Best Hide and Seek Games for your Children

Do you remember being a kid and play Hide and Seek games with your
friends? Long summer evenings hanging out in the neighborhood having
fun outside and making good friends and lifelong memories?

Another variation is hunt games where the children have to look for objects or trophies.

Children love looking for something that’s hidden and will have lots of active fun with these games.

Our hide-and-seek-games

HIDE AND SEEK

Who didn’t play Hide and Seek
games as kids? A classic and fun game played by every kid. The rules are
easy, but you have to make sure that all the children know the
boundaries of the hiding field and point out dangerous places where they
shouldn’t go. The children chose the first “it”. The “it” counts to 50
and the others search for hiding places. When the “it” reaches 50 he
yells: Ready or not, here I come! And he begins searching for the hidden
children. The first child found is the “it” next round. The “it”
searches until he or she finds everyone.
A variation of the classic hide and seek game can be that the person who
is found joins the it and helps search for the others.

KICK THE CAN

Define a playing area and put one can or empty bucket in the center of
the playing area. Divide the children in two groups. One group is
designated as the kickers and the other group as the chasers. The
chasers sit around the can, close their eyes and count to 50, while the
kickers hide. Then the chasers have to find and tag the kickers and at
the same time protect the can. The kickers try to kick the can, without
being tagged. If a kicker succeeds, the game is over and the kickers are
the winners.

TREASURE HUNT

A treasure hunt is always fun for the children because it’s exciting and
at the end there is a reward for them. This game can build on teamwork
since the teams have to decode the riddles, rhymes and clues to find the
next clue and in the end the treasure. An adult has to make the clues
and hide them somewhere. When the children find the clue the note will
point them to the next clue. Of course the clues should be adjusted to
the children’s age. The game starts by handing out the first clue to the
teams and the reward at the end can be candy or a small toy. Children
love this kind of hunt game, because it’s challenging and exciting to
play, but it needs a little work in advance for the person setting up
the treasure hunt.

SCAVENGER HUNT

A Scavenger hunt is an educational hunt outdoors that has the children
looks for familiar things and items outside.
Every player, or every team, if you make it a team building game, get a
list with items to look for and a bag to put it in. The list can be
cryptic for older children or easier for younger children. Outside you
can think of things like a brown leaf, forked stick, an ever green leaf,
an earthworm, and berries and so on. The player
or team that finds most of the items is the winner. Make sure with this
hunt game that you set clear boundaries where the children are allowed
to search.

COPS AND ROBBERS

Define the play area and make sure the children understand where the
boundaries are. Then set an specified area as base or jail, like a
porch, patio, tree or stoop. Divide the children in two groups, the
first group is the cops and the others are the robbers. Now the cops
start to count till 50 at the base with their eyes closed and the
robbers hide. When finished counting the cops start looking for the
hidden robbers and to capture one the cop needs to tag a robber. The
robber then has to go to the jail and stay there. Free robbers can try
to sneak up to the jail to make a jail break. The robber then has to tag
a imprisoned member to make him free again, without being tagged
himself. The freed members stay at the jail and sit out the rest of the
game until all the robbers at large are captured. At the end of the game
the robbers still in jail are counted (not the freed ones). Now the
teams switch roles and the game starts again. The team with the most
robbers in jail is the winner.

GHOST IN THE GRAVEYARD

The players define boundaries as the graveyard and choose a base (a lamppost, tree or fence) and then they select a ghost. All the players close their eyes and count to fifty as the ghost runs to hide. Then the players start looking for the ghost and when they see him the player
yells: “Ghost in the graveyard!” to warn the other players to run back
to the base. The ghost can also jump out when a player is very close.
The ghost tries to tag the other players. The players who reach the base
before being tagged by the ghost are safe. The first player being
tagged by the ghost is the ghost next round. This game is extremely fun
when it is getting dark and there are lots of places to hide.

1,2,3…I SPY

This is an all time favorite hide and seek game, kids will love!
Players define the boundaries and the base and select the “it”.
The “it” closes his eyes and starts counting to 50 so the other players
can hide. Then the “it” has to look for the other players and protect
the base. The other players try not to be spotted and to reach the base
before being called. If the “it” sees someone, he returns to the base
and yells loudly: “one, two, three, I spy…(the players name and hiding
location)”. If the “it” is right, that player is out of the game and
will be the “it” next round. The other players are allowed to move
around and try to reach the base. When they touch the base before the
“it” reaches the base they are safe.

Have fun with these hide and seek games !

Enjoyed these Hide and Seek Games?

See also our other outdoor games:

Ball Games || Playground Games || Race Games || Water Games || Tag and Chase Games || Sidewalk Games ||