Best Outdoor Yard Games to Motivate Outdoor Play for Your Kids

We're all familiar with the common refrain exhorted by parents everywhere, "Go outside and play!' As a parent, you'll get a lot farther ahead with that request/demand/ fervent desire if you have the right equipment stocked for your kids. Stocking right will insure success when you send them outdoors to play yard games--you might want to join them!

You need appealing, age-appropriate outdoor yard games, toys and equipment. Properly stocked, you will be helping your kids master skills they'll use forever. Mastery of skills leads to confidence building and self-esteem. Getting the right playground balls will really set you on a roll here.

Younger kids need to work on both small and large motor skills. It's a good ideal to have different types of balls, in a variety of sizes and textures. Variety impels exploration.

The right sized balls for your children will help them master the art of throwing and catching with precision. Balls that are worthy of your serious consideration include: textured rubber balls, inflatable beach ball, tennis ball, kick balls, volleyballs. This list could go on forever but these are the key ones you should consider stocking in order to create enthusiasm about outdoor yard games in your own yard.

Grade schoolers are beginning to check out 'real' sports. Foursquare only begins its popularity at this point. In some cases, adults are still playing this outdoor yard game classic--with a new ferocity never seen as children.

Badminton, volleyball and even bocce ball are good considerations to make your outdoor yard games more enticing for this age group.

It's also a good time to think about adding a basketball hoop and playing some pick-up games each evening. It's a great way to check in with your child about their day, become alerted to any impending issues or dramas before they escalate and simple de-stress from a busy day--works for both the adult and the child.

Middle schoolers will likely be getting more seriously into organized recreational or classic sports like soccer or softball but you can help here as well. Games like croquet, badminton and that new European sensation, Speedminton, are very popular with this age group.

One of the best middle school parties our kids attended last year included a night time game of Speedminton, with glow in the dark 'speeders' (shuttlecocks) and glow in the dark 'war paint' worn by the opposing teams. The kids had a blast and since it was in a neighbor's back yard--many of the locals came by to cheer and get in the act. Now some of the adults are playing too. This kind of outdoor game play can be infectious good fun.

When you let your imagination start roaming and stock up on the right toys, "Go outside and play!" can take on new dimensions as outdoor yard games move into the 21st Century. These yard games may be classic but they're keeping up with the times without question.

Go outside and play! Get the outdoor yard games that will make your back yard the neighborhood favorite!

Middle schoolers are getting so into Speedminton! Click on the link to find out what you may be missing!

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Games Bring The Family Together

These days, many families don't get nearly enough quality time together. For those who would like to get their family together and engaged in a healthy activity, outdoor games can be a great option. These family games get everyone together in an enjoyable activity that boasts the added bonus of providing exercise, which is another thing that many families want more of. There are many great outdoor games to choose from. Below are some suggestions for people who want ideas for family games to try out.

Volleyball

Volleyball is a great game to get the family outdoors playing together. Unlike many games that require piles of equipment to play, for this one you only need a net and ball. Divide everyone up into even teams and pick a side of the net. You earn points by grounding the ball on the other team's side of the net. This simply means making them miss the ball so it lands on the ground.

Corn Hole

This is a fun game that even the youngest members of the family can participate in. Boards with holes in them called cornhole platforms are propped up, and small sacks filled with corn are tossed into the holes to score points. If the bag lands on the platform it scores one point, and a bag that makes it in the hole scores three. The corn hole game goes until a player makes it to 21 points.

Washer Toss

This game is similar to corn hole, but has a slightly different set up. Instead of corn bags washer toss uses standard metal washers, and the boards have three holes instead of one. The closest hole is worth one point, the next three, and finally the farthest is worth five. This game is also played to a final score of 21 points. It is most often played with two teams of two people.

Croquet

Croquet is a sport that has been adapted to a lawn game for recreational play. Players use a mallet to hit balls through hoops called wickets. There are many versions of croquet, each with their own rules, but the main goal, in all of them, is to get your ball through all the hoops before the other team does. Games can be played with two teams of either two or three players each.

Tetherball

Tetherball is a game played with a volleyball hung from a stationary pole by a length of rope. It is played between two competitors, who each try to hit the ball counterclockwise from their position. A player wins when they manage to hit the ball enough times to get the rope wrapped completely around the pole with no slack left. They must do this without the ball bouncing back and partially unwrapping or the game keeps going.

Any of these games are a great way to get your family out of the house spending quality time together, and getting a healthy amount of exercise. So the next time you have some free time together as a family, turn off the television set and head outdoors to engage in one of these great team games.

For a great selection of games and backyard sports for the whole family please visit our store http://www.kandyvines.com/ There's no better time than the present to get things started. Indoor and outdoor family games are one of the least expensive ways to create family togetherness.

