Camping Out Ideas

Cute games for horse summer camp?

Its a day camp, kids will ride in the morning, then learn horse related information in the afternoon (i.e. horse colors, tack, etc). We wanted to try some games or fun activities as well... Anybody have any cute ideas? We already have some for on the horses, so we were trying to find some games/crafts/activities for on the ground....Kids are generally young, 7-11 approximately.

Public Comments

1. get ideas off of sports. like get a trash can and a ball ask the children a question about horses and if they answer right they get a point and get to shoot and if they get it wrong they go to the back of the line the team with the most points at the end win!!
2. *Get some white tee shirts printed with the name of your camp, and have the kids tye-dye the shirts. *Horse Jepordy *Horse shoe picture frames. Get old shoes, sand them down, spray paint them, and take a picture of each kid and their horse. Stick the picture to the back of the shoe. Use ribbon, stickers, etc. to decorate. *Get a bunch of bits, peices of bridles, etc. and a bunch of tags with the names of the bits, and parts of the bridles and have the kids break into teams. The team that matches all the names to the equipment first wins a small prize.
3. for on the ground: do a "scavenger hunt" type thing, except you give descriptions of some horses, and the kids have to guess which horse matches w/ the description. It works better if you have a lot of horses (like 20 plus) for on the horse: dizzy izzy (i think thats what its called) you either trot or canter up to a cone on the other side of the arena, dismount, put your helmet to the cone and spin around 12 times, and then you have to run back to the other end of the arena (but you are NOT on your horse!!!)
4. 1) when i went to horse camp we played a game where they set up some poles like a small horse jump and the kids had to jump over it, the bar gets higher each time. 2)also there were two teams, you would each have your own halves of the arena type thing, and each team gets a halter, the opposite team has to get your halter without being tagged, if they are tagged they go to your jail, if you are not watching them, they can get out of your jail. who ever gets the halter of the opposite team to their side without being tagged wins! 3) there are two teams, you stand in the middle and ask a question like how many parts are their to a hoof or what are 10 different breeds we have at the farm or something, whichever team with the most points in the end wins!
5. You GOTTA get this book!!! http://www.amazon.com/Games-Horseback-Betty-Bennett-Talbot/dp/1580171346 It's got a LOT of games for kids, from beginners to advanced, some you could do on the ground (Squirrel game) where you teach them how to dismount safely from a saddle in an "Emergency". (You could put a saddle on a hay bale, and teach them to lean forward, drop the reins, kick leg over saddle, then slide down) Horse charades, have them act out horse words, (Easy would be trot, canter, eating, hard would be barrel racing, trying to act out what "Whithers" are, stuff like that. "Treasure hunts" are fun, hide a bunch of horse stuff in the barn, (in safe places) like a certain colored brush, hoof pick, an old unused bit, and give them a list of what they're looking for, give a prize for most items found, stuff like that. Have fun!
6. maybe you could do "horse costume contest"-we did it at my horse camp. they can be in groups and dress up a horse per group and then you can have a judge to award prizes(1st,2nd,3rd) or you could do a small obstacle course (picking up an item off a barrel, getting the horses feet all in a box made of cavaletti poles. hope that helped
7. I seen one where the kids rode down one side of the arena, got off, put there head on a bat, while the other end was on the ground, spin 3 times, then had to get back on and ride down the other side! But, they were all experienced riders, so maybe you better not do that. But is was sure funny to watch! And the kids had a ball! How about the flag in the bucket thing like the game on little britches rodeo on rfdtv?
8. I go to a horse camp and we have a couple of games/activities that we play/do. -Painting horse-shoes, taking pictures of the kids with horses, putting them in the horse show using magnets, and then letting the kids take theirs home kind of as a souvenir. Or just painting them works too. -Giving them word-search puzzles with horse terms. (You can make them online and all you have to do is put in the words, it's easy). -Scavenger hunts around the barn/stable. It is good to do in teams of about three kids.. Have them looking for things in order and have the last one be a book of horse stickers, or tracing things, or temporary tattoos, which would be like the prize. Or have them all find the same things (but have multiple ones, one for each team) and make it a race to see which team can find all the items fastest and make the craft books the prizes for the winning team. This activity can take a while and should have a fair amount of time put aside for it. You can hid things in places like the hay, by the ring, in a water bucket (not one full of water in a horses pen, of course) or any other place you can think of. I hope these ideas sound good to you and that you use them in your camp. I know that I thoroughly enjoyed them and would do them again any day. The kids at your camp will enjoy these games too!!
9. you could play pony pony horse also known as duck duck goose. you could tye dye shirts give them clues to what piece of tack it is and have them go get it who ever gets there the fastest wins a prize, but you can have 10 at a time.
