Classic camp games to play at home with your family
If the onset of summer has your kids missing camp -- and the traditional camp games -- now is a great time to bring camp for the whole family to your own backyard.
"Summer camps are all about bringing together communities and people to celebrate the joy of summer and youth," said Anna Birch, a 13-year veteran camper and creator of Adventure Links, a camp and year-round program focused on team building, personal development, and outdoor education.
Since COVID-19 closed the camp for now, she's started The Camp Cloud to bring camp into homes.
"Being at home is a perfect time to connect with your family and simply have fun. Parents and siblings of all ages can take time out to do something they wouldn't normally do and share in laughter," Birch told "Good Morning America."
The Ultimate Camp Resource has hundreds of camp games broken down into 15 categories including circle games, cooperative games and games easily adapted for kids with special needs.
But if you don't have enough people to execute each one, not to worry: Birch has a quick go-to list that's great for a family. Among her favorites are GaGa ball, Samurai Game (a fun excuse to swing pool noodles at each other), the Chocolate Dice Game and a DIY obstacle course.
"Make a plan to schedule fun time that the entire family can get behind and take turns picking a favorite outdoor game," she said.
Getting the family involved is beneficial on many levels and perhaps now more than ever.
"Beyond often involving active problem solving, camp games bring a real sense of togetherness and levity. Now, more than ever, our family units must operate together to overcome the obstacles and stresses of today," she said. "Being able to play together and work together teaches us how to live together."
Her rule of thumb -- treat the adults like kids and the kids like adults. "Adults need be reminded that they still can be youthful and fun and wild. On the other hand, kids should be shown that their thoughts and ideas are valued, that they can have the say in things."
A great game to kick off the family fun is Red Fish, Blue Fish, Birch said.
"It's also known as 'Ballie Ballie where is my Ballie' and lots of other names." Here are the rules:
One person, 'the Guardian,' takes an object like a water bottle, ball, or stuffed animal and puts it between their legs and turns away from the rest of the group. The rest of the group begins at a starting line any distance away -- the further they start away the more difficult it is -- a good starting distance would be 20 feet.
If they are ever seen moving by the person guarding the object they must return to the start. The way they can move forward is when the guardian has their back turned. During this time the guardian will sing out "Ballie, ballie where is my ballie?!" before turning around. If the Guardian catches anyone moving, they call them out and the person who was caught must return to the start. As people move closer and closer eventually, they will be able to grab the object from the Guardian.
However, this is only the halfway point. Now they must make it all the way back to the start without being caught. Every time the Guardian calls out "Ballie, ballie where is my ballie?!", they turn around and call on one person to raise their hands. If the object is dropped by that person or seen by the Guardian, everyone returns to the start line. If the team can get the object all the way back to the start line by hiding it and passing it among each other (without being seen by the Guardian) then they win! This is a great team building, competitive, and silly game that can be played for hours with different people acting as the Guardian.
