Games and competitions for children outdoors for summer and spring, game program

When a group of children gathers at a dacha or in a private house, on a forest clearing or on the bank of a river, or perhaps on the summer terrace of a cafe, adults will definitely be faced with a problem: what is a fun and exciting way to occupy children who are cut off from their usual gadgets? Especially if we are talking not just about friendly communication, but about a children's holiday, for example, a birthday or graduation from elementary school.

With the help of time-tested and modernized outdoor fun, you can so captivate children in spending time together that they will remember this holiday for a long time and passionately ask for a repeat!

We bring to your attention outdoor games and competitions for children to celebrate outdoors in summer or spring. Depending on the diversity of the children's group, the characteristics and interests of the little guests, the organizers can combine competitions from different groups.

Use your imagination! Many competitions can be adapted to suit the theme of your holiday. For example, games based on chasing don't necessarily have to be called "cat and mouse": maybe it's a team of puppies chasing KOTOstrophy at a Paw Patrol themed birthday party, a shark chasing little fish, or a witch chasing princesses at a Disney animated party!

A number of games require simple props, most of which are always at hand, but it is better to worry about them in advance:

rope;
skittles or plastic bottles weighted with water, beans or peas;
ball(s);
Balloons;
a piece of fabric, tulle, a long scarf;
pebbles;
chestnuts;
vegetables and fruits;
water pistols.

Don't forget to take care of prizes and souvenirs for young winners of competitions!

Combat games

These competitions are based on winning a specific match. And even if the battle is a joke, victory is always a victory, and it should be rewarded with a prize.

"Roosters" . Children are divided into pairs. A balloon is tied to each child's ankle. The goal is to burst your opponent's balloon by stepping on it, while preventing your own from bursting. During the game you should definitely turn on some fun music.
"King of the Hill" . Various variations of this popular game are possible. You can try to knock the “king” off the log with a long balloon or pillow. What if you don’t knock it down, but try to take off the huge crown and put it on yourself? Or compete to see who can maintain balance the longest while standing on the ball? Or holding a balloon on your fingertip?
Tournament . This noisy and fun game is a lot of fun for children (and usually terrifies adults!) Give children pillowcases with a handful of feathers in each, inflated balloons, paper “bombs” with water and challenge them to defeat the opposing team! You can arrange water “Cossack Robbers”: if you get hit in the hand, you can no longer shoot with that hand, if you get hit in the leg you will have to jump on one, well, if you get hit in the head, what can you do, you’re out! A referee is needed here. But you can have a wonderfully fun battle between two armies! Let the children have fun, and the adults too.
"Paparazzi" . The game is based on the fact that modern children often carry mobile phones with a built-in camera. Let a couple of participants pick up “weapons”. A “secret sign” is attached to everyone’s back - some bright picture, for example, a flower, an animal, a rainbow. The goal is to take a photo of your opponent's sign faster than he can take a photo of yours while the music is playing. Can you imagine what a fun “dance” others will see? And the winner will be easy to determine based on the resulting photographs.

Sports competitions

Sports competitions are a real attribute of every corporate event. They remove shyness and add excitement, without which the holiday will not be fiery. Here are the competitions that a summer corporate party may include:

"Ball Hunters" To conduct this competition you need two dozen balloons. Two teams must consist of 5 people each. One group takes red balls, the other blue. Players inflate balloons and tie them to their feet. The participants' task is to hunt for the opponents' balls. They are only allowed to be broken with feet. The team that is the first to eliminate the competitors' balls wins.
Archery, dart throwing. These competitions reveal the most accurate ones. Darts can be thrown alternately - either with your left or right hand. You can make this option more complicated and try throwing several darts together. The most accurate competitor will receive a prize.
Kayaking, boating, catamarans.
Various relay races: in bags, with buckets on their feet.
"Obstacle course."

Games – running and jumping ropes

1. Relay races.

Children love to take turns running after various objects and performing intricate actions. Depending on the theme of the holiday and the availability of props, you can offer a variety of relay race scenarios, creatively playing them out and dividing the children into two or three teams:

run a chain around the pins or bottles displayed on the path and return;
feed the bunny (hedgehog, dog...) a carrot (apple, bone, etc.): at the finish line there is a toy, which you need to carry the “treat” one at a time;
running with a stick, on which at the finish line you need to string a leaf and return, and the next one will continue the general “kebab”;
running together in different interesting variations: putting your hand on the shoulder of the one in front, holding the bent leg of the one standing behind, or simply “like a train”, joining one at a time;
place children from different teams along the route, and the run begins with the passing of a relay stick, ball or toy: the main thing is not to pass the stick to an opponent from the other team!

