Lets play out of door

There are lots of advantages in playing out of doors, from mum's point of view as well as the children's! And some of the best games are those which have been handed down from generation to generation.

All you need to play out of doors are stout shoes to keep out the wet, hats and coats if it's cold, and a few friends. Now you are ready. But if you are going to play games like "Catch" you need to decide who the catcher is and who are to be caught. These rhymes can help decide...

Eenie, meenie, minie, mo, Catch a Golly by his toe, If he hollers, let him go, Eenie, meenie, minie, mo. As you chant each word, point to players in turn. The player indicated on the last word is to be caught; and so on, until the player who is left is the one who is the catcher. A shorter way of eliminating players is to chant round the circle out spells out, so out you must go.

But little children will probably prefer to play this lovely old favorite, and join in the chanting, too. Everyone stands in a circle holding hands to say... Ring a ring o' roses, Pocket full of posies, A'tishoo, A'tishoo, All fall down. Of course, the last person to fall down is the one who will be the first victim in the game which you have decided to play.

Here I bake and here I build...
This is not a game of "Catch" but it will test the speed of every player's reactions! Join hands to form a circle of four or more players, with one child in the middle. His or her job is to break through the circle where he sees a weak spot. He is allowed to distract players' attention by any means he can — wandering round seemingly aimlessly chanting: "Here I bake," and "Here I build" until he sees his opening and can rush through like lightning crying "and here I break through!" The circle forms again, but this time the player who gave way has to go in the middle.

Blind man's catch
One child, blind-folded, stands in the middle of a circle of players. Each player has a number. The blind man calls out two numbers and the players corresponding to those numbers have to race across the circle and change places with one another. As they run through, the blind man tries to catch one of them. If he succeeds, it's that player's turn to be in the middle.

Cat and mouse
One of the players is the cat and another one is the mouse. The mouse stands inside a circle of players who hold hands; the cat has to break through from outside the circle under the arms of the children to catch the mouse. When he succeeds, two more children swap places with them to become cat and mouse.

Tip and run
One child has to run after all the others, trying to touch any one of them. When he or she succeeds, that child takes over.

Whose shoes?
You need a dry, sunny day to play this game, for obvious reasons! Everybody takes off their shoes and puts them, all jumbled together, in a large pile. At the starting signal, you all dash forward and try to find your shoes. First one to get both on wins.

Changing horses
Split into two teams of equal numbers — this is important, so if there are an odd number of players one must act as referee for a turn. Each team chooses one player to be the rider (it is in everybody's interests to choose the lightest member of your side, as you will see!). Both teams line up in single file about 10 meters (11 yards) from an agreed finishing post while their riders get ready to start about 10 meters (11 yards) behind their team. At the starting signal, each rider races up to the first member of the team and jumps on to his back. The rider is now transferred down the line of the team without touching the ground until he reaches the back of the last, unfortunate player — who has to run with him aboard up to the finishing post. First to the post wins for their team.

Black Peter
Black Peter is the child that has to do the difficult part first in this game named after him. Mark a pathway in the garden, or in a field, about 3m (3yd) wide. Black Peter now walks from one end of the path towards the rest of the children coming in the opposite direction. As they pass Black Peter, he must try to catch them. They are free to run in any direction on the path but Black Peter can only go forwards or sideways, not backwards. To "catch" a child, he only needs to touch him once. Once Black Peter has touched you, you become one of his helpers and must now try to touch other children to get them on your side. The last child to be caught becomes the next Black Peter.

Elastic skipping
For this game, you will need to rifle mum's sewing basket (with her permission, of course) for a piece of elastic about 1cm (2/5 in) wide and 4m (4½yd) long. Two children stand facing one another, a couple of yards apart, with their legs apart and the piece of elastic running round their ankles to form a rectangle. A third child now jumps from one side of the rectangle into the middle, and out again the other side. He or she repeats this five times, before you move the elastic higher up to make jumping more difficult — eventually ending with it up to the knees or even higher. The winner is the one who can jump the highest.

