Games by age:
When you want a screen-free activity that is fun, you can’t go wrong with a great game! The best part of our games collection is that it has something for everyone, no matter the size of your team or the age of your kids.
We hope these games will inspire you to play more with your friends and family!
Games for Kids 0-2 Years
Open, Shut Them
This musical game is wonderful for exploring and reviewing opposites. Kids will learn a new set of opposite pairs, gestures, and facial expressions.
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
This classic children’s song is a great activity for little kids. Kids will learn parts-of-the-body vocabulary and have fun.
The Wheels on the Bus
1 or more players
It’s the classic kids song, “The Wheels On The Bus”. Children will pretend to ride in a bus along with a friendly bus driver and all of the passengers as the wheels go round and round!
If You’re Happy
1 or more players
This classical kids’ activity focuses on emotions vocabulary and body language. Young learners can explore different emotions and learn how to express themselves.
One Little Finger
1 or more players
This simple song focuses on body-part vocabulary and encourages children to follow along and move to the beat.
Baby shark
1 or more players
This popular children’s song has fun movements that focus on family vocabulary.
Games for Kids 3-5 Years
3 or more players
Choose one player to be the Mother: the rest of the players are the Children.
The Mother stands about 20 steps away facing the children who all line up shoulder to shoulder.
Then the Children take turns asking “Mother may I…” followed by a number and a suggested movement. For example they could ask:
Mother may I take three steps forward” or “Mother may I crawl forward for five seconds?”
The mother can either say Yes or No.
No answer may be followed by their own suggestion, for example: if a player asks: “Mother may I take three steps forward?” the Mother could say: “No, you may not. But instead you may crab walk forward for six steps”. The player who asks the question must do what the Mother says.
If a player moves forward without permission from the Mother, they must go back to the starting line. The first who reaches the Mother wins and becomes the new Mother.
2 or more people
Equipment: a small object (or a prize) to hide.
Step 1. Choose one player to be the Hunter, and have them leave the room or move away from the group.
Step 2. Hide a small object or prize somewhere in the space where you are playing. Make the game easier by showing the Hunter what the object or prize is before sending them out of the room.
Step 3. Bring the Hunter back into the playing space, and have them look for the hidden object by moving around the area. Hide a piece of candy or a small toy that the Hunter can keep as a prize when they find the hidden object.
Step 4. Indicate to the Hunter that they are moving away from the hidden object by saying “colder“. If they keep moving in the wrong direction, words that indicate degrees of cold, such as “freezing” or “icy“.
Step 5. Tell the Hunter that they are getting closer to the hidden object by saying “hotter“.
Step 6. Continue giving clues until the Hunter finds the hidden object. Keep playing the game until all of the players get a chance to hunt.
3 or more players
“What Time is it, Mr. Wolf?” What Time is it, Mr/Mrs. Fox?” is a game of tag that involves less running and adds counting practice. An adult should start as Mr. Fox/Mrs Fox/ or Mr. Wolf (you can put kids in charge once they know the rules) and organize everyone to stand side-by-side in a line.
Players yell out “What Time is it Mr. Fox (Mrs. Fox)?” and Mr. Fox (Mrs. Fox) yells out a time, e.g. “It’s 7 o’clock!” and the kids take that many steps forward.
The kids continue to take steps forward based on the number called out even if it means they are super close to Mr. or Mrs. Fox.
Players may also ask how big or small steps to take ” Big steps or small steps?”
This continues until Mr. Fox calls out “Lunch time!” and the kids try to race back to the start line without getting tagged by Mr. Fox. If somebody got tagged, that person is the next Mr. Fox.
4 or more players
All but one of the players sit in a circle facing the center. A player who does not sit in a circle is called a Goose.
The Goose walks in a circle and touches each player’s the top of the head with a hand, while saying the word “duck“.
At any moment, the Goose can touch the next player’s head and say the word “goose” instead of “duck“.
The one who was just called a “goose” gets up and runs after the Old Goose. The old Goose has to run around the circle so that the New Goose does not tag them and takes their place in the circle.
If the New Goose tags the old one before they run around the circle and take an empty seat, the New Goose sits in its former place, and the old Goose continues the game. If the new “Goose” has not caught up with the old Goose, the new “Goose” leads.
