The only prerequisites for fun outdoor kid games are children's boundless energies and their vibrant imaginations

When was the last time you ventured down from your adult perch and wandered through your own yard, daring to see if you can view it with all the glorious potential your child can see in it? It's time to literally let the little kid in you come out to play, remembering some of your happiest days… simpler days of sun-filled afternoons…the ones spent playing outdoor kid games in your very own yard.

You won't need to bring a thing for this journey, so leave your cordless phone, your cell phone, your pager or beeper, and your wireless laptop inside the house. They'll only restrict your travel as you stroll down your memory lane of outdoor kid games. It's been a long time since you've walked this path.

Gosh…there it is, right there in front of your face…that awful eyesore of topsoil you had delivered and dumped, intending to make a delightful rose garden. It bugs you that you haven't had the time to work on that project and your kids seem to be drawn to it when you have them all dressed up in their best clothes. They seem to think of that pile of dirt as some kind of outdoor kid game. What is it about that dirt that seems to call their names? Wait…no, it can't be…were those just your mother's words that slipped so smoothly off the tip of your tongue?

Yes indeed, those were your mother's echoing words and the dirt in your yard has the same delightful magnetism for your children as it did for you when you were a kid…the enticement of freedom. This is the freedom that gives life to imagination…the freedom that allows spotless children with freshly-washed, sparkling-clean hands to become master architects allowed creative reign to produce masterpieces that only dirty fingers can so exquisitely design. The most incredible outdoor kid games are the ones that we allow children to fashion themselves.

Remember building your very first “Frog House” on a blistering summer afternoon? The sole of your foot welcomed the comfort of the cool, damp earth as you piled as much as you could of the delightfully soothing dirt on top of your foot…it felt even better when you squished it between your toes. Ahhh, simply irresistible, the hours you spent under that shade tree, building first one, then two, ending up with an entire village of proper dwellings for frog princesses and their handsome princes, but times were simpler when you were a child, especially outdoor kid games. You didn't have as many gadgets to choose from to play outdoor kid games, so you just occupied yourself the best you could.

Yes, times were simpler when you were a child, but two facts remain unchanged over the years. Cool, damp earth still charms bare feet on summer afternoons and frog princesses and their princes still need proper housing. Instead of longing for simpler times, simply make them…take your children outside to play. Share your fondest memories of outdoor kid games with your children by playing with them rather than merely telling them about the good ol' days. It's the perfect opportunity to give them a part of you that is uniquely yours to share.