There are dozens of musical games you can take outdoors with your kids. Most require little more than some space and a speaker. For more musical games, both online and offline, check out this post.
Musical Hide and Seek
Help your child improve their listening skills with this simple twist on hide and seek. If your child has a favorite toy that plays music, hide it somewhere outdoors. If not, a speaker or your phone will work fine. Have your child listen for the music in order to find the toy. Each time they find it, try hiding the toy in a trickier spot!
Musical Chairs
An oldie but a goodie, musical chairs is a classic party and classroom game fun for kids of all ages.
For those that need a refresher; set up chairs in a circle- you’ll need one less chair than the number of people playing. Turn on your child’s favorite music and have the kids walk around the chairs as the music plays. When the music stops, players must take a seat as quickly as they can. The player left standing is out, a chair is removed, and the process continues until one child remains.
To spice things up, encourage little ones to dance to the music as they circle the chairs. Ask your children if different music styles inspire them to dance with different movements.
Musical Statues or Freeze Dance
This game goes by different names depending on where you’re from but the concept is the same.
Gather little ones together in a space with room enough to dance. A parent or adult will play music and encourage little ones to dance enthusiastically. When the music stops, all the dancers must freeze exactly as they are, just like statues. The last child to freeze or stop is out, and players are slowly eliminated as the game continues.
Encourage the players to dance boldly. Adults leading the game can experiment by utilizing different music styles or tempos to keep the game interesting.
Musical Four Square
There’s a good chance your local elementary school has a four square grid somewhere on the playground. If not, you can always draw one in with chalk.
Draw a different 4-beat rhythm in each square. With all kids starting outside the square, clap out one of the rhythms. Have your kids then jump to land on the corresponding square. Whoever jumps to the correct square first gets a point. If you’re playing with a large group, have kids take turns so they aren’t jumping on top of each other.
We hope you’ve had a fun-filled and musical summer. Do you have a favorite musical game not listed here? We want to hear about it, so let us know. You can find tons of other fun musical games on our Pinterest page.