Games for Kids 6-8 Years
3 or more players
Equipment: no equipment is needed, just a spacious area to play.
Setting Up: Select one player to be the “Caller.” The Caller will give the commands to the other players.
How to Play:
When the Caller says “Simon Says”, players do what the Caller says. But if he doesn’t say “Simon Says”, players don’t move.
The commands can be:
Cross Your Arms
Clap your hands
Shrug your shoulders
Touch your toes
Stomp your feet
Bend your knees
Blink your eyes
Raise your eyebrows
Wiggle your nose and so on.
Getting Caught: If a player acts out a command that didn’t start with the word “Simon Says” he is or becomes the new Caller.
The game continues.
6 or more players
Equipment: no equipment is needed, just a spacious area to play.
Setting Up: Select one player to be the “Caller.” The Caller will give the commands to the other players.
How to Play: Separate players into two teams. Have both teams hold hands in a parallel line facing each other. Decide what team will be first. Team A then says:
“Red Rover Red Rover send (Team B’s player’s name) ride over”
That person from Team B will then run straight towards Team A and try to break the link between people from Team A holding hands. If that person breaks the link between two people, he goes back to his team. He may choose one player from Team B to join Team A now.
If he does not break the link, he joins Team B.
Note: you cannot send somebody over twice in a row.
The game will end when there’s only one person left on a team.
Hopscotch
2 or more players
Hide and Go Seek
2 or more players
Active Game “At the bottom of the sea”
5 or more players
Equipment: no equipment is needed, just a spacious area to play.
Setting Up: Select one player to be the “Caller.” The Caller will give the commands to the other players.
How to Play:
All players, except the Caller, stand in the middle of the playing area.
The Caller stands at one end of the playing area and shouts commands related to sea animals or actions.
The commands can be:
“At the bottom of the sea, you might find… a shark!” (Players can pretend to swim like a shark)
“At the bottom of the sea, you might find… a seaweed!” (Players can sway like seaweed)
“At the bottom of the sea, you might find… a crab!” (Players can walk sideways like a crab)
Players must act out the command given by the Caller. The more imaginative the actions, the better!
The Caller can try to trick players by giving unexpected commands or saying something unrelated to the sea. For example: “At the bottom of the sea, you might find… a giraffe!”
Players should not move because giraffes don’t belong in the sea.
Getting Caught: If a player acts out a command that is not related to the sea, they are out and must sit on the sidelines.
The game continues until there is only one player left standing. This player can then become the new Caller.
Variations: All players can sing this song while they perform the Caller’s command (listen to the melody here https://shorturl.at/ssj7Y):
At the bottom of the sea
All the fish are swimming
Here and there and everywhere
Oh, so many things you see!
Tag Game “Ghost in the Graveyard“
3 or more players.
Equipment: no equipment is needed, just a spacious area to run around and hide.
Setting Up: choose an area to be the boundaries of the graveyard like part of a local park or a few yards in your neighborhood that are next door to each other. Then you decide where the “safe spots” in the playing area will be. The chosen safe spot will be your home base. Next you’ll need to choose a player to be the “Ghost”. You can have someone volunteer or choose them some other way like playing “Rock, paper, scissors” (see instructions on our “Games” page).
How to Play: All the other players stay in their safe spots. The Ghost will then go and hide somewhere on the playing field (far from safe spots). As the ghost is hiding, the other players count: one o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock, and so on until they get to 12 o’clock.
Then everyone shouts: Midnight! I hope I don’t see the ghost tonight! Next, everyone leaves the base to search for the Ghost.
If anyone gets near the Ghost, the Ghost will jump out and try to tag them.
The first player to see the ghost shouts “Ghost in the graveyard” to warn everyone else. The other players run away from the Ghost and return to home base to avoid getting tagged. Anyone who gets tagged becomes the new Ghost. If the Ghost doesn’t tag anyone, the last player to get to home base becomes the next Ghost.
Keep the game going as long as you like.
Variations: for an extra spooky variant, try playing the game in the dark and searching for the Ghost with flashlights. Any player who gets tagged turns off their flashlight and becomes a new Ghost.