Dutch hop-scotch
As you can see from our picture, to play this game you really need a flat, tarmac surface that you can draw on with chalk, such as a school playground. Mark out a rectangle containing six numbered squares and a semi-circular rest area at one end, as in our picture. The first player throws a stone or colored disc into square number one, and hops after it on one leg. He must remain hopping on this same leg until he reaches the rest area where he will change to the other leg to hop back to the start. He now has to kick the object into square two, without touching any of the lines, and in such a way that the object does not come to rest on any of the lines! He then hops after it, over the line. If at any stage he touches a line, or drops his other foot down on to the ground or the object rests on a line, or over-shoots the square he is aiming for, he is penalized one point. The winner is the player who completes the course both ways with the fewest penalties. If you draw small squares, you can make the game harder still.

This is a variation of the classic game of hop-scotch, which is played on paving stones jumping off one foot in one square to land with each foot in a different square. Here, again, you must never touch a crack or line, but the winner is generally judged on speed over a certain length of pavement.

Wall ball
A high brick wall, with no windows that might get broken and not belonging to someone who might complain, is a great basis for ball games. You can play on your own or against friends when they are around.

Our first game involves throwing the ball (a tennis ball would do) with your right hand, against the wall, and clapping your hands once before you catch the ball again. The better you get, the more claps you can put in between catches, and when you are really experienced, you will be able to clap and turn round between catches. Or even stand with your back towards the wall, throw the ball over your head and turn round in time to catch it.

To play ball games with your feet, you will need a larger ball. Kick the football against the wall and when it has bounced back, stop it with the right foot. Repeat the exercise with your left foot. Or, kick the ball against the wall continuously, using alternate feet. Or, kick the ball in such a way that it will bounce high off the wall, and you can head it back again.

Marbles
Every school boy knows the value of marbles for on the spot entertainment! The smoother the surface you play on the simpler, but a few lumps and bumps will at least add a bit of excitement to the game. Find a ready-made hole in the ground for each player to aim at with their marble from a distance of a few meters or yards. The object is to get your marble into the hole first, and you are allowed to hit other marbles out of the way in so doing.

If you prefer, you can play a different game of marbles. One player rolls out a large marble as a marker for everyone to aim at. The first player to reach the marker is the winner.

Round the post
Stick a wooden post firmly in the ground (an old broom handle is perfect) so that 30 centimeters (about a foot) protrudes. Each competitor is armed with a different colored ring and has three turns to try to throw the ring over the post from a few yards away. As you get better, you can increase the distance you have to throw from.

The money game
All players have a penny which they throw in turn at a pre-determined target such as a brick or stick from a distance of a few yards. The player nearest the target now has a chance to win his companions' money. At this stage you must keep a careful check on who is second and third in line because they, too, may qualify to win money! First to go collects all the coins in the palm of his hand, tosses them in the air, and tries to catch them on the back of his outstretched hand. Any that he drops are now at the mercy of whoever was second in line.

"Skipper, may I sail across?"
Draw two parallel lines on the playground, or garden, about 8-10 meters or yards apart. Whoever has been appointed Skipper stands on one side while the children remain on the other. When everyone is in position, the children chant "Skipper, May I sail across, yes or no?" If the Skipper replies "No!" the children have to repeat their request until he says "Yes". Then the children must ask "How?" The Skipper can now give them instructions to cross the sea any way that he likes; for instance, he may say "On all fours," "Jumping backwards with feet together" or "Hopping on one foot". But whatever he sets the children to do, he must do the same as they do, and while they are crossing he tries to catch as many of them as possible by touching them before they reach the other side.

The first one safely ashore is the Skipper next time round.
Volleyball
This is another ball game, which is played over a line about 2m (6½ft) high-a low washing line is ideal. A large soft ball, such as a beach ball, should be used. Split the players into two teams of equal numbers. One player in each team acts as server, and he holds the ball in one hand hits it over the line with the other. Players can hit the ball several times, with one hand or both, and they can pass it to each other before hitting it over the line, but they must not hold the ball, let it hit the ground or let it go under the line. If this happens, the opposing team scores one point and takes the serve. The first team to score ten points wins the game.

Statues
One child, who is the catcher, faces away from the others, who walk slowly towards him. He can turn around when he likes and, when he does, the other children must stand perfectly still, like statues. Any player caught moving is out. The winner is the child who reaches the catcher or is the last one to be caught out.