves playing " hot & cold ". You can make indoor hopscotch using painters tape or cheap masking tape on a carpeted floor.

[LibraryLover]

We play I Spy in the car. lol My 11 year old still likes it. We also play I Am Going on a Picnic. It's hard to remembers all that stuff. :D