Celebrate the YMCA’s national initiative, Healthy Kids Day, with some fresh air and family-approved fun in your neighborhood park!
- Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of things you want your kids to find. Give each team or individual a bag to collect items. The first one at the finish line with all their items wins.
- Basketball
YMCA pioneer James Naismith invented this game! Work on practicing the fundamentals or keep things fun with a game of H-O-R-S-E.
- Badminton
Players hit the shuttle to the opposing side of the net. Each time the shuttle hits the ground, the opposing team wins a point. The first team to 21 wins.
- Hide and Seek
Play in an enclosed area, and make sure children are easy to locate. Pick a seeker, who counts to 10 and uses her skills to find the hiders.
- Freeze Tag
One player is named “It” and tags the others. Once tagged, children must freeze in place. Adults can supervise or play along as “Un-Freezer”.
- Captain of the Ship
An adult plays the Captain role and calls out orders. Explain the commands beforehand. Use commands like “hit the deck” (lie on your stomach), “love boat” (dance with a partner) and “shark attack” (run to a designated “safe” spot before being tagged by the Shark).
- Capture the Flag
Break kids into two groups and designate an item for each to hide and protect. Each team tries to steal the opposite team’s item. Teams can tag and capture opponents, who can be freed by a team member reaching him or her safely.
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The YMCA of Austin encourages exploration, education and appreciation of our environment. We offer more than 20 summer camps across Travis, Hays and Bastrop counties, where kids can build self-confidence, independence and creativity in the Austin community. Visit austinYmca.org/programs/summer-day-camp.