2. Various tags.

All sorts of variations based on catch-and-catch. You can catch someone who is not wearing clothes of a certain color (“colored tags”). You can attach a caught player to yourself and continue to catch together, lengthening the chain.

And if you give two drivers a long scarf or rope, then it will be interesting to catch the rest, driving them into a “loop”.

“Snail tag” can be funny – you will have to catch up with crawling participants covered with cardboard boxes. Or “one-legged tag” - both the catcher and the runners jump on one leg!

3. "Planes".

Round “landing areas” are drawn on the path with chalk or lined with ropes; there are 1 fewer of them than there are players. One of the participants is a dispatcher. He leads a chain of “planes”, setting a route, commanding them to wave the right or left wing, commenting on what is directly ahead.

At the command “The weather is unflyable!” you need to quickly take the landing site. The dispatcher is also trying to do this. Those who didn’t make it in time will become a dispatcher instead of a driver.

4. Modern rubber bands.

Remember the childhood games of our mothers, when two stood holding a long elastic band on their ankles or knees, and the third jumped, following a certain “program”?

If you come up with interesting modern names for various methods of jumping, for example, “Louboutins”, “robocars”, etc., you can try to captivate a small group, especially girls, with this game. Whoever goes through the program the furthest without stepping on a rubber band wins a prize.

5. "Olympics".

This game can be played using the same rubber bands as in the previous competition. Two participants hold the edges of a bow-shaped structure (an elastic band, the ends of which are tied in a circle, crosses).

With the cry of “Olympics!” those holding it give the structure a certain position, and the rest of the participants must cross it without touching the elastic band. You can try to jump over the top or crawl into the resulting hole. Whoever touches the rubber band takes the place of one of those holding it.

The winner of the “Olympiad” (the one who was able to climb the most times in a row, setting a new record) is entitled to a medal!

6. "High Leg".

A variant of catch-up, in which you cannot catch someone who has stood on some hill with one or both feet. If the runner is hanging on the horizontal bar, he is also out of the game!

You need to make sure in advance that there are benches, stumps, overturned buckets, etc. on the site.

7. “Treasured Place”.

Another game for those who don't want to let go of their mobile phones. The game starts like normal hide and seek.

Set up a “cherished place”: for example, a bench under a lilac bush, where the driver counts until the players hide. Then he goes to look for everyone, and the players must try to sneak into the “cherished place” unnoticed and take a selfie there.

If the driver managed to find them earlier or have time to take a photo in the “cherished place”, he wins! And the footage will remain as a memory.

The best ideas for having fun outdoors this summer!

Still from the film “Summer. Beach 2"

Cool games for a group of adults in nature are as much a must-have for outdoor recreation as barbecue and strong drinks. Because both before and after the feast you will want to have some fun, and the question will definitely arise - how exactly?

Especially for this occasion, we have put together a cool collection of outdoor games for a group that will help you and your friends have a fun and interesting time.

Skill games

These competition games are based on the ability to perform some difficult, inconvenient and at the same time funny manipulations with various objects. The one who does it better and faster than the rest will win. It is more fun when a large number of children participate in such games, but some can be played with two or three participants.

1.Did you hold it? Tell your neighbor.

In different ways you can transfer certain objects to each other, standing side by side, for example:

ball under the chin;
cardboard thermometer in the armpit;
stick in teeth;
a soft toy held between your knees;
in pairs - move the ball sandwiched between their backs or between their foreheads.

2. “Hands off!”

Prepare small items, vegetables and fruits, just make sure they are clean. These can be apples, oranges, carrots, cucumbers, as well as balls, chestnuts, pencils, small toys and even leaves.

Arrange them mixed up on the table. The children’s task is to transfer objects, each to their own basket, located at some distance. You can carry it in any way except using your fingers! Elbows, teeth, chin will be used... If you drop it, there will be 1 less item in your basket... The one who has the most items in the basket at the end of the game will win.

