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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>3 & 4 Year Old Games
kcnjason 12:57 PM 04-17-2012
I'm looking for ideas of games you play with your kids? The weather is getting nice, but keep in mind my kids are 3 and 4 years old. I'm thinking of ideas like bean bag games, other outdoor games. Fun, busy stuff for outside. I would love your ideas!
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WImom 01:08 PM 04-17-2012
My kids (all 2-5y) love playing duck duck goose and tag. They also love playing Little Pig, Little Pig (Which my own 9y old dd made up). They pretend one is a wolf and the other kids are all pigs and they all hide in different climbers or playhouses and the wolf says "little pig, little pig, let me in! and they all run out and the wolf chases them. It's too funny to watch!

They also like doing parachute and I make numbered stepping stones with chalk they jump on.
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Michael 01:14 PM 04-17-2012
Some board games for their age group: https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40169
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GretasLittleFriends 01:35 PM 04-17-2012
We like to play catch with large playground ball. We also like to "pass" a soccer ball back and forth to each other with our feet. The youngest of this group will be 2 the end of the month, and the oldest turned 4 in March. They are good about taking turns, but I usually tell the littles to pass it to Bobby, Jenny, etc. The older ones I have them pass to the right colors "ok Suzie, kick/throw it to the boy with the brown pants, Johnny kick/throw the ball to the boy in the green jacket, Jimmy kick/throw it to the girl in the purple jacket, etc."
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Hunni Bee 01:44 PM 04-17-2012
I was wondering this too. I want to play games with mine as well. They are all four or close to it.

They dont do so well with games with rules. We played hot potato the other day, and they just could not understand why they had to be "out".
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Bookworm 01:56 PM 04-17-2012
Have you tried relay races. We do sack races, the egg in the spoon race, beanbag toss and ring toss to name a few. One game that my kids really love is the shoe game. If you have at least 10 kids, have them take off their shoes. Then you put them is a jumbled pile across the room. Separate them into 2 teams and have them race to find their shoes and put them on. It's very funny and don't worry about tying laces, you can do it when the game is over. No cheating with flip-flops or sandals. Tennis shoes work best.
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WImom 05:55 PM 04-17-2012
If they don't get the "i'm out" thing you could try this version of musical chairs. My kids love it. Noone is out but I continue to take chairs away and the kids left standing have to sit on someone's lap. Once we are at the end everyone is on one chair.
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Bookworm 06:14 PM 04-17-2012
Originally Posted by WImom:
If they don't get the "i'm out" thing you could try this version of musical chairs. My kids love it. Noone is out but I continue to take chairs away and the kids left standing have to sit on someone's lap. Once we are at the end everyone is on one chair.
I do a variant of this called " The Golden Chair". My asst. plays Musical Chairs with the kids and when the music stops, one child hops in her lap. The child in her lap picks who they want to be "out" regardless if they're if that child is in a chair or not. We usually play this until there are 6 kids left.

Some might think is is harsh but because we have taught the kids that it is just a game, they play along just fine. There is no malice on the child who gets to pick the person out.
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Unregistered 01:46 PM 05-06-2012
in response to that, we like to have the children play and who ever gets out comes over to a different carpet and dances and cheers on the other children. i have 3-5 year olds and everyone of them play along without a fuss about getting out.
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Sunchimes 03:12 PM 05-06-2012
Witch oh witch or Wolf over the River? These are basically the same game.

Someone is it. You make finish lines at each end (the driveway and the invisible line from the swingset to the sandbox). We have actually put a rope down sometimes. I also suggest sideline boundaries or at least one will run halfway to China to avoid being touched.

All of the kids line up on one end, with It in the middle. In Witch oh Witch, the kids chant "Witch or witch what time is it?" Witch calls out a time--her choice. "It's 3 o'clock". When she says "It's 12 o'clock" everyone has to run to the other end without getting touched. The person she touches becomes It.

Wolf over the River is the same, except It says "Wolf over the creek". "Wolf over the banana". When she says "Wolf over the river", everyone runs to the other end.

Red light, green light was a big favorite too. It turns her back on the kids gathered at the other end, saying "Green light". The other kids start towards her. Running is the obvious choice, but suddenly and quickly, It whirls around shouting "Red light!". Everyone has to stop. If It sees anyone moving forward, they have to go back to the start line. Kids figure out pretty quickly that it's easier to stop quickly when creeping or stepping slowly-that whole slow and steady thing. First person to cross the end line by It, gets to be it next round.
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Countrygal 03:21 PM 05-06-2012
Ooh! I just made the noodle games that were in this month's Family Fun. I added one of my own and the kids's LOVE them! Mine are 3-4 yos.

I don't know if the instructions are available online or not. I couldn't find them but didn't search too long. The one I made up was a pool noodle straight up, anchored in the ground with a dowel. I wrapped the dowel in foam rubber and glued it into the noodle 1/2 way. The other 1/2 went into the ground. Then I made pool noodle circles by cutting through (the long way) a tp roll, rolling it tight, and inserting it into both ends of the noodle and securing with colored duct tape on the outside. It's a ring toss game. They love it, and they love just playing with the rings.

I also went to the local carpet store and they donated a box of heavy tiles. I have put some of them in the ground for stepping stones. They've been in a month, and so far so good! You could do a lot of stuff with these - jumping, numbers, hopscotch, the possibilities are endless! And all for free! I LOVE FREE!!!!!
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Tags:age appropriate - activities, age appropriate - games, games - 3 - 5 year olds
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