Games for Kids 8-10 Years
“Fortunately, Unfortunately” Game
2 or more players
“Fortunately, Unfortunately” is a fun and creative storytelling game that helps kids develop their imagination, quick thinking, and narrative skills.
How to Play:
Players sit in a circle or line so everyone can hear each other. One player is chosen to start the story. This player will begin with a “Fortunately” statement. For example, “Fortunately, I found a treasure map“. The next player continues the story with an “Unfortunately” statement that contradicts or complicates the previous statement. For example, “Unfortunately, the map was in a language I couldn’t read“. Players take turns alternating between “Fortunately” and “Unfortunately” statements, building on the story each time.
Ending the Game: The game can end when players feel the story has reached a satisfying conclusion or after a set number of turns.
Variations:
Theme-Based Stories: choose a specific theme for the story, such as “space adventure,” “underwater exploration,” or “magical kingdom.”
Example Game:
Player 1: “Fortunately, I found a magic lamp.” Player 2: “Unfortunately, it was buried under a ton of sand.”
Player 3: “Fortunately, I had a shovel.”
Player 4: “Unfortunately, the shovel broke.”
Player 5: “Fortunately, there was another one nearby.”
Player 6: “Unfortunately, it was guarded by a sleeping dragon.”
“Follow The Leader” Game
4 or more players
Setting Up: One player is chosen to be the “Leader.” The rest of the players are the “Followers.”
How to Play:
One person will leave the group. Then the person returns to the group. He will stand in the center of the circle and will look around at players.
The Leader will begin to perform different actions, e.g. as jumping, clapping, spinning, rubbing forehead, etc.
The Followers will mimic the Leader’s actions. Then the person will look around trying to figure out who the leader is.
The person gets two chances to guess who the Leader is.
If he doesn’t guess who it is, the Leader raises his hands.
The game repeats with a new leader
“Funny Script” Game
3 or more players
This is a “paper telephone game’ variation
Equipment: a pen and a piece of paper for each player
How to Play:
Players sit in a circle, it is better to sit closer to each other, so it is faster to pass the paper.
Everyone starts by writing a sentence at the top of his or her paper. It can be something random, true, abstract, from a song lyric, or about someone in the room.
Once everyone has a sentence at the top of the paper, everyone folds the top part of the paper over so it covers the first sentence and passes their paper to the player to their right.
Then again, everyone writes a sentence at the top of his or her paper. Again fold the top part of the paper over and pass the paper to the player to their right. Everyone continues alternately writing sentences, always covering up the latest sentence and passing to the right.
The game lasts at least 5 rounds.
In the last round: After everyone is done writing, players unfold the papers they have. Then you go around as everyone one by one reads a paper out loud. It’s always funny to hear how the first sentence turned into the last one.
Variation: The Caller will announce the topics to write about, for example :
- Write a name
- Write what the person was doing
- Write where he was doing it
- Write why he was doing it
- Write with whom he was doing it
- Write what happened next
“The Truth About Me” Game
3 or more players
Everybody sits in a circle and there’s one person in the middle.
Make sure there are no empty seats.
Then the person in the middle says something true about him starting with a phrase “The truth about me is that I…”
If it’s true about you too then you have to stand up and switch with another person.
The middle person also tries to get an empty seat.
If you end up without a chair you become a new person in the middle. And the game continues.
“Dots and Boxes” Game
2 players
This classic game requires two players, a piece of paper to draw a grid (or download a Free printable game board), and two pencils, pens, or markers of different colors for each player.
First, you’ll need to set up your game board make a grid of dots on your paper it can be any size you want from five by five to fifty by five today, or use the free printable game board.
On your turn draw a line connecting any two dots next to each other. They can be in any direction but not diagonal.
Then it’s the next player’s turn.
Keep drawing until one player draws the four sides on any of those tiny boxes.
A player should make some sort of indication that that is their box you can do initials or color it in.
Continue drawing lines and completing boxes until the entire grid has been colored in.
Count each player’s boxes and the player with the most wins dots.
“Tic Tac Toe” Game
2 players
Tic Tac Toe is a fun two-player game where players try to get three of their symbols, either X or O in a row before their opponent can.
To play the game first draw a three-by-three grid (or use the free printable with 9 game grids) so there are nine open spaces in total.
Then decide who will use X‘s and who will use 0’s.