3. “Porridge for the fox”.

You can beat this competition using any convenient scenario; for little “Kolobok” fans, this one is suitable: so that the Fox doesn’t eat Kolobok, you need to feed her porridge!

The porridge pots are already on the stump, and the cereal needs to be poured into them with a spoon, which the young “koloboks” will hold in their teeth. Scoop up the cereal from the common bag - and take it to your kettle! The prize will be given to the one whose fox turns out to be the most well-fed.

4. "Flamingo".

The clearing will be a surface of water, and barefoot children walking on the grass will be flamingos. To make it more interesting, you can give out fake beaks or pink capes. Chestnuts are scattered across the clearing - these will be fish.

Flamingos must catch them - naturally, with their bare feet! - and then take them and put them in the center of the clearing, where there will be a “nest”.

5. Flight “On instruments”.

This game is for older children. Prepare an “obstacle course”: a rope to step over, pins to go around, a bench to climb over, etc.

In turn, each player is blindfolded, and he walks “on instruments,” that is, following the instructions of the others. You can allow a cheerful hubbub when everyone gives advice at the same time. Or introduce a touch of order by guiding the first player through yourself and then declaring that everyone who just cleared the strip becomes a dispatcher.

And if you quietly remove some of the obstacles and the player diligently overcomes the free path, it will be even funnier!
6. “Inconvenient treat .
Everyone knows how difficult it is to eat an apple hanging by a thread.
Try getting candy out of a bowl of flour with your teeth or drinking water from a plastic cup without using your hands!

A fairy tale for a corporate party

It is often practiced at corporate events to stage original fairy tales in a new way. So you can write a fairy tale about all the employees of the company. The boss can act as uncle Chernomor, who has a certain number of heroes under his command. Each employee of the company can be associated with one or another fairy-tale hero. A special feature of the tale will be its focus on what the company does. If you write a funny poem about each employee in a fairy-tale form, you can get a funny story.

Young people love impromptu theater with instant fairy tales, where you need to quickly change clothes. Thus, many groups have already fallen in love with the fairy tale “Turnip” in a new way. The actors' task is to make the fairy tale funny and show off their wit. So, for example, Turnip can utter the phrase: “Don’t touch me, I’m still underage!” The granddaughter may say: “Grandfather, grandma, hurry up, I’m rushing to the bar.” You can experiment like this with any other fairy tale.

Games in one place

When everyone has been running and jumping, you can play something just as fun, but not requiring significant movement. Such games will calm the children a little and at the same time add additional variety.

Monster Exhibition . Invite the children, while the music is playing (select a track for about 5 minutes), to build a monster from everything they can find on the playground and give it a name. Of course, you need to have dry branches, ropes, empty buckets, saucepans, stumps and other similar props nearby. And then let each creator present their monster to an interested public.

"Edible Gift" . This game is not suitable for children. If children are having fun in the garden, where various fruits are already ripening, you can invite them to build an “edible gift”. To do this, you need to find and combine different types of edible plants. For example, cut a hole in an apple and hide a cherry there. Or wrap a strawberry in a sorrel leaf. The recipient must determine which components are included in the gift and eat at least a piece of each. The strict rule is no inedible ingredients (that’s why the game is for conscious kids). Who will give a gift to whom is determined by drawing lots or simply by the wishes of the children.
"Noise Orchestra" . It's great when you can make noise without fear of disturbing your neighbors. Children succeed in this so rarely! Let them build an “orchestra” from scrap materials. You can invite them to choose from your options (drum, tambourine, whistle, musical hammer, etc.) or be as creative as possible (a saucepan with a lid, an old battery and a stick, picket fences, a pumpkin instead of a drum). To help children better get into the role of orchestra members, put a paper bow tie on each one, choose a conductor, arming him, for example, with a cucumber or carrot as a stick. To perform, choose a song that everyone knows, and, of course, don’t forget to take a photo of the full orchestra!

