Recreational Games- Top 5 Fun and easy to play

 

What is Recreation?

Recreational games or Recreation referred as any activity or experience pursued or done during leisure time or free time, it may be done for personal enjoyment as well as it can be done in group also. This Recreation word can have various meaning for different people anything that is joyful, entertainment, happiness, relaxation (both physical and mental) and considered as Fun. It is a very important topic in Physical Education as it's essential for human health- biology and psychology.

We can segregate the Recreational Programme for various categories of people - for Children, Adolescents, Old age and Divyangas. Here, I will discuss the Recreational programmes for Children and Adolescents.   

Characteristics :

- It occurs during free time or leisure being discretionary time.

- Recreation is flexible.

- It can be organised or unorganised.

- It can be enjoyed alone or in a group as well.

- Recreation is necessary in order for a person to have balanced growth,  positive attitude, and positive  motivation. 

                                             

Top 5 Outdoor Recreational Games

1. TIC TAC TOE - It is one of the most versatile game which we can play both indoor and outdoor. when I was in school I used to play it in class time with my friends and bench-mate now I just miss those moments. If you want to play it in indoor you just need a pen and a piece of paper, where you will make a square of 9 boxes and you can use any to signs, Usually we use 'X and 0' .

                                                               

                                                                                 

Now, If I talk about outdoor tic tac toe, It can be played by more than two person. It's more fun and enjoyable than indoor one and on the other hand the individuals will be conditioned as well. It will improve their reaction time, speed and fitness in a fun manner.

There will be two Individual or can be two teams. They will be standing behind the starting line having 5 markers each of two different colours and in the end line  we will keep the hula hoops in such a way that it should look like a square. After a command 1 member each of the teams may run and keep the cone inside the hoops like this another person of the team will come and do the same. The team which can match the same coloured at first that will be declared as winners. 

Requirements :

1. Hula hoops - 9

 (alternative- shalom pole, rope etc)

2. Markers or cones - 10 (2 sets of different colours)

 (alternative- cone, beanbag, ball, disc etc)

2. SEVEN STONES - This traditional game is played from ancient time whose history dates back to Bhagwata Purana and it is mostly common in villages of Indian subcontinent involving pile of seven flat stones and a tennis ball. This game is also close to my heart as I also used to play a lot with my neighbour friends.

There should be two equal teams (approx. 5-6 members) where a member of one team throws a ball (basically tennis ball) at a pile of stones, then all the team members of that particular team (the seekers) will try to collect the stones and restore the pile of stones on the other hand the opposing team (the hitters) will try to hit them with the ball and make them out before reconstruction of the pile of stones. If the ball touches any of the seeker then that member is out so the seekers will try to restore before getting whole team out. Now, the seekers will be hitters and vice-versa. 

                                            

3.  ICE AND WATER  - I think this Ice and water recreation game has been played by most of us in our childhood, well have played it especially in my school. This is a chasing game played by a group of individual (children) where one member referred as "Chaser" will chase the other runners and 'freeze' them once the Chaser touch or tap them, Th e chaser has to say Ice immediately after touching anyone while the other runners can 'unfreeze' that frozen runner by tapping  them and saying water.

So, the main objective of the 'melt' or 'unfreeze' the runners whenever someone is frozen. This games stimulate the senses of the children and develops their fine motor skills, cognitive skills, locomotor skills etc and also teach them teamwork.

                                                      

                                                   

4. LEG CRICKET - This is also one of fun and interesting game which brings back the memories of childhood.It is mainly played in India. The Father of Leg Cricket is Mr. S. Nagraj an Indian Physical Education Teacher as this recreational game was introduced by him. After that official rule book also introduced of Leg Cricket in 2010.

The professional Leg Cricket is played between two teams of 11 players on a circular ground with various rules, But when we play it for fun we don't follow any strict rules and regulations and particular shape or measurements of the ground. We can play this game open spacious place including two teams of equal members (11 members each is not mandatory). Leg Cricket involves leg and football rather than Bat and a cricket Ball, where the bowler rolls the ball (underarm) and the legs man has to kick the ball as far as possible. Legs man can score four and six like Cricket game. In terms of out, Catching and Bolt is also allowed. 

                       

5. DODGE BALL - This Recreational game is a team game played between two equal teams consisting of 6-10 member in each team or can be more than that. This is mostly played by the elementary school students as it' s very joyful and loved by the students. For the school students we can use a soft sponge ball or volleyball or basketball on a hard surface because the ball has to jump.

The main objective of this is to eliminate all the opposing team members by especially hitting them under the knees. At first one team (Attackers) will be making a big circle and they will throw the ball to hit the opposing team and on the other hand opposing team will be between of the circle and must dodge the ball to remain in the game and vice-versa. The team who manages to eliminate all the members of a team within less time than other team definitely will be the winners of the game.

                                                   

CONCLUSION : Recreational games is very crucial now-a-days especially for the kids as they became very inactive and lazy. So, keep them active both physically and mentally we have to introduced these type of recreational games that we used to play in our childhood days.