We celebrated our Bubba's 5th birthday this past week, with the highlight being a series of indoor and outdoor playdates on Saturday.

During COVID, our family has had the privilege to be able to work and school (pre K) from home. While we don't go out to restaurants or public places (except the grocery store), we have been seeing friends that are also staying home. So for Bubba's birthday, we did a series of individual playdates with friends that we've been seeing indoor as well as a few families that preferred outdoor / social distanced time instead.

Since we don't have a backyard to speak of (a small patio), we held our outdoor playdates on our driveway. With kiddos though, they really want to interact, so I wanted ways for them to interact without physically playing with each other -  esp since my Bubba loves to wrestle/hug!. Here are some fun driveway games to try! Read to the end for an awesome combination of these that I came up with on the fly!

1) Lava Barrier

First, use chalk to create a "lava" barrier between the two sides of the driveway! The kiddos aren't allowed to cross the lava at any point (we made ours two feet wide instead of 6 feet figuring the kids would naturally space out across the driveway). 

2) Minute to win it games!

These are a fun way to have a little competition with fun interaction. Some fun ones to try that require minimal setup:

*Keep the balloon off the ground for a minute

*Keep a bean bag on your head while doing different things for a minute (like turning in a circle, hopping like a frog, etc.). Or keep a balloon in between your legs and do the same!

*One handed loop - loop cheerios onto a straw using only one hand!

*Streamer wrap - wrap up a parent with streamers in a minute

*Candy toss - toss candy like jelly beans or skittles into a cup or little box

*Go fish - use a straw to suck as many goldfish from one bowl to another

*52 card pick up - toss a deck of cards and pick up as many as you can in a minute! Make more challenging by picking a color or suit (be sure to either do two decks - one for each side or split the deck evenly so the kiddos don't cross the lava line!)

3) Color / Shape Switch!

This works great with younger kids as well (like 2+). Draw different shapes with different colors on your driveway. If you're playing with multiple kids, make sure you draw more than one of each shape. Then call out different actions and the kids can run around following the instructions. Older kids love taking turns giving these out too. Sample instructions:

• Go stand on a yellow star (easy)
• Go to the green circle and turn around 3 times (adding on another instruction)
• Go to the green circle, turn around 3 times and walk backwards to the purple diamond (3 or more instructions - medium)

4) Superhero exercises 

This was a no brainer with my little Bubba. We gave each kiddo a super hero cape/mask and started by asking each kid to pick a superhero and make up a superhero power! Then we did superhero 'exercises' - stretches, kicks, punches, flying around, jumps, etc. Be creative - helicopter jumps, tornado kicks, superhero roars! 

5) Scavenger color hunt

Using the shapes in #3, go for a color hunt around the neighborhood - find flowers, plants, twigs, etc. that match the colors of your shapes!

6) Music parade!

Another great one to do with younger guests. Put random boxes, pots, anything that you can bang and make noises with and have a driveway music parade! 

7) Driveway Dance party!

Use a portable speaker and have a fun dance party! Animal Freeze dance and kids hip hop on Pandora are some of our faves!

8) Make Ice Blocks

 Make ice blocks for each side of the driveway and have fun finding the prize!

Our Super fun Super Hero Activity

So ready for the super fun way to put this all together?! Our superhero story! Goes a little like this:

1) Start with the superhero exercises and superhero 'training'. Once everyone is all trained up, move on to 2.

2) Our superheroes have a mission! Use the Color & Shape Switch activity and say they have to follow 5 superhero instructions to open the magic box. The magic box contains the key to beating the bad guys! Once they are done with their 5 superhero instructions, open the 'magic box'!

3) The magic box contains a roll of streamers for each kid (can also use toilet paper!). The superheroes have a minute to wrap up the 'bad guys' (their parents or another adult) so they can't get away!

4) Once the bad guys are all 'tied up', the superheroes can get the hot lava rocks (balloons!) which they have to transport to safety before they start a fire and wreak havoc! The lava rocks (balloons) are hot and can't touch the ground - keep the balloons in the air and walk them across the driveway to where they belong (we put them in a chair)!

5) Once the superheroes have saved the day, it's time for a dance party celebration!

Even though COVID has been tough - we can still find creative ways to play and safely see / play with friends! Keep it small and make sure the kiddos are clear on what the rules are!

Hope you enjoy these games! Comment below if you try any!