“The locomotive is leaving!” Divide the children into pairs and place them at a distance of 70-80 cm from one another (for example, on opposite sides of the path). One of them “leaves by train”, and the other “sees him off”. The track is a platform separating them, and the glass of the “car” is soundproof. You explain the rules: the attendant remembered that before the train departs, you need to tell the departing person an important thing (he will read it on the card). But you can’t make any sounds, the dialogue will have to be conducted with gestures... But bad luck - the train will leave in three minutes! When the presenter announces “The train is leaving!”, it will be possible to find out what the first player wanted to convey and what the second one understood. The tasks on the cards can be the following: “Bring medicine for grandma,” “You still have my keys to the apartment,” “You forgot your wallet,” “Don’t worry, I’ll walk your dog,” etc.
"Watermelon Constructor" . If the treat included watermelon, do not rush to throw away the rinds right away - they can be used for another very interesting competition. Children who know how to handle sharp objects are given toothpicks and a task: to assemble watermelon rinds... Well, who do you want? Crocodile, ship, plane? An exhibition of crafts and prizes for the best “green crust engineers” are a must.

"Ferry"

Two teams. Props: two aluminum ice cubes (you can just use basins with low sides) with holes from the handles and two ropes 3-4 meters long (the longer the better; you can have one at a time, but a long one). We send one strong player at a time to the “opposite shore” - to such a distance as one rope allows. We tie the ropes in advance and, most importantly, choose a distance with an uneven surface or downhill (for example, a gentle slope overgrown with grass). On command, the participant sits in the ice boat, and the ferryman pulls him towards him. The team doesn’t let go of its rope in order to pull the ice cube towards them for the next one. The players who have crossed over help the “ferryman,” and the speed of the ice boat increases, and it is very difficult to stay in it on an uneven surface. Here are the “drowned people”: whoever fell out drowned. At the finish line, the number of alive and unharmed is taken into account.

Children's quests

Games based on step-by-step completion of tasks or searching for hidden treasures are becoming increasingly popular. Such a competition, of course, requires preliminary preparation, but it allows you to keep children busy for a long time, and besides, it is easy to tie it to any holiday theme. Variations depend on the age and capabilities of the children, as well as your talent as an organizer.

"Magic Lottery" . Hide “lottery balls” (Kinder surprise boxes, colorful balls, wooden eggs, chestnuts with numbers written in marker) in a variety of places where children can find them: under the porch, in the raspberry bushes, in a hollow or between the roots of an old tree. Announce the search, and then draw the resulting numbers, awarding an interesting prize for each.
"Treasure Hunters" . Make a “pirate map”, following which children can find the hidden “treasure”. There may be one or two different maps for a team competition. Provide a complex route with intermediate points at which you will need to complete something in order to move on. For example, “ten steps north from the gazebo” - but how can you determine where north is? Place a compass on the table in the gazebo and let them figure out how to use it. Or give them a hint after solving the riddle. In the finale, the “treasure” can be dug up (take care of the shovels) or pulled out in a chest from some hiding place. The “treasure” will be souvenirs or sweets for all guests.
"Pathfinders" . Here the preparation will be more thorough. The search route needs to be determined on the terrain itself: arrows made of branches, upturned and shifted pebbles, indications on tree trunks... You can do it a little simpler: paint the pebbles with white paint, draw an arrow on each pebble, and hide these indicator pebbles along the entire length of the route . Let the children look for where to move next! Take the risk of complicating the path with deceptive arrows.
“Solve it and move on . The quest path will be marked with riddles, each of which encrypts a specific search point. It all depends on what riddles you can find or come up with: the answer should be one or another place, for example, a stump, a garden figurine of a gnome or mushroom, a porch, a gate, an apple tree, a doghouse, etc. For a senior company, you can offer additional competitions at each point: to get the next riddle, you need, for example, to solve a rebus, make something, sing a song, etc.
"From photographs" . You can give children numbered photographs, each of which depicts a specific place. Of course, the pictures should be fragmentary, so that the children have to think, from what tree, for example, is this branch, under which the next clue is hidden?
"Encrypted Finish" . By completing tasks on various objects, children receive a code letter. At the end, a word is assembled from the letters received - the final point of the search.
"Collect according to the list" . The children's task is to bring all the items from the list that you make in advance. The list should look like a riddle: “Something green, something starting with K, something with two parts.” Or you could have the children draw 5-7 letters from the bag each and bring objects for each letter. You can look for objects on the site, in the garden, on the birthday table...