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Reduced Playtime At School Means Classic Lawn Games Must Rule At Your House!

Recess periods are shrinking. Homework is increasing. Tag, soccer, and even running are being banned at schools everywhere... Cities are building new schools without playgrounds. Playing classic lawn games at your house could easily bridge this gap.

These simple statements, facts actually, make the case for the need for more outdoor play and more classic lawn games in motion. The need and value of creating play time at home in your own back yard with classic lawn games is more important than ever.

More and more kids aren't getting enough space and time to play during the school day. This status continues in spite of innumerable studies documenting that play is vital to children's learning and health.

I am an ardent and very vocal advocate about why we need to save play in our schools and, if the schools can't or are financially unable to save it, why we, as parents, have to do it ourselves. Enter the emerging importance of playing classic lawn games at your house.

Consider these facts:

Since 1990, American creativity scores have been declining, due to the lack of "creativity development" in our educational facilities. At the same time, an IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs named creativity as the primary indicator of "leadership competency" for the future.Finnish elementary school kids-who benefit from an average of 75 minutes of recess a day-consistently rank higher than U.S. children in International Student Assessment Scores.Two major studies of of more than 180 homework practices document very little correlation between the amount of homework and achievement in elementary school.Childhood obesity is directly connected to the decline of play time, increase in ADHD and behavior management issues as well as delayed cognitive, social and creative growth.Increasing physical activity during a child's school day improves attention span, classroom manners and ultimately, achievement test performance.

If these straightforward, documented facts from reputable studies don't make the case for backing off from video games and TV and going outside to play, then I can't think of what possibly will. You don't need to spend a lot of money.

Purchase a few classic lawn games and get in the swing of true, old-fashioned, quality outdoor play. Make your back yard the welcoming haven for the neighborhood children. Classic lawn games (being the classics they are) do tend to have that kind of appeal.

Just getting a badminton or speedminton game going in your back yard can make yours the popular place to hang for the local kids. They'll be having so much fun playing the various classic lawn games they won't realize that their brains are being wired to improve their studies, their creativity and their behavior. The fun is so good that they won't care.

All this from playing classic lawn games? Absolutely yes!

Is your school feeling the pain of budget cuts and reduced playtime for the kids? Enter the world of classic lawn games and fill the gap! A fast paced game of speedminton might rock your world and your child's! Get your game on today!

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Classic Outdoor Games: Why Do They Matter?

A recent survey commissioned by a well known clothing catalogue company revealed surprising results: Classic outdoor games like hopscotch, foursquare and even marbles are on a serious decline.

In the U.K., a well known radio commentator, also a father of two, has joined the bandwagon by supporting the return to 'rough and tumble' play campaign. Many of us who are over forty will mourn this loss because most of us have such fine memories of... a croquet game that got us laughing hysterically, a badminton game where the 'birdie' got stuck in a tree and we had to get it down... fill in the blanks with your own here.

But there's something much more important at stake than a simple loss triggered by such memories. It's not just corny nostalgia. Adults do need to get involved.

Outdoor games are simple and elegant in their simplicity. The equipment is not outrageously expensive, especially when compared with all the techno games out there today. We should not dismiss the waning of classic outdoor games as misplaced nostalgia. We need to breathe new life into outdoor activities that build human interpersonal skills and relationships.

One commentator remarked, quite pointedly, that "outdoor games... provide children with valuable rehearsals for everyday life." I couldn't agree more.

Just choosing up sides for teams requires organization, consensus and basic team building skills. Fair play is essential; this is a concept many adults participating in today's business world could go back and relearn.

The basic physicality of an outdoor game, volleyball for example, compels accurate risk management. Whether on the offensive or defensive, strategizing is in play. A player may want to smash the ball but it's certainly not clever to keep smashing into another player.

Many classic outdoor games cut across gender and cultural lines. The symbol for 'time out' is pretty universal. Pretty cool when you think about it.

But mostly, classic outdoor games are about simple, basic, essential fun. They create an invaluable opportunity for physical immersion, mental stimulation off computer and the building of the purest human connections that soothe the soul and build character.

We cannot and should not deny our children, our families and our friends the time, space and opportunity to continue to participate in the kind of play offered by classic outdoor games. The loss would be incalculable. And, do note, that the classic outdoor games have kept up with the times.

Equipment is safer, more ergonomically designed for better, even faster play. Some games do have 'bells and whistles' added, like LED lights for night time play but the basic skills underlying the original games survive.

When you consider that many of these skills originated from pre-Greek Olympic times, that's considerable food for thought.

Let's not mourn the loss of outdoor play time. Let's make time for it. Despite budgetary cuts plaguing many schools today, this is one thing that a family of moderate means can do, together, with benefits that are priceless.

Go outside and play! Pick up classic outdoor games and start your fun! Party at your house! Play today!

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