Joel & Maryann In The Morning
Most Popular Outdoor Kids Games in New Jersey
When I was a kid, playing games outside was what everybody did. We had video games, but from the age of about 5 or 6 until 11 or 12 we were out in the street, 5, 10, or even more than 20 of us on any given evening. It was a daily routine, and every kid in the neighborhood understood the plan. We would make sure we finished our homework after school or rushed through it after dinner so we could go out and play our games until the sun went down. When I think back to those days I think about how we would all agree on what to play each night. The younger kids would play their own game on the sidewalk, and some kids preferred just talking and watching, but the majority of us went full throttle in whatever games we decided to play that day. ABCmouse knows a lot about games and did some research about what games are most popular among kids. Surprisingly, the game that I enjoyed the most as a kid didn’t make the list. I loved kick the bat. (or kick the can depending on your geography) On our street, we used a wiffle ball bat. One kid is designated as "It," holding the bat, and the rest of the kids hide. The person who is "It" has to find the hidden players while protecting and staying close to the bat. The hidden kids try to stay hidden until they think they can kick the bat before the “it” kid has time to pick up the bat and bang it on the ground 3 times saying the name of the person they see. If you’re “it,” you’ve got to balance between finding players and guarding the bat. Another way of playing is that kids try to sneak out from their hiding spots to kick the bat before they’re tagged by "It." It’s really just hide and seek with an added twist. If a hidden player kicks the bat, that would "free" any players who were already caught. Favorite Kid’s Games in New Jersey Based on Google searches the most popular kid’s game varies by state. In New Jersey, our kids seem to prefer tug of war. It’s also the most popular game in the country, preferred by 10 states including NJ and PA. It’s good because you only really need two people to play, but it’s much more fun the more kids you have. The problem with tug of war is that after a few rounds, everyone can get pretty tired, game over. You also need a good rope, the thicker the better. There’s also the risk of the dreaded “rope burn.” Other Popular Games in America As I mentioned, Pennsylvania also prefers tug of war, however, New York’s favorite is double Dutch, and Connecticut likes to play tag. There are several different versions of tag including octopus tag, spider tag, flashlight tag, tunnel tag, and my favorite, TV tag. Other games that made the list of favorites are Simon Says (the younger kids on my street liked that one), hopscotch (mostly girls played this one), dodgeball, four square, capture the flag (always best after dark), and hide and seek (Number 2 most popular behind tug of war) ABCmouse’s study says that in order “to determine the most popular kids' game in every state, we compiled a list of well-known traditional kids' games and analyzed their regional search interest using Google search data from 2004 to 2024.” Check out all of the other games on the list and see the full study here.