With the onset of COVID-19 and the cancellation of schools, our kids have lost so much.
My oldest is a kindergartener and missed out on so many firsts. She didn’t get to go on her first field trip, she’ll miss kindergarten graduation, and worst of all, she didn’t get to experience her first field day!
As a Mom, I’m really sad for her. As a former teacher, I’m brokenhearted. Those experiences mean so much to so many kids and this year they’re cancelled.
Luckily for her, I’ve sat through a decade+ of field days and have a little experience in helping plan them. So I got together with my Mom and sister (also teachers) and we planned a day of field day fun!
In this post I’ve broken down the games we played and included some we didn’t get around to. I’ve also created a free printable for you to reference when planning your own. It doesn’t take a lot of work and I think you’ll find it worth it. Creating amazing fun filled memories is essential to surviving these uncertain times.
For your convenience, this post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from these links I may make a small commission at no cost to you.
18+ Ideas for an Epic Field Day at Home!
There are tons of fun ideas out there but I tried to pick ones I knew would be relatively simple to set up. I also wanted to make sure we’d have most of the materials and not have to buy much.
So I’ve rounded up 18 of my absolute favorite Field Day activities! Be sure to grab my free printable at the bottom so that you’ll have it to help you plan your own fun, family field day!
Side note: My three year old requires a daily nap, or else she turns into a Gremlin. So we weren’t able to do ALL the ideas listed on the printable, but I went ahead and explained them. We will be saving the rest for another day because we will most definitely be doing this again!
1. Obstacle Course
Obstacle courses are an excellent way to work on motor skills and general coordination. We had an assignment from my oldest’s gym teacher to create one. We had so much fun with it we’ve done it several times and each time we try to make it bigger and harder.
This time, our obstacle course started by climbing the playground ladder and sliding down. They then had to do 5 jumping jacks and walk the balance beam (little kids regular walk, big kids high kick). From there they crawled through a tunnel and then zig-zagged through cones. On the mat they could roll, flip, do a kick-over or cartwheel. Then they had to race back around the house to complete their time.
Both my girls take gymnastics and we’ve got practice stuff at home, so we used a lot of that. However, there are tons of items around the house we could’ve also utilized for this.
Dress up Race
This one is taking it way old school back. I remember doing this at my own elementary field days. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for this one because my littlest princess was about to turn into a pumpkin without her nap.
All you need are some adult clothes (a size that will be big on the children playing) and lots of energy. The clothes are set a good distance away and you have to run to the clothes, put them on and race to return to where you started. The first person back is the winner!
Egg Race
For this we placed some large eggs (Not Boiled!) in spoons. The objective was to race around the yard without dropping the egg.
This one didn’t go quite as “egg”spected. (See that little Mom pun there?)
Apparently, we used spoons that were too large and it was practically impossible for them to fall off. It was still fun though because the eggs were wobbly and no one wanted to get egged.
So when doing this yourself, be sure to use smaller spoons. Maybe even plastic ones?
Egg Toss
This one actually didn’t even make my list, but since no one broke their eggs in the egg race, we gave it a try.
It didn’t take long for yolks to go flying!
We started close together and gently tossed the eggs back and forth, until someone missed. My husband and our niece had an amazing run of luck where the egg was dropped like ten times before finally busting!
RELATED READING: The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Sight Words
Tin Can Bowling
All you need for this one are nine tin cans (be sure all sharp edges are filed down) and a large ball. We hadn’t been saving tin cans long enough but plan to soon!
This game works just as a traditional bowling game, with the objective being to knock over all the cans.
Duck, Duck, Splash
This one is a fun play on Duck, Duck, Goose! Just like in the original game, one person goes around and taps people on the head saying, duck, duck…
Only in this game, when the person tags the “Goose” they dump a cup of cold water on their head!
The person who was tagged then jumps up and chases them around the circle (we had a small circle so they were supposed to go round twice). If the person gets back to their spot without getting tagged, they get to go again!
Sponge Tag
I forgot to grab a pic of this one, but it’s really simple in concept.
It’s just like regular tag, only instead of tagging with hands, you tag with a sponge soaked in water. You cannot throw the sponge at the person, you actually have to tag them with it.
Once the person has been tagged, the sponge is handed off and the game is reset!
Sponge Relay
For this game each girl got two sponges and a pot of water. They then had to race to fill a red Solo cup with water by squeezing as much water as they could out of the sponge.
Whoever fills their cup first is the winner! I’ve also played this game at school with cups instead of sponges. We would poke holes in the cups so they leaked water as you ran.
