Tell us your best games to play with children outdoors

are you supposed to play with children? good grief that sounds like hard work....and in the garden?...what about MN? my power lead doesn't reach that far.

daisy chains

picking flowers weeds

'fishing' in ponds with nets and am jars

catch (ball)

building eeyore houses (ut of big sticks in the woods)

looking up at the clouds and finding pictures.

We play cricket if there is a crowd of us (ie six or more) or tennis (courts at the park across the road). Mostly now though, the dds refuse to come to the park with us and dp and I walk around it looking at the littlies who still want to be with mummy and daddy!

They used to like: putting their wellies on and paddling in the stream;

• rollerblading (they still like this but not with us!)
• doing matchbox hunts ie: finding tiny things to fit in a matchbox beginning with certain letters, or certain colours or something.

Count the daisies on the lawn.

Mostly I just go to the park and leave DS to it with his friends though, they can make up their own games.

Sometimes he will take a few toy waterguns and play with friends (even just 'new' freidns he meets on the day) using the gums as props (without any water)

Ok, our favourite ever game ot play outdoors is catch. All it needs is one baseball (or softball for younger ones) and two baseball gloves (or enough for everone who's playing) and then you throw the ball to each other, getting further away the better you get.

DS and I play this everywhere, in the garden, in the park, on campsites, even in hallways when we're stuck for space.

I don't really do playing, but this I can happily participate in for hours

when we walk to school, we are brave warriors marching to battle, avoiding the goblins under the potholes, the tigers behind the railings, the bad fairies on the nettle leaves etc. We look quite mad avoioding cracks and taking aim at leaves but it is quite fun...

My girlies like collecting things in the park or garden. They make collections of different types eg how many different green things, brown things, collect a rainbow of things or different textures. Get a piece of card and put some double sided sticky tape on it and they can stick little bits of feathers and flowers and things to make a pretty amulet type thingy. Wash hands after of course.

We have also been known to build fairy villages under the trees at the park and then go behind the trees to watch the fairies move in.
I have not a clue what to do with boys.

hide and seek

swing ball

sports day kind of activities

french cricket

football

running races

Not played this but plan to when the kids are older. Search the beach for unusual shaped pebbles and then decorate them with felt tip pens, make them into animals etc.