Looking for ways to be active as a family? We've got lots of family games to play indoors and outside that will get everyone moving and having fun together. 

It's important to be physically active, but that doesn’t have to be organised sports or something outside the family. It can be play and games. It's any activity that gets the heart to beat faster.

So take your pick of our active play and game ideas for all ages, and all types of weather conditions. 

Obstacle Course

2+ players | Indoors or Outdoors

1. Challenge the kids to create an obstacle course with household items. They could use tables to crawl under, cushions as steppingstones, masking tape for a tightrope, etc. For example, a cardboard box tunnel can be made by duct taping two or more boxes together, leaving the top flaps open so light can get in.
2. On your marks, get set, go! When they've finished the obstacle course, the kids can time themselves doing the course. Find out who can get around the course the quickest. It can be a family affair with kids versuss parents to see who is the fastest!
3. Challenge your kids to walk across it without losing their balance. They could walk forwards, backwards, sideways, or hop over the obstacles.

Tightrope Walking

1+ players | Indoors or Outdoors

1. Mark out your tightrope on the ground with a long piece of string or tape.
2. Challenge your kids to walk across it without losing their balance - forwards, backwards, sideways, hopping over obstacles.
3. Add some imagination by creating a course. Put some jumpers, beanbags or other items around the room. Call them islands. Then put some home-made tightropes between the islands, in straight lines, zig zags, waves. They can cross them in different ways, such as forwards, backwards, sideways, hopping or crawling.

Keep it Moving

1+ players | Indoors

1. Blow up a balloon.
2. With one player, the game is simple – don’t let it touch the ground for as long as possible.
3. With two or more players, each player has three lives and has to pass the balloon back and forth without using their hands.
4. If you let the balloon touch the ground, you lose a life. The last player left wins.

Kerbs

2 Players | Outdoors

1. Stand on a kerb on opposite sides of the street (or both facing one kerb).
2. Take turns throwing a football at the kerb, trying to hit the edge and have it bounce back into your hands.
3. With each successful throw you get one point and another throw. First to ten wins.

Crab Walk Races

2+ players | Indoors or Outdoors

1. Show your kids how to crab walk. (Sit on the floor, put your hands behind you, push your hips and stomach up and start walking)
2. Mark out a course with a start and finish line.
3. Race! For older kids, you can make it tougher by having them balance a ball on their stomach as they walk. If it falls they have to go back to the start.

Family Sports Day

4+ players | Outdoors

1. Write down a list of activities. Here are some suggestions: egg and spoon race, wheelbarrow race, 3-legged race, sprint, hula-hoop, limbo, obstacle course, water balloon toss. Let your kids pick 5-10 to do as events.
2. The kids could make the medals using foil and the winners’ podium using cardboard boxes.
3. Let the games begin! Move from one event to the next. Keep track of who places first, second and third. Finish the day off with a medal presentation ceremony.

Treasure Hunt

1+ players | Indoors or Outdoors

1. Pick a theme based on what your kids like such as pirates, dinosaurs or their favourite movies. Having costumes and treasure based on the theme will make it all the more fun.
2. Write, draw or show pictures of your clues. Place them around the house and hide the treasure. Clue example: ‘To find the first clue before you get old, go the place where we keep the food cold’.
3. Send the kids off on the hunt. Give them hints or play ‘hot and cold’ if they’re struggling to find the clues.

Family Musical Statues

3+ players | Indoors or Outdoors

1. One player controls the music and while it plays, everyone busts out their best dance moves.
2. When the music stops, everyone freezes.
3. Whoever moves while the music is off is out. Play until there’s only one dancer left.

ABC Hunt

1+ players | Indoors or Outdoors

1. Challenge the kids to find items starting with a different letter. You can play this around the house or outside. Examples include: Apple, Book, Carpet, Desk, etc.
2. You can change the game to items that start with letters that make up a word of the day that the kids can choose. Examples include football, holidays, etc.
3. Time how long it takes them to complete the alphabet. If they can’t find anything for the tough letters like Q, X, Z, they can draw a picture of something that starts with that letter instead.
4. This can be adapted to finding items that start with letters that make up the word of the day – ie football, holidays etc.