Classic games for 5-8 year olds

What you need: A rope.
How to play: Your child can skip solo or with friends or siblings. Two children can turn the rope while others take turns to jump through the rope. To challenge yourself, see how many people can jump at the same time or add an extra rope and master double dutch.

What you need: Open grassy area.
How to play: The game starts when the first team calls out, "Red rover, red rover, send [name of player on opposite team] right over." The person called must run to the other line and break the chain (formed by the linking of hands). If the runner fails to break the chain, he joins the team that had called "Red rover." However, if the player successfully breaks the chain, he may take his pick of either of the two "links" broken by his successful jaunt. This broken link, along with the runner, joins the runner's team. The other team then calls out "Red rover" for a player on the first team, and so on. The game ends when one long super-chain is formed.

What you need: Chalk and marker
How to play: First, draw the 'court' a pattern of numbered rectangles and master hopping from the starting rectangle to the finish. For an extra challenge throw the marker on to the court. You must then make your way across the court without using the square that contains the marker.

What you need: A big space with lots of hiding places
How to play: Once child is nominated to be "it'' shuts their eyes and counts to 100. While they're counting the other players hide. The "it'' person must then try to find everyone.

What you need: A grassy open area

How to play: In this version of Tag, one person is still "it", but when they touch someone, that person is "frozen" in place. They cannot move and must stand with their feet apart. The only way they can become unfrozen is if a person crawls under their legs. Continue play until all the players are frozen. Then the last person to be frozen is "it" for the next game.

What you need: chairs, music

How to play:The game begins with any amount of players and a number of chairs one less than the amount of players; the chairs are arranged in a circle facing outward, with the people standing in a circle just outside of that. A parent can play a CD or musical instrument. While the music is playing, the players in the circle walk in unison around the chairs. When the music controller turns off the music, everyone must race to sit down n one of the chairs. The player who is left without a chair is eliminated from the game, and one chair is also removed to ensure that there will always be one fewer chair than there are players. The music resumes and the cycle repeats until there is only one player left in the game, who is the winner.

What you need: Blindfold, large grassy space

How to play: This game is yet another variation on tag. The person who is “it” wears a blindfold and tries to tag the other players. Be sure to play this in an area safe from obstructions and other hazards.