If your children are having a large party at home, then you’ll be looking for ways to keep the hordes of youngsters that will be invading your house busy. Or, even on those relatively quiet days when only your children are home, you’ve been thinking that you’d like to shut off the TV and the computer and get your kids outside for some healthy exercise. In either of these cases, a good backyard game is just the thing you need.

More and more studies are finding that children are not getting enough exercise in today’s society; this could lead to a whole slew of medical complications later in life. What’s more, while certain videogames could be helpful at developing certain intellectual abilities, outdoor games are essential at building others, such as interpersonal skills and teamwork. Videogames tend to isolate children, while outdoor games do just the opposite.

You don’t have to have a huge and fancy backyard, equipped with tennis courts, a pool, a basketball court and who knows what else to get a good backyard game going. A good game to play that requires a piece of sidewalk chalk (that can be washed off) and a good bouncy ball is four square; in this game, a square is drawn on the ground (about 10 feet in length), and is then divided into four smaller squares, numbered (with the chalk) from 1-4. One child stands in square 1 and serves the ball to a person in another square by bouncing it and trying to not to have the person served bounce it back. Depending on who bounces and who bounces back, kids are eliminated and move into different squares; the object is to get into square 1 and stay there.

Another game that is perfect for when there is a large group of kids is “Capture the Flag.” This is very similar to a strategy videogame and kids will love it. First, all the kids are divided into two groups, which need to have two distinct territories; each team has its own flag, displayed in its own territory. The object of the game is to sneak into the opponent team’s territory, steal their flag and make it back to your own territory without getting caught. This game requires planning and a high level of teamwork; it also teaches the concept of loyalty, as teams are responsible for sneaking in to free team members that have been caught and jailed by the opponent team.

Kickball is another great backyard game. This game has virtually the same rules as a backyard baseball game; the difference is that it is played with a larger ball that must be kicked, instead of hit with a bat. The pitcher in a game of kickball rolls the ball to the person “at bat”. Once the person kicks the ball, he or she must run the bases, as in a game of baseball; to be considered out in a game of kickball, though, the runner must be forced to come into contact with the ball.

A game of red light green light is always fun, especially when dealing with younger children. One child is chosen to be “it” and he or she stands some way off from the other kids, usually against a wall, tree, or pole, facing away from the rest of the children. “It” calls out “Green light!” and all the kids start running towards “it”; then “it” calls out “Red Light!” and turns around, at which time everyone must freeze in place. If anyone is caught moving, all the kids must return to their original starting place. The game is won by the person who is able to run up and touch “it.”

There are also the classic outdoor games that you can have your children play. Instead of having your kids simply playing a backyard baseball computer game or an electronic backyard golf game, get them out and playing the real things. Organize a backyard golfball game, or some other backyard golf game by renting or purchasing a miniature golf set or making makeshift holes for a play professional golf tournament. You can purchase or rent football game sets for the backyard and organize a backyard football game, or rent other equipment to organize a backyard baseball game or a backyard basketball game. If the temperature is too high to do too much moving, you can always opt for backyard game boards, like monopoly or bingo. Don’t forget to include interesting prizes!