Make Your Own Ring Toss Craft and Activity for Kids
Do your kids have Olympic fever? Or maybe they’re just looking for a fun game to play around the house (hello, rainy day activity!), or one to play at a birthday party… either way, I’ve got you covered.
This ring toss game is an easy craft using recycled materials you can find around the house.
What you need to make a ring toss game for kids:
- Tall yogurt container
- Paper towel cardboard roll (A more firm cardboard roll like those found with aluminum foil or clear plastic wrap works well–you can also roll a section of newspaper into a tight roll.)
- Two or more lids from round yogurt containers (These will be your rings. So the more rings you want, the more lids you will need.)
- A sharp utility knife and an adult’s assistance
- Construction paper (optional)
- Markers, paint, or stickers (optional–However you want to decorate your ring toss game–or skip this step all together if you want to get playing!)
How to make your own ring toss game and craft for kids:
Have an adult trim the top two inches off the yogurt container. (The “top” being the opening end of the container–it will become the “bottom” of the ring toss stand.) This will be the ring toss base and will need to be stable. Trimming the bottom off the container will help with that. Make sure you make it even so it sits well.
Also have an adult cut an ‘x’ shape into the bottom of the yogurt container.
Decorate the cardboard roll (or rolled up newspaper) to make it gorgeous. Some ideas include, painting it, colouring it with markers, sticking it with stickers, or covering it with construction paper, wrapping paper, or whatever else you have that looks interesting.
Slide the paper towel roll into the slits made in the bottom of the yogurt container. It should stay nicely on its own.
Have an adult carefully cut out the inside sections of the yogurt lids so they become a (closed) ring instead of a solid disk. (Cut out the middle of the lids.) These lids will be your rings.
It looks like you’re done!
Time to find some space and play ring toss!
Place the stand a few feet away and try to toss your rings onto the cardboard roll sticking up. Can you get it? If it is too easy, keeping backing up until it gets harder. Too hard? Move closer.
Can you toss the ring with your left hand? Right hand? Both hands? From behind your back? Without looking? From between your legs? Make it a challenge. Gotten good? Invite your friends over to play! They can be one country and you can be another–competing in the Olympics! Wahoo! Have fun, and enjoy!
What games do your kids like to play at home? What country are they cheering for in the Olympics?
P.S. This craft was built at our public library with help from our lovely librarian, Mary. Thanks, Mary!
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Looking for an easy way to share:
Easy craft and party game: ring toss! A fun how to for kids. http://t.co/SMTlgsWM #crafts #kids #play
— Jean Oram (@KidsPlay) August 2, 2012
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One of the local private schools was having a sports day / track day / Olympics for their students in the playground the other day. So while chasing my son and his friends around the playground, I snagged a picture for you of something I thought was really cool.
Ta da! They are homemade hurdles for kids of all sizes using PVC pipe.
What you will need to make a homemade hurdle for your kids
For this project you will only need to visit the plumbing section of the local hardware store. Yipee!
For the version shown above, you’ll need 2 elbow joint pieces, 2 t-shaped joint pieces and lots of pipe that will fit into those joints. You will want to use plumbers glue to hold your joints together and you will need a hacksaw to trim your pieces to length. As well, a marker to mark where you need to cut will come in handy along with a tape measure if you hope to make your hurdles even. 
I’m not going to get into the details and specifics here, but you can either experiment on your own to figure out what will work well for your kids or if you are a more details first type, you can check out this eHow article.
P.S. When making your hurdles, try to leave the back leg shorter than the front leg like in “real” track hurdles so if your kids don’t make it over, the hurdle topples instead of tripping them onto their face. Ouch.
Why Hurdles Are Great
Kids love to run and challenge themselves. They especially love to jump. Homemade hurdles made from PVC can be adjusted higher or lower if you simply wedge the upright pipe pieces into their joints instead of gluing them. By wedging them, as your kids grow you can replace the upright bars with longer ones making your hurdles higher. (You’ll notice in the photo that the hurdles on the right are “big kid” hurdles where the ones on the left have shorter upright pipes and are “little kid” hurdles.
Got My Homemade PVC Hurdles, Now What?
Hold a sports day right in your own backyard.
Hmm… I’m also thinking an Olympic themed birthday party!!
Or maybe… set it up and leave it so the kids can make their own obstacle courses, run it, and change it up all summer!
If you are looking for more outdoor games to go with your hurdles event, be sure to check out my Pinterest boards. The Outdoor Play board has lots of fun, easy, homemade games for the kiddos such as homemade outdoor bowling, homemade balance beam, and a do-it-yourself throwing challenge game.
Enjoy!
How about you? Have you held an active birthday party or created a fun afternoon of sports challenges for your kids?
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Take turns with a friend or bunch of friends and switch between ‘unfortunately’ and ‘fortunately’.
Start with unfortunately.
For example:
First person: “Unfortunately our essay that was due next week is really due tomorrow morning.”
Next person: “Fortunately, I have mine done.”
Next person: “Unfortunately the teacher added an extra page.”
Next Person: “Fortunately, mine was two pages over.”
Make this a family activity: Play together in the car, around the supper table, or anytime you feel up to a little playing.
This activity promotes positive problem solving and thinking in opposites.
Everyone sits in a circle and claps or slaps their legs to a rhythm (like: clap-clap, clap, clap-clap, clap or if you are slapping: slap-slap, slap, slap-slap, slap). Once everyone has the rhythm, one player starts the categories by saying “I am thinking of kinds of…. (and says what the category is and then adds in their item).”
They say this in rhythm to the clapping or slapping. The next player in the circle joins in after one clap or slap by saying something that fits in the category.
Go around the circle until all players are out of ideas or someone misses a beat. Players are normally sent out of the game for missing a beat, but you can also play where they keep playing.
Example:
Person one: (clap-clap, clap) “I am thinking of kinds of clothes” (clap-clap, clap) “hat”
Person two: (clap-clap, clap) “socks”
Person three: (clap-clap, clap) “pants”
Persons four: (clap-clap, clap) “t-shirt”
Category ideas: clothes, candy, places, things that grow, TV shows, books, people, relatives, food that is red, animals, electronics, teachers in your school, sports, dog breeds, song titles, names, school subjects, ice cream flavours.
Make this a family activity: Instead of playing a board game on family game night, try this one. This game can also be played in the car. (The driver doesn’t have to clap or slap though!)
This activity promotes timing, word association and grouping skills.
How to play Knock Your Socks Off
Divide the group of players (6-16 players works well) into two teams. Everyone needs to be wearing socks. The teams get down on their hands and knees as this is a crawling game–you cannot stand up or stand on your feet at any point during the game. Choose an area for the game such as the living room–if you leave the boundaries of the game area, you are automatically out.
When the game starts, the two teams begin crawling around, trying to pull the socks off the other team’s feet. The goal is to get all the socks off the other team. Once a sock is off a foot, it stays off. Once a player has no socks left on, they move to the sidelines to cheer on the other players (they are out of the game).
No kicking! And no grabbing at your own sock if someone is pulling it off. And no knee-high socks or stirrup pants–they are so unfair! (I know this because everyone used to whine when I did it. Sorry!)
Make this a family activity: Break into teams. Parents against kids or boys against girls or just mix it up! Watch out: Mom tickles!
This activity promotes speed, agility and a little healthy competition.