Water Balloon Toss
This is exactly what you’d imagine. You begin close together, gently tossing a water balloon back and forth. Each time you catch it you take a step back. The further away you get, the harder it becomes.
The object is to catch the balloon and not have it burst on you and get you totally wet! This proved to be pretty difficult as water balloons are slippery little suckers!
3 Legged Race
This is another oldie but goodie! Choose a partner and then tie one of each of your legs together. You then have to race another team or teams to determine the winner.
Backwards Cup Relay
Kids love this fun little relay activity.
Participants need to line up one behind another and sit legs crossed. Each person gets an empty cup except for the first person in line. You then have to, without looking, attempt to pour the water from your cup into the person behind yous cup without spilling.
Water Gun Cup Shooting
To begin this game you’ll need 6 cups to stack on top of each other. Make two stacks for two players. Once they are stacked you then race another person to knocking the cups over first using the stream of water produced by your water gun.
Parachute Game
This can also be done with a sheet or blanket if you don’t have a parachute handy. You can find these on Amazon (linked above). I got lucky and scored ours for $5 at a Dollar General clearance sale a few years ago!
The object of this game seemed simple. All you have to do is keep the beach ball on the parachute. It’s not quite as easy as you’d think when there are such variations in height holding it up!
Bucket Toss
Bucket Toss is generally another staple at Field Day.
I’ve seen the bucket toss done a number of ways over the years. I’ve seen socks tossed in a huge bin. I’ve seen wet sponges tossed into a tub of water. In a much simpler twist I’ve seen balls tossed in a bucket. Whatever your choice, this is a pretty simple one to set up!
Wheelbarrow Race
This game’s been around forever! You pick up another persons legs and they use their arms to walk across the grass. This is a team activity and the team that moves the quickest wins!
Balloon Pop
This is a fun activity that involves very little set up.
All you need to do is blow up balloons. The object of this station is to pop the balloons with your body. We told them they could do it any way that worked and they quickly discovered sitting on them and grinding them down did the job. We stuck a sheet under the balloons so the spiky grass didn’t make the balloons pop too easily.
Tug o’War
We had every intention of playing this, but I completely forgot the rope at home. For this I was planning a boys against girls game. Which is perhaps a little unfair since my husband was the only boy there!
Bubbles Station
This is a great wind down station for when things get a little hot. We had several bubble wands available. I’ve also done field days with tons of different bubble making devices present. There are many different ways you can do a bubble station!
Popsicle Station
This one actually was planned for; however, my husband decided to splurge on an ice cream cake instead.
All my Field Days as a teacher included a Popsicle station. This one’s practically essential (unless you have ice cream cake).
Grab your Free Printable!
Like I mentioned in the beginning, you can grab my free printable sheet with all of these ideas listed for you. Print it and post it so you’ll have a quick reminder of what games you’d like to plan for your own field day! Click on the image below to grab it!
RELATED READING: Free Letter of the Week Lesson Plans. Entire Alphabet!
This list is certainly not comprehensive, and for sure we created many more activities along the way. Here are just a few impromptu events we added in our Field Day at home!
Water Balloon Fight
This broke out after the water balloon toss and was one of the highlights of the day! I didn’t grab any pictures in this one as it was too risky to my camera. I ended up soaked, head to toe, and loved every minute of it.
Water Gun Fight
It wasn’t long after the water gun cup cup tower even that the water guns were turned on other people.
The kids loved being in pursuit (and being pursued by) a target. Their motto this Field Day seemed to be “the wetter the better.”
Rocket Finger Launchers
This was a last minute addition to our Field Day festivities. I saw a sale on these finger rockets on Amazon and managed to snag them at 40% off. We had a ton of fun launching these off the porch and trying to beat each other’s record distances.
Parting Field Day Wisdom
There are just 3 more things I’d like to share with you as I pass the virtual field day torch. These are perhaps the most important elements of any successful field day. Do not forget these essentials.
1.Sunscreen – Field Day is notorious for resulting in some horrible sun burns. Be sure to keep sunscreen handy and apply it frequently!
2. Water – Be sure everyone involved stays hydrated. Keep a cooler with water bottles handy, and take water breaks often.
3. Weather – Especially as summer months go on, be sure to keep an eye on the heat index. You don’t want to let anyone get overheated. I’ve been stuck in surprise storms too on Field Day. Just be sure you check with the weatherman before you start!
There you have it! All the fixins’ for a fun, family-friendly, Field Day at home! Don’t forget to pin this for later! I’ve also got tons of resources for Mama’s stuck at home teaching littles. Be sure to check out my series on Teaching your Kid to Read for TONS of free resources. Also don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest for so many fun ideas for parenting, teaching and crafting!