In any combination, the proposed competitions will definitely be popular with children. And the organizer of all this splendor will earn the love and gratitude of the children and their parents, as well as a great desire to come visit you again for an interesting children's holiday. After all, for children, the opportunity to have fun is much more valuable than treats and even gifts!

Conducting team building activities

The best collective outing into nature is a well-organized outing. Many special companies organize such holidays. If there is no desire and opportunity to contact them, then the managers decide to take on the organization of the corporate event themselves. For this purpose, an initiative group is selected from among colleagues (3-4 active people). In some companies, special managers do this. The organizing group does the following:

Calculation of the exact composition of team building participants.
Choosing a suitable location. The organizers first go to this district themselves to make sure the safety, size, and ease of access of the place.
Menu creation. Most often, colleagues in nature prefer barbecue or shish kebab.
Counting funds for the event. This includes paying for travel to the place, purchasing food, and prizes for competitions.
Development of scenarios and competitions for corporate events in nature.

After all the above actions, a date for team building is set, previously agreed upon with all colleagues. Such trips are usually arranged on weekends, which is convenient for most colleagues.

Silent system

A cheerful company will definitely like the game “Mute System”. It would be a good idea to film the progress of the game on a video camera, so that later the participants could watch the recording and laugh.

The essence of the game is that all participants line up in one row, and the leader, passing behind them, slaps them on the back a different number of times. How many claps there were - this is the participant’s serial number. At the command of the leader, when everyone has already been assigned numbers, the participants must line up in one order in order, but at the same time talking or gesturing with their hands is strictly prohibited.

The catch is that the presenter can clap the same number of times to several participants at once, which means that the formation will be not just one, but several at once. Only the participants mooing and winking at each other do not immediately understand this, and therefore all their manipulations are very funny to watch.

Kisses

This competition is held if a mixed-sex company goes to nature. The presenter goes around everyone present and assigns a letter to the men, and a number to the women. Now a blanket is spread on the grass, the psychic sits there in the lotus position and begins to shape destinies. HE shouts out a combination of letters and numbers, for example Zh9. The girl, who is assigned 9, runs to the screamer and kisses him on the cheek. But the young man who is assigned the letter Z must react even faster and intercept the girl even before the kiss. If he succeeds, then he kisses the lady himself and a “couple” is formed. If he didn’t make it in time, then now the latecomer will have to drive.

"Breakthrough"

The game can be quite traumatic, so it should only be played in the presence of an adult. Children stand in a circle, and one child with a ball stands in the center of the circle. This ring should be as tight as possible: the distance between the participants should be 15-20 cm. The task of the central player is to break through the defense, that is, push the ball outside the circle. You can push the ball only with the help of your legs, knocking it out only at ground level. That is, aiming at the heads or stomach is strictly prohibited - the ball must roll on the ground.

The remaining players do their best to prevent the central one from making a breakthrough. But they can only act with their feet. At the same time, closing the circle into a narrower ring is prohibited. The one who misses the ball takes the place of the driver. There is no one winner here. But if you want to create a competitive moment, then you can keep track of losses. Whoever has the fewest is the winner.

Fun relay races for primary school

" Fixed ball ." A member of each team has a ball attached to some part of his body, and in this position he must run to a chair, and then take off the ball and run back to the team. The ball can be tied to the knees, to the head, to the elbows, to the palms.
" Fishermen ". Children are given a spoon and a plate. They, along with the dishes, must run to the bucket in which the fish - matches - are swimming. The child must scoop up one fish and some water with a spoon, pour it all into his plate and return to the team to pass the catch to the second participant. As a result, the team’s total catch and the correctness of the task will be assessed.
" Bumps ." Circles are drawn in front of the teams, into which each participant must jump on the way to the finish line. After the child reaches the finish line, he needs to run back to the team. The guys who complete the competition faster will win.
" Twins ". 2 people from the team lock elbows and run sideways towards their goal. At the same time, their backs should be pressed very tightly against each other. The fastest team wins.
" Horses ". Each participant sits on a chair and jumps to the marked point on the chair, and then picks it up and runs back with it. All this is repeated by the children from the team. The fastest ones win.

Fun relay race scenario

Each of us can give children a holiday - the main thing is not to be lazy and sometimes allow yourself to return to childhood. We hope that the relay race options we offer will be useful to you in your work or during family picnics.