A fun game to while away those summer holiday afternoons…

To play this game you will need:

  • A paved area of garden, patio or path
  • some chalk
  • some bored children (you need at least two to play the game – the more you have the bigger your play area needs to be)

DSC_1143

Here’s how to play:

When you’ve chosen your play area, draw a symbol, letter, number or other simple picture on each paving stone.  Symbols we have used include:

  • House, tent etc
  • Initial letter of each person’s name
  • Numbers (especially ages of participants)
  • stars, moon, sunshine
  • rocket, aircraft, van, car, lorry
  • shapes (square, triangle, circle)
  • maths symbols (infinity, =, +, x etc)
  • stripes, tick, cross, squiggle, heart, question mark
  • emoticons
  • anything else you like!
  • arrows

Take it in turns to shout out a move, indicating what kind of image the participants need to jump to next.  Some moves we have done include:

  • Jump to a face (or body part, if you included hands)
  • Jump to something in maths (could be a number or a symbol)
  • Jump to a vehicle
  • Jump to something you might see in the sky
  • Jump to something with only straight lines
  • Jump to something with only curved lines
  • Jump to something to do with you
  • Jump to something to do with the number three
  • Jump like a chess piece (specify which piece!)
  • Jump at random until the person says ‘now’
  • Jump to your favourite picture
  • Jump to one you’ve not jumped on before
  • Jump as far as you can (or hop as far as you can!)
  • Jump to an arrow
  • Jump in the direction of your arrow (for one, two or three spaces!)
  • Anything else you can think of!

This is a really fun game, and it can last as long as you want!  The summer rain will wash the pictures off every so often so you can draw a new play area next time.