Classic Games Active Games for kids
Burn-energy games that work in a living room or hallway.
Part of Classic Games activities and all active games.
- Ages 3–520 min
Indoor Hopscotch
Tape a hopscotch grid on the floor and play the classic hopping game indoors.
Light adult help · No mess · Printable step card
- Ages 5–830 min
The Floor Is Lava
Build a living-room obstacle course from cushions and furniture, then cross the lava without touching it.
Light adult help · No mess · Printable step card
- Ages 8–1025 min
Simon Says Relay Challenge
Play a competitive version of Simon Says where players earn points and take turns being Simon.
Light adult help · No mess · Printable step card
Classic Games Active Games at home
A rainy afternoon, a school holiday, or a long Sunday when the backyard is not an option — these are the moments these activities were built for. The games on this page are the ones American children have played for sixty or more years, passed from older siblings to younger ones, from schoolyards to living rooms. What makes active games a natural match for classic games is that the originals were always physical: they used your body, your voice, your balance, your ability to listen and react. None of them required anything to be purchased, and none of them required a screen. They worked in 1965 and they work now for exactly the same reasons.
What is in this set
The three classic Games Active Games activities here run from 20 to 30 minutes — Indoor Hopscotch is the quickest, The Floor Is Lava the longest. Between them they cover ages 3–5, ages 5–8 and ages 8–10, and each card below says which. None of them makes a mess worth mentioning. Each one wants an adult at least nearby.
Choosing one
If your child is three to five, start with Indoor Hopscotch — the tape goes down in minutes and the hopping challenge is just hard enough to hold their attention without frustrating them. For children five to eight who need to run off energy in a small space, The Floor Is Lava turns your living room into a full obstacle course with what is already on your couch. For children eight to ten who need something more competitive and mentally demanding, Simon Says Relay Challenge adds scoring and strategy to a game they already know.
Before you start
For all three activities, the most useful thing you can do before calling the child over is clear the floor space — moved furniture matters more than any material. For Hopscotch, cut your tape strips in advance. For The Floor Is Lava, arrange the cushion islands before the child sees the course, so the visual of 'lava everywhere' lands immediately. For Simon Says, write the scoring rule on paper before anyone starts arguing about it. The thing that goes wrong most often across all three: children change the rules mid-game when they are losing. Agree on the rules out loud before the first round and point to the paper if it comes up.
More classic games activities
The other formats available for this theme.