Children love to explore and have a natural curiosity about nature. This is a terrific activity for a nice, weather-permitting day. Parks or nature preserves offer a great escape for some exploring. A free or low cost activity, the children have the chance to stop and enjoy the sights, smells, and sounds that nature affords. If the park allows for sample collecting, give each child a small paper sack to collect objects found along the way like leaves or small rocks. Point out things of interest like birds, plants and trees. Have the children point out things they notice as well. This is an excellent opportunity for both learning and recreation.
Games like musical chairs are a good way to spend some energy and provide for terrific entertainment. This traditional game is easy to play but there are a number of fun variations of the original worth playing. "Advanced Musical Chairs" is played like the original except when one child is left standing with no chair he must pull the name of an animal, written on paper, and act it out. Start up the music again and play until all the animal names are used.
"Round and Round" is another variation. In this game you will use colored paper squares in place of chairs. It is a good idea to tape them down since the kids will stand on them and they can move around. Make one of the squares a different color than the others. At this point, play the game as the traditional except remove one paper square each time. Games like these encourage cooperation and sportsmanship.
Trips with many children together can be quite noisy, not to mention a test of your patience. Car games are great for large families and youth groups that travel together. One activity that will make the ride entertaining and pass quickly is a car game. "I Like To" is a game in which one child or adult starts by saying his or her name and telling something they like to do. The next player will recite the last player's name, what he likes to do, then her name and what she likes to do. This game involves memory and concentration and can be a good laugh. For older players, you can make the game more challenging by having them recite in addition to their name their favorite song and artist. This is a great way to get to know the others in your group.
Kids enjoy games and activities that allow them to be competitive and physically active. Have a day full of activities that are used to start your own book like the Guinness Book of Records. You will need to have an area large enough to do handstands, jumping jacks, cartwheels, jumping jacks or basketball dribbles. In addition, you will need a stop watch to time the kids. Make a sheet up for recording the times in advance and label it as "World Records Day." Have a pre-set amount of time for each and record how many times each of the children does the activity in the specified amount of time. For the handstand, record how long each child is able to sustain the handstand. While you time the activities, the other children can help count along.