Playing games is a good way to keep active. You can play with your friends, or make new friends by inviting them to join you.

Below are some activities; most can be played indoors but some are best played in a garden where there’s lots of space. The number of bees represents the number of people required to play the game. Have fun!

Foot and hand painting

1 Bee +

This game can be messy because paint is involved. You will need paper – wallpaper is ideal, and a paintbrush and an old baking tray to fill with paint. Remove your shoes and socks. Paint one foot by brushing it with paint or dipping it in the tray. Step onto the paper, making a print of your foot. Now make a print with one of your hands, but it’s probably best to wash your foot before you forget there’s paint on it!

Ask your siblings, parents or grandparents if you can make a print of their hands and feet. You could even make a print of your pet’s paw, but remember to check if the paint is safe. How does the size of your hands and feet compare with everyone else?

When the prints have dried, why not cut them out to make a decoration that you can hang up?

Fish race

2 Bees +

Cut some fish shapes out of tissue paper and give one to each player. Players need to have a magazine and stand behind a start line. At the opposite end of the room or garden is a finish line. On the starter’s orders each player must fan his or her fish with their magazine. The winner is the first person to cross the finish line with their fish without touching it with their hands or the magazine.

Pull-me-up

2 Bees

Take a partner and sit on the floor facing each other with the soles of your feet touching. Now grasp hands and attempt to pull each other into a standing position. You may find it easier if you bend your knees, but if you are really fit you can keep your legs outstretched.

The object of the activity is to pull the other person up whilst remaining seated yourself. The winner will be the stronger of the two that manages to remain seated.

Leg wrestling

2 Bees

Remove your shoes so that you can wrestle in just your socks. Lie on your back with your partner opposite you. Link your legs at the back of the knees. The aim of the game is to wrestle your opponent onto his or her side. Keep your back and arms flat throughout.

Assault Course

2 Bees +

Get together with some friends and gather as many objects as you can to make an assault course in your garden. Chairs, sheets, old cardboard boxes, large cushions, ropes and anything you can find which you can swing on, climb through, jump over, and so on.

When you have gathered all the items, set them out in a suitable part of the garden and get an adult to check everything is safe. Make sure each of your friends knows exactly what to do and which way to run round the course.

Once you have planned the course, each player must attempt it one at a time. The champion will be the one to complete the course in the fastest time. Have someone act as the referee to check the timings.

To make it harder suggest that each player carries a plastic cup of water. Extra points are awarded to the player who spills the least water.

Games to test your brain

The memory game

2 Bees +

Each player will need a piece of paper and a pencil before you begin. In turn, each player will produce a tray with twenty small household objects on it – for example a drawing pin, a teaspoon, a light bulb etc. The other players are allowed to look at the tray for 30 seconds, before the player in control removes it from view. One item is removed by the player who then presents the tray again. The other players must write down the missing item and then fold their paper as this will ensure they cannot return to their answer in later rounds. Every player can control the tray a couple of times. The winner is the player who writes down the most missing items.

Famous people

2 Bees +

The object of the game is for one person to think of a famous person. For example, they may think William Shakespeare. They write the name of the famous person on a piece of paper and turn it over so it cannot be read. The other players then have to ask questions to try and find out the person’s identity. The game might begin like this:

‘Is the person living or dead?’

‘Dead’

‘Is the person from fiction?’

‘No’