Jumping Games for High Energy Summertime Fun

If you have high-energy kids like I do, they’ll love this collection of summertime jumping games. You may remember some of these from your own childhood. They’re all serious outdoor fun, and they’ll all wear out your little jumping beans.

When you’re done, you can try one of these ball games for kids too!

Jumping Games… Ready, Set, Jump!

1. Leap Frog – This classic game is the most fun when the whole neighborhood is over. It’s also hilarious for parents to play with their kids. In case you’ve never played, here’s a quick video.

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2. Gunny/potato sack races (you can buy cheap sacks on Amazon {affiliate}) – whichever name you call these, they’re a lot of fun. Well, more fun for kids than adults. I recently did one of these, and my kids beat me handily. Jumping was a lot easier when I was a six-year-old!

3. Broad jump – mark off a starting line, and see how far everyone can jump. Measure and mark down distances, then go again to see if you can jump further.

4. Jump rope & variations – who can forget this jumping game? Starting at age 5 or 6, kids can start to learn how to jump rope. Younger kids can jump over a stationary rope, then graduate to skipping before moving on to jumping.

5. Hopscotch – When I was trying to think of more jumping games, Sophie piped right up with hopscotch. Hopping, jumping – it’s all related. And there is some jumping involved. Get out your sidewalk chalk and draw a hopscotch court. If you don’t remember how to play, here are some rules.

6. Pogo Sticks – Pogo sticks (ad) are great exercise. Challenge the kids to see how many times in a row they can jump. If you have more than one, see who can remain jumping the longest.

7. Musical Frogs – This game is basically musical chairs, but with jumping instead of walking. I’ve seen a few different variations of this jumping game, but I like this one. Another way to play is to draw lily pads in chalk on your driveway and jump across them. You may like to draw an alligator in the water too. (You can even make your own sidewalk chalk paint if you like!)

8. Water Play – Take advantage of the summer weather and jump through the sprinkler. Make it more of a jumping game and jump over a stream of water squirted out of a hose. Begin with the water arced low to the ground, then raise it higher and higher after each child’s turn. As kids get wet, they’re out. The last child remaining dry is the winner.

If you’re still looking for more fun outdoor activities for the kids this summer, you may like to check out the A-Z of Outdoor Activities series hosted by Crafty Kids at Home. Today’s post is the letter J for Jumping Games.

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