Elastics
Elastics is known to be a great activity to encourage children’s dexterity, balance and coordination whilst providing hours of amusement!
You’ll need three people (or sturdy chairs that won’t move, as stand in ‘legs’!).
Two people (or chairs) put their feet inside the elastic and stretch them out, standing far enough apart for the third person to jump between them. The jumper faces one of the people holding the elastic and jumps in a pattern of left, right, inside, outside and on the elastic. You can use any pattern you like, but each player should do the same. The game is started with the elastic around the ankles, then moves up to the calves and then the knees to make it harder. Once you make a mistake, it is someone else's turn.
Hopscotch
Dating back to the 19th Century (which is probably when your kids think you were born!) hopscotch can be played with several players or even just one! You’ll just need some chalk (or masking tape if you are playing inside) and something to throw such as a small bean bag, a pebble, a bottle top etc.
Draw a grid starting with one square, the next row has two squares, the next has one and so on. Make your hopscotch grid a minimum of 7 rows (but you can have as many as you like) ending on a single square. Number each square.
The first player stands behind the starting line to toss his or her marker in square one. Hop over square one to square two (with a foot in each square) and then continue to the last square, turn around, and go back again. Pause in square two to pick up the marker, hop in square one and finish.
A player is out if they step on a line, lose balance when picking up their marker, go into the square where their marker is or put down two feet in a single square.
Four Square
A ball game played among four players on a square court divided into 4 smaller squares numbered one to four. Each player has a square. The idea of Four Square is to eliminate other players by bouncing the ball back and forth between squares. A player is out when a ball is bounced into their square and they can’t touch the ball into another player's square. It only requires a bouncy ball, some chalk, and an area to draw the squares.
Marbles
Draw a circle in chalk, and place 13 marbles inside, in the shape of an X.
Each player has a ‘shooter’ usually a larger marble than all the others. Player one puts their shooter on the outside of the circle and then pushes or flicks it into the ring. If they knock any marbles outside the circle, they keep them for the duration of the game. The player also gets another turn. If the shooter stays inside the circle, the next shot can be taken from the spot where the shooter landed. The winner is the person who knocks out the most marbles.
