Silly Summer Olympic Games
Toothpick Javelin Throw
Spread out a tape measure, then pass out toothpicks to everyone. See who can throw it the farthest. Allow 3 chances each. If you use colored toothpicks, each person can have their own color. If not, color plain toothpicks with markers, or put a little piece of paper with the person’s name next to the toothpick. Be SURE to pick up ALL the toothpicks when you are done, especially if you throw them on carpet--you don’t want to step on a toothpick that is sticking up!
Paper Plate Discus
Spread out a tape measure, then pass out paper plates to everyone. Each person can write his or her name on e plates. See who can throw it the farthest. Allow 3 chances each. Sponge style frisbees would work, if you already have them.
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Give your little girls a dowel or paper towel tube with brightly colored ribbons fastened to the end, and watch her dance around the living room waving the pretty ribbons. If you use a clasp that is sold with fishing gear, it can spin around without getting tangled. (Sorry I don’t know what it is called since I don’t fish!) If you are watching the floor exercises, they might get inspired to imitate the routines using balls or hoops (a hoolahoop or embroidery hoop might be perfect.)
Balloon Soccer
Blow up a balloon, divide the family into teams, and decide what the goals will be. Doorways, 2 chairs or even laundry baskets tuned on their sides make good goals for this. If you don’t have enough players, dispense with the goalies. If you have an odd number of players, one person can be the referee and score keeper. If you are fuzzy on the rules of the game, read about them on Wikipedia. But the feel free to make house rules to make the game fit your family.
Trash Can Basketball
Find 2 trashcans (preferably emptied) and place them on tables or chairs at either end of the “Court.” Use tape to mark the free throw line, and 3 point line. Mark 2 lines if there is a difference in ages so it is not too hard for the younger kids. Use a wad of newspaper, or sponge-style Nerf ball for the ball so as not to break surrounding decorative items. Since these ball are difficult or impossible to dribble, it will need to be a passing game. If you have an odd number of players, one person can be the referee and score keeper. If you are fuzzy on the rules of the game, read about them on Wikipedia.
Balloon Beach Volley Ball
Use a tension rod or string tied to bookshelves or door frames. Tape newspaper or clear plastic bags to the string or tension rod to represent the net, or just leave it plain. You can sometimes find “fishing” nets in the party decorating section of dollar stores that would work for this, too. Divide into teams and hit the balloon back and forth across the “net.”
Tiddly Wink Long Jump
Even if you don’t have tiddly Winks, if you have spare buttons in the sewing drawer, you can do this. Give each person 2 buttons, and mark the starting point on the floor with tape. To make the buttons jump, put one button on the floor, and use the other button to press down on the edge of the first button to make it jump. Keep track of how far each player “jumped” with a piece of tape or mark with chalk. You can also buy inexpensive games like the frogs shown in the photo above. If your kids are movers, they may prefer to do the jumping themselves!
Rubber Sword Fencing
If you can’t find foam rubber swords at a dollar store, you may be able to find swimming noodles, or go to a hardware store and buy foam rubber pipe insulators. No need to keep score--it’s just fun to bonk each other without getting hurt!
Rubber Band Shooting
Each contestant can make his own gun out of dowels, and rubber bands. Walmart also carries a rubber band making kit in their craft section. Mark squares on the floor with tape, or spread sheets of paper on the floor. If each person has a different color of rubber bands, you can keep up with whose rubber bands landed where.
Wacky Relay Races
Determine how each leg of the race is to be run (taking into consideration as to whether the race is to take place in the house or in the yard.) The crazier, the better--hop on one foot, baby steps, walk backwards, walk sideways, hold your ankles, or imitate various animals (kangaroos, crabs, etc.) Use a paper towel tube as a baton to pass. If there aren’t enough players, just make it a race rather than a relay.
Grocery Bag Weight Lifting
Put one can in each of two plastic shopping bags and slide them over two ends of a broom handle, and tape the handles of the bags so they don’t slide off the broom handle. See if the kids can lift the broom above their heads. Keep adding one can at a time to each bag to see who can lift the most cans above their heads--since each can is close to a pound, you can count the cans for roughly how many pounds they can press. As extra safety precautions, they could wear shoes incase they drop the bags. A pillow placed over the feet could be another safety feature.
Wrestling
My kids ADORED wrestling with their daddy. He was strong enough to keep them from hurting him or themselves. When they were really little, he could handle all of them at once. When they got a little older, he had to take them one at a time. Since it is easy to get hurt, it may be better for kids not to wrestle each other. If you think it is o.k. for kids to wrestle each other, DO enforce the “Please stop” rule. When ever anyone says “please stop,” for any reason, all action must stop immediately. This should keep injures and injured pride to a minimum. If you have a thick plush carpet or grass, that may be all you need. We spread out a foam mat on the floor.
Grocery Bag Hammer Throw
Ball up a bunch of plastic grocery bags and stuff them into the bottom of another bag. Put a ring of tape around the bag just above the bunch, then several more places to form a “chain”, but leave the handles free. To throw the hammer, grab the handles with both hands, and spin around, preferably releasing it in the direction where a tape measure is stretched out. But no worries if it goes off course since it is so light and soft.
The following ideas are just for fun, but it can also be a great opportunity for life lessons, too. Our society is so fixated on not allowing children to feel bad about losing, that they give awards to all children who participate in sports and don’t keep track of the scores during games. However, this is very shortsighted!! Although it can be really disappointing to lose a game, if they don’t experience it as children, they become handicapped as adults trying to learn to deal with difficulties, disappointment, and failure for the first time. Colleges call students of this generation “tea cup kids” because they have never faced difficulties that their parents didn’t solve for them, so they fall apart at the drop of a hat. So consider losing and winning games on the small stage while they are still young, good preparation for learning to deal with loss, and being motivated to find strategies and strength to rise up and succeed the next time.
Q-tip Archery
Make a bow out of plastic handles, and use Q-tips for arrows. Obviously these won’t stick into anything (thankfully) so it will have to be a distance event rather than an accuracy event (again, thankfully, since these can be next to impossible to aim!) Another option is to buy a suction cup bow and arrow set from a dollar store. Draw a bulls eye and tape it to a glass door, window, or picture frame. Shoot on the glass side since the suction cups won’t stick to paper.
Dining Room Table Ping-Pong
Buy cheap paddles and balls--sometimes you can find these at dollar stores, but if not, you can get them at Walmart. Line up a row of books tent fashion to stand in as a net in the middle of the table. Try to hit the ball back and forth across the table. It is going to be hard, since dining room tables are significantly narrower than ping-pong tables.
Family Fun > Silly Summer Olympic Games
Sock Hockey (field hockey)
Roll up a pair of socks into a ball and play the game on your hands and knees. Landry baskets make good goals. Use your hands to be the hockey stick to hit the “ball” into the goal. You could use a Nerf ball or soft rubber ball instead of socks--just make sure it is not heavy enough to do damage to surrounding objects should the ball go flying.
Family Fun > Silly Summer Olympic Games
