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Child Games

By Vanessa Rasmussen, © 2004, All rights reserved.
Website: http://www.startingadaycarecenter.com

Following are some of the common and most popular children's games:

• Tag: In games of chase and tag, the object is to tag, or touch, other players who are then out of the game. Usually one player is 'it' and has to chase and tag the other players, one of whom then becomes the new person who is 'it'. All you need is a group of kids and a decent sized backyard. The game continues till the kids are exhausted or bored.·
• Hopscotch: Hopscotch is a wonderful hopping game that can be played on a bare patch of ground or on a floor indoors. Around the world, children have enjoyed drawing grids on the sidewalk or on the ground and then jumping or hopping from one end of the grid to the other. They draw different kinds of grids. Some are like a line of blocks with a circle at the end. Others are round and curl in a circle. Still others are a large square with many small squares inside. Use chalk to draw a hopscotch pattern on the ground or use masking tape on a floor. Create a diagram with 8 sections and number them. Give each player a marker such as a stone, beanbag, bottle cap, shell, button, etc.
• Jump-rope: Rope Jumping is a children's game of physical perseverance. It requires a piece of rope about 7 feet long. Any kind of rope of light material can be used to play this game. Nowadays a commercially manufactured plastic rope with a handle on each end is used. You can buy this kind of rope in most sports stores. The game can be played individually or in groups.
• Ball games: Children love playing games with balls. Playing these games, they not only have a great deal of fun but also learn to handle the ball in different ways and develop special skills. Some of the popular ball games are catch, dodge ball, paddle and ball games, ball tag, kick ball, kings and queens, etc.
• Hide and seek: Hide and seek is a game played by children in which one or more children hide and another child searches for them. In its simplest form, the "seeker" will give the "hiders" some fixed amount of time to scatter throughout the playing area and find hiding spots, and then begin searching; the last hider to remain unfound is considered the winner. There are plenty of variations of this game.
• Paper and card games: Children often like to use pencils, crayons, paints, and paper to invent their own games and toys. They cut out paper dolls and make clothes for them, then happily play with them for hours. School children often invent pencil and paper games that allow them to interact with friends, drawing grids on sheets of paper in order to keep score. Card games also are a favorite with young children.

Copyright 2001, 2004. All rights reserved. Any reproduction of this article in whole or in part without written or verbal permission is strictly prohibited. For information about reprinting this article, contact the copyright owner: Vanessa Rasmussen, Ph.D, Starting a Day Care Center, http://www.startingadaycarecenter.com.