How to Play:
Take turns writing your symbol in one of the open spaces on the grid. Try to get three symbols in a row while also blocking your opponent from getting three of their symbols in a row.
Whoever gets three of their symbols in a row first wins.
If no player gets three in a row it’s a draw and the game starts over with a new empty grid.
Active Game “Four Square”
4 players
Equipment: a ball that bounces like a kickball; some chalk or tape.
Setting Up: Find a flat open area like a driveway or concrete deck and use the chalk or tape to mark four connected squares on the ground make each square about five feet (1.5 meters) across, and label the squares 1-2-3-4.
Basic Rules:
1. Serving: The game starts with the player in square 1 serving the ball. The server must bounce the ball once in their own square and then hit it toward another player’s square.
2. Hitting the Ball: The receiving player must allow the ball to bounce once in their square before hitting it into another square. The ball must be hit with the hands. Players can use an open hand or closed fist.
Elimination Rules: A player is eliminated if they: Fail to hit the ball into another square; hit the ball out of bounds; let the ball bounce more than once in their square; and catch or carry the ball instead of hitting it; hit the ball before it bounces in their square.
Active Game “Switch”
5 players
“Switch” is an engaging and active game that can be played indoors or outdoors, making it a perfect choice for groups of children looking to have fun and stay active.
Setting Up: So before we begin you need a four-square court and if you don’t have that use chalk to draw a big square, with enough space for everyone to move around comfortably. Choose one player to be the first or “caller”.
How to Play: Players stand in 4 corners of a square.
Start the Game: The “caller” stands in the center of the square and calls out “Switch!”. All players, including the “caller”, must quickly move to a different corner of the square. The goal for the players is to find an empty spot before someone else takes it. Since the leader is also looking for a spot, one player will inevitably be left without a spot to stand in. The player who is left without a spot becomes the “caller” and stands in the center. The new leader calls out “Switch!” and the process repeats.
Rules: Players cannot hold or reserve spots for themselves or others. Players should not push or shove others while switching spots
Hand Clapping Games 👏
Classic finger game 👉👈 “Sticks“
Hand game 👉 “Rock, Paper, Scissors“
2 or more players
To play, find an opponent and stand facing each other with one hand flat like a plate in front of you and your other hand making a fist on top of the palm of the other hand. Then, count down by saying:
“Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot!”
On “shoot,” play either a rock, paper, or scissors with your hand. Whoever makes the winning item with their hand wins!
1. The Rock (make a fist 🤜) wins against Scissors as it breaks them, loses to Paper as it gets wrapped up, and stalemates against itself.
2. The paper (flat palm of a hand ✋) wins against Rock as it wraps it, loses to Scissors as it gets cut, and stalemates against itself.
3. The scissors (two fingers like scissors ✌️) win against Paper as it cuts it, loses to Rock as it gets smashed, and stalemates against itself.
- If both players throw the same object, it’s a tie. In this situation, simply play again. Continue doing this until there is a clear winner.
- Many people choose to do “best of 3” or “best of 5” since rock paper scissors are a quick and easy game to play.
- If you play with more than 2 players, continue playing rounds until there’s one player left standing.
Hand Clapping Game 👏 “Miss Mary Mack”
All you need is a partner and some comfy space. You are going to start with Miss Mary and then use your right hand to clap you partner’s right hand, then left hand, clap both hands followed by cross hands on your chest, toucj both knees, and clap.
Now repeat the same steps over and over again with the lyrics:
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
Up and down her back, back, back.
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents,
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants,
Jump the fence, fence, fence.
They jumped so high, high, high,
They touched the sky, sky, sky,
And they never came back, back, back,
To the Fourth of July-ly-ly.
Hand Clapping Game 👏 “Double Double This That“
All you need is a partner.
So once you’ve found your partner, sit down, facing them.
All you need to know is three motions: The first one is “double” – you clap both hands.
The second one is “this” – you face your partner and hit their palms.
The third one is “that” – with the back of your hand you’re going to hit the back of your partner’s hands.
So it’s going to be: Next time try it a little faster. Then try really fast.
Double, double, this, this
Double, double, this, this
Double, this, double, that
Double, double, this, that
Next time try it a little faster.
Then try really fast.
