Social Distancing Games For Kids

With the lockdown restrictions and the new norms in place, it doesn't mean your child should lose out on her usual fun and merriment. Engage her in these social distancing games for kids and watch her have fun.

As parents, most of us have found this year to be very hectic as we try to strike a balance between working from home and managing our children's physical and emotional needs. And, as far as our children our concerned, they have missed the usual fun associated with outdoor games. The lockdown restrictions and increased screen time owing to online classes have drastically reduced the time children spend outdoors. However, with the situation easing up, your child can look forward to having some social interaction and fun with her friends, while maintaining a safe six feet distance with them. So, here's to some fun and frolicking times! Take your pick from the social distancing games for kids listed below to organise some fun activities for your children.

Social distancing games for kids

Here is a list of social distancing games for kids for different age groups (to ensure a safe environment, encourage frequent handwashing and the use of masks).

Social distancing games for preschoolers (Ages 3 to 5)

Hide-and-seek

Hide-and-seek is a fun-filled and popular game to keep children active, happy and healthy. It is also probably the best social distancing game for your preschooler to play with his friends. You can play the game both indoors as well as outdoors.

How to play: While one player closes his eyes and counts up to 10 or 20, the other players find places to hide. The seeker then opens his eyes and tries to search for them. The first one to be spotted becomes the next seeker and the last one to be found wins the game.

Bubble blowing

This is one simple activity your preschooler can engage in with her siblings or friends while maintaining adequate social distancing measures. The only thing your child will need is a bowl of soapy water and a bubble wand. And, you can come up with some creative ways to make the activity a bit challenging and fun for your little ones.

How to play: Make an age-appropriate and safe obstacle course with items like large fluffy toys or plastic chairs. Then while one child blows the bubbles, the others can try popping the bubbles by going over, under or around these obstacles. If the children are playing outside, there is more room for them to run around and enjoy chasing the bubbles. Blow bubbles in the direction of each child to make sure the children maintain social distancing.

Hula hoops

Playing with hula hoops is one of the best social distancing activities when your child is with her pals. It would also help keep her fit, active and energetic.

How to play: Allow your child to explore some fun movements that she can do with the hula hoops. Let her try some cool dance moves along with her friends while avoiding any close contact. You can set up a top spinner competition for the kids to find out who can spin the hula hoop around the waist for the maximum duration. Remember to provide each child with a hula hoop of her own.

Freeze

Children love to dance and move their body. Playing 'Freeze' gives your child and her friends the opportunity to engage in both dance and play at the same time.

How to play: Invite your child and his friends to take up positions in the play area, maintaining social distancing norms. Now, put on your child's favorite music and let everyone begin dancing. Let everybody dance for some time before you switch off the music. As soon as the music stops, everybody must stop dancing and stay in the same position as they are, until you switch on the music again.

Social distancing games for school age (Ages 6 to 9)

Slow motion race

This is an incredibly fun game for your kids to play. The challenge here is in moving as slow as possible to win the race. It is also a good social distancing game for kids at school.

How to play: Fix a time limit for the game, say 5 minutes within which the players must reach the finish line. Explain the rules that stopping or moving too quickly are not allowed. The slowest person to reach the finish line is the winner.

Egg and spoon race

This race can be a classic social distancing outdoor game for kids at school. It will test the balance and coordination skills of the participants. All that is needed to set up this race are a few eggs and some spoons and a team of spirited children.

How to play: Let all the kids stand at the starting line holding their eggs balanced on the spoons with one hand. They should place the other hand behind their backs. The goal is to balance the egg on the spoon and race with it to the finishing line without dropping it.

Sack race

This is another social distancing activity suitable for children between ages 6 and 9. It is a good way to give them some outdoor exercise while having some silly fun by hopping around in gunny bags.

How to play: Find a grassy flat area to hold the race. Line up the kids and give each kid a gunny bag. Have the children put their feet into the bag and hold the bag up to the waists with their hands. Once the whistle is blown, the kids hop, bounce and wobble to the finish line without losing balance.

Heads or tails

The only thing you need to conduct this game is a coin and a bunch of enthusiastic kids. The good thing is that there is no close contact involved. All the children can maintain a safe social distance amongst themselves.

How to play: Divide the children into two teams, one team choosing Heads and the other Tails. The team choosing Heads will keep one hand over their heads, and the Tails team will hold one hand behind their backs. With each flip of the coin, the team losing the toss will get eliminated, i.e., if it's Heads, the Tails team loses. Those who are left are again divided into two teams. This goes on until there is only one player left who is declared the winner.

Social distancing games for preteens and teens (Ages 10 to 12, 13+)

Ring around the bottle

Also known as ring-a-bottle or ring toss, this game is perfect for older children to play with their friends even while they maintain a safe social distance amongst themselves. Often played at fairs, the game involves focus and aim. So, get some plastic bottles and rings, and let the kids have some fun!

How to play: Set up some bottles on a table in the center of the play area. Draw a 'stand behind' line about six to eight feet away from the table. Each participant stands behind this line and takes a few turns tossing the plastic rings over the neck of any bottle. Give away a small prize to those who are successful at landing the rings around the neck of a bottle.

Treasure hunt

A treasure hunt is an ideal game for teenagers to play while maintaining adequate social distancing between teammates.

How to play: You can plan the hunt beforehand. Set up some clues for the children in discreet places like a tree trunk in the backyard or under a shoe rack. To prepare the clues, think of interesting riddles that the children will find challenging to decipher. Divide the children into teams and let them go hunting for the treasure.

20 Questions

'20 Questions' is a good guessing game for older children and teenagers. It can be played almost anywhere by two or more players.

How to play: One player, the thinker, will think about a random object. This object can be anything - an animal, an object, a celebrity or a place name. He can answer only 'Yes' or 'No' to the questions posed by the other players. The players can ask a maximum of 20 questions to guess what object the thinker has in mind. The person who guesses the answer first becomes the winner.

Yes, this year has been stressful for all of us with our lives being thrown out of gear. And, it will take some time before things return to normal. Until then we will need to find ways to keep our children physically active and emotionally healthy. So, go ahead and make use of our list of some of the best social distancing games for kids to infuse some fun and frolic into their lives.

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