🌳 10 backyard games for kids with no equipment

1. 1

   Freeze tag

   Tagged players freeze until a free player crawls under their legs or taps them. Nobody is out for long.

2. 2

   Sharks and minnows

   The minnows run from one side to the other; tagged minnows become sharks. Ends when one minnow is left.

3. 3

   Red light, green light

   Run on green, freeze on red. The first to tag the caller wins and calls the next round. Great for little ones.

4. 4

   Capture the flag

   Two teams, two flags (a shirt or a towel works). The best big-group game there is, for ages eight and up.

5. 5

   Relay races

   Run, hop, crab-walk or skip to a line and back. Split teams evenly and everyone gets the same go.

6. 6

   Follow the leader

   Copy whatever the leader does: jump, spin, walk like a crab. Take turns leading.

7. 7

   Simon says

   Only do it if Simon says. A listening game that gets everyone moving.

8. 8

   Duck, duck, goose

   A classic for the youngest players: a chase round the circle, and everyone gets picked.

9. 9

   Hopscotch

   All you need is chalk and a stone. Good for one player or a few.

10. 10

    Mother, may I?

    Ask before every step: three giant steps, two bunny hops. The caller decides, and the game is in the asking.

Peabody's own ranking of classic playground games; the rules are the common ones, and every group plays its own way. Checked 6 November 2026.

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