Movement games

Some children are bursting with energy. They would love nothing more than to move all day long. Others don’t like it that much. By turning exercise into a fun game, you can convince them to move more.

Fun games you can play with your child indoors:

Run to…
Riiiiing
Ring a Ring o’ Roses
Head, shoulders, knees and toes
Musical chairs

Run to…

Name an object in your house, the sofa for example. Tell your child to crawl or walk to the object as quickly as possible. Who’s the quickest?

An alternative version of this game: Older kids will love to play this game with colours. For example: find something red as quickly as possible, and run towards it.

Riiiiing

Get a kitchen timer and set it at one minute, for example. Then hide it. Can your child find it before it rings?

Tip: To make it easier, you can choose a kitchen timer that ticks. For older children, use one that doesn’t tick or use a harder hiding spot.

Ring a Ring o’ Roses

Hold your child’s hands and sing the song. Or play it on YouTube. Turn around in circles while holding hands. When the song goes, “We all fall down”, pretend to fall on the floor.

Lyrics:
Ring-a-ring o’ roses,
A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo, a-tishoo!
We all fall down.

Head, shoulders, knees and toes

Most children love singing the song ‘Head, shoulders, knees and toes’. Watch it on YouTube, and sing and dance along.

Lyrics:
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
And eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.

Musical chairs

Take two chairs and dance around them with your child. When the music stops or when the song is finished, sit down on a chair as quickly as possible. When the second song starts playing, remove one chair. The winner is the one who manages to sit down first.

An alternative version of this game: This is a fun game to play with a group of kids. Have a look at this YouTube video.

Did you know

that you can take very spontaneous photos of your child while they’re moving around?

Fun games you can play with your child outdoors:

There are plenty of fun things to do with your child outdoors, from skipping to tag and hide & seek. But there are many other games that are not as well-known. We’ve listed a few in this section. Check them out and have fun!

Bottle football
Red light, green light
The cat-and-mouse game

Bottle football

Fill two empty plastic bottles with water and screw the cap back on. Try to hit your opponent’s bottle with a ball.

An alternative version of this game: For older kids, you can leave the cap off. If the bottle falls, put it upright as quickly as possible. Can your child manage to empty your bottle first?

Red light, green light

Stand a few big steps away from your child. Turn around, with your back facing your child. Say ‘green light’. That’s when your child can run towards you, but only until you say ‘red light’ while turning around. Your child must stand completely still before you’ve completed your turn. Repeat this until your child reaches you. This YouTube video shows you how to play the game.

Tip: This is also a fun game to play with a group of children. Who can tag you first without you seeing them move?

The cat-and-mouse game

Put a ribbon or something similar in your pocket and in your child’s pocket. Now try to steal each other’s ribbons.

Tip: This is also a fun game to play with a group of children. In that case, one person is ‘it’.

Tip:

Discover more fun games on the Huis voor beweging website.

Did you know

that children who play outside a lot tend to get sick less often?

Fresh air is good for your child and outdoors children also have a chance to run and romp around. If your child can walk, go outside as much as possible, even if the weather is not great. Children don’t get sick that easily and they love jumping around in puddles.

Menu