Thrifty Thursday- Inexpensive Fun Outdoor Play (Field Day)

The past two days I have been involved at the school with field day. There were so many fun games that were played and all of the kids had a blast!!  Here are some fun inexpensive outdoor games that could be played this summer:

Dip-Drip-Drop:  This is a fun game of "Duck-Duck-Goose", but with a twist.  All but one kid sits in a circle.  The kid who is not sitting is "it" The person who is "it", has a wet sponge and says "Drip" and touches the kids heads.  When he is choosing someone, then he says "Drop" and he drops the sponge, running around the circle and sitting in the spot where the kid he chose was sitting.

Pour the Cup: There need to be two equal teams.  The kids get in two single file lines.  Place a bucket at the end/back of the line of kids.  Each kid has a cup.  The first person in line scoops some water into the cup (I used a big cooler full of water). They then lift the cup over their head and try to pour into the person's cup behind them.  So, they are pouring it where they cannot see where it is going.  The person behind them needs to have their cup up and ready to catch the water.  Then that person pours it over their head into the cup behind them and so forth until it gets to the last person, who pours it into the bucket.  Then the last person runs up and becomes the new person in the front of the line.  He then scoops up water and pours it behind him and so forth.  The game continues until the first bucket is field.  The first bucket field is the team who wins.

Face Painting: This is a classic!  Kids love to get their face painted.  You can either do it the traditional way of using face paints (I like to stock up after Halloween when they are all on clearance).  Have a picture of things that the kids can choose from.  Have them sit down in front of you and ask them to hold still. Then use your creativity and paint something on their face.  You could use q-tips if your concerned with keeping things clean.  Just use them on one kid and throw away and use a new one on another.  Some classic things to paint are: hearts, sun, smile face, mustache, rainbow, star, skull, snake, spider, butterfly, flower, etc.  Another option is to use washable skin tattoos.  All you need is water to apply these.  They are usually easily washed off with baby oil or olive oil or rubbing alcohol.

Shovel & Bucket Water Relay:  Have kids separate into two equal teams.  You will need Four Buckets.  Have a bucket at the beginning of each team at the start of the race and then a bucket at each end of the race.  The first person in line scoops some water up with their sand shovel and tries to race to the other bucket, without spilling the water.  When they get to the bucket they pour it in and then run back to their line and give the shovel to the next person in line.  Who then scoops up some water and races down to the bucket and so forth.  You continue doing this until the first bucket is field.  That team is who wins.

Tug of War: You will need an inflatable kiddie pool filled with water and a long rope.  You divide the kids into two teams.  Each team gets on a side of the pool and holds onto the rope.  When you say go, the kids begin to pull.  The team to pull the other team into the kiddie pool wins.

Pillow Case Race: This is a potato sack race, but with pillow cases instead.  You could have as many kids race that you have pillow cases and room four. Mark a start line and a finish line.  We used orange cones.  Have the kids step into the pillow cases and hold the tops with their hands.  Have them line up on the start line.  When you say go, they are to hop to the finish line.  If you don't have a large area for them to hop they can hop down and turn around and hop back.  The first to cross the line wins.

Swimming pool ping pong relay: Fill a swimming pool with water and bath bubbles.  Then drop some ping-pong balls into it.  You will need two bucket to put at least 15 feet or so away from the pool.  Divide the kids into two teams.  The first person in each team searches in the pool for a ping-pong, when they find one they run down and put it in their teams bucket, then run back and the next person in line goes.  The first person to get the specified amount of ping-pongs into their teams bucket wins.

If you need any clarifications on the descriptions of these games, please leave me a comment. Happy outdoor fun!!