Base Monster
This is a game that my friends and I used to play all the time when I was younger. It Is very simple, but it often kept me busy for hours. One person is picked to be the base monster (if you have children who might be scared by this, change monster to girl, boy, kid, etc.) Assign 3 or 4 points in the yard to be bases. These can be trees, a swing set, picnic table, chair, or a patch of dirt or cement, anything that defines a point. The other children (everybody but the base monster) have to run from base to base without being caught by the base monster. Once the base monster catches somebody, that person becomes the base monster then.
This game is a lot like tag, but with a little more imagination. Sometimes we would even pretend that everybody but the base monster were dragons, and we would announce what color dragon we were before we began. This is a good game because there are no overall winners or losers. Use your discretion before introducing the game, and add rules based on the needs of your charges.
Another game that used to keep my friends and I busy for a long time was a very simple one. We would each grab an object - a toy shovel, a fashion doll, a plastic truck, anything large enough to not get lost in the grass. Find a rope or string; a jump rope works well. Spread the rope out to make a line on the grass. (This is not a good game for cement, the children are likely to scrape knees and elbows on the hard surface) If you have ever watched the Olympics you have sent he long jump event. This is like that. Line the children up and let the first one run and jump from the line. Take his toy and mark how far he jumped. Do this with each child, and encourage the other children to cheer for the one jumping. Once each child has had a turn, start over The object is for each child to beat his or her own jump, not anybody else's.
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