10. ON A HORSE: Relays! have someone lead the horse and a mounting block with kids lined up. have two horses and two groups of kids, with a barrel/cone at the end of the arena in the same line as the two horses are standing. the person leading leads the horse around the barrel comes back and the next person gets on by themself and it repeats with a new leader. Carrot Race: Place a carrot at the end of an arena and have one rider at a time run down to the barrel, have the horse's nose/mouth touch the carrot and run back. time the event; fastest time wins! the horse must touch the carrot! Clover Leaf Barrel Pattern: Set up three barrels in a barrel racing formation and have kids complete the pattern and time it! Look on Google for the pattern and such about barrel racing. Very Fun! Egg and Spoon: Have the kids in the arena with spoons and eggs on them and stand in the center. Their hands can't touch the eggs! Have them reverse, stop, trot, walk, etc. and the winner is the person that can hold onto the egg longest! OFF THE HORSE: Egg and Spoon: Kids have to toss the egg with a partner back and forth without breaking it! Hold it on a disposable tarp so you don't have to clean up! everytime the egg is caught, the kids have to step back one step! Water Obstacles: If it's gonna be hot, set up an obstacle course with things like water balloons and targets, slip n' slides, etc. It'll be a hit! You can also set up dog jumps and fill up water boxes kids must jump through!
11. ON HORSE: - A potato race. First, you have a tire filled with sand at one end of the arena. You have a kid on a horse stand at the other end with a potato. Then they can run up to the tire, drop the potato in, and run back. Whoever has the lowest time wins. Its a blast and I loved playing it! - A pantyhose race. Two people on horses hold a pantyhose between them and run around a cone at the end of the arena. Then they have to run back and have the lowest time. - The dizzy cowboy race. A kid on a horse runs to the end of the arena and dismounts. Then, they pick up a bat, and put one end on there head, with the other one on the ground. they have to spin around three times and get back on. then they have to race back. The fastest wins! This one is my favorite and its a ton of fun! LEADING A HORSE- - The panty race. put a pile of NEW large pantys at the end of the arena, and have the kids run down to the end with there horse and put on a pair, run back, and cross the finish line first. They will find this one hysterical! OFF A HORSE- - Have the kids pretend to be horses! Set up some obsticles such as barrels, poles, flag races, small jumps, and other things you would do with a horse to compete. Have the kids get down on all fours and go through the course. whoever is the quickest at the courses wins! -Have them draw on a plain white shirt with perminant markers, and then have them tie dye them a color of there choice. This way, they will have there own suveneers that they made! - Egg and spoon races. Have the kids act like horses and get down on all fours. give them each a spoon and an egg. the spoon will go into the kid's mouth. they have to go the whole way without dropping the egg! This was really fun two! - Horse trivia. - Fact of the day! Have kids sit in a group and think of a fact about horses, animals, anything really. Then have them share it with every one. Everyone learns something new!
12. There is a game I used to play in when I was a beginner called 'Touch It'. All the student start in the middle and the instructor calls out an object in the arena- If there are more than two people, there should be more than one, such as a white jump standard. Then the students walk or trot to the object(s) and touch it, the yell, "Touched it!" The last person to touch it is eliminated, but you can play without elimination. If there is a small kid on a biggish horse, go easy on them and just see that they give an effort. This game helps build confidence on horseback.
13. How about a spoon and egg race or a costume race! Have fun!
14. For crafts, you could let them decorate horse shows. Or make signs for the horses stalls with their names on it. Also if they jump, you could teach them how to set up a a course and have them jump it. lol
15. Sit a Buck is one of my favorites- and it can be done at the walk and trot while the kids have their lessons. To do this tuck a piece of folded paper under each rider's knee, and have the kids ride at different speeds and and do different things. As each rider drops his or her paper, they are eliminated and must come to the center of the arena until there is only one left . For beginners who need to get comfortable on their horse, try the horseback version of Simon says, or Red light Green light. When I was a riding instructor at the camp in Michigan, another game we played with the kids was pick and place. This involves using 3 small hand size bean bags, which are placed on top of the fence posts at various places in the arena. Riders stop and pick up the bag as they ride past, and they have to carry it for at least 2 fence posts before they set it down again. The rider behind them then picks it up and carries forward, and sets it down again 2 or more fence posts later. This game is wonderful for teaching stopping, starting, and walk/trot skills. As kids get better at it, passing skills can be introduced, and the kids can work at faster speeds. The rider who is able to pick up, move, and put down the most number of beanbags in the shortest period of time is the winner. If a rider drops a bag, they get eliminated and have to come to the center of the ring. A good ground ( and rainy day) game is " Who am I?" To play this game, a group of kids sit in a circle . One of them starts the game by thinking of something horse related, and she/he describes that item as completely as possible to the others, ending her desciption with the words "Who am I?" ( the kids can also use "What" in place of "Who" in this game.) One of the others in the circle ( NOT the asker) answers the question, and then asks the next question. This is a wonderful game for teaching basic facts and trivia about horses, because the list of horse related topics is endless. You can cover breeds, horse colors, horse health and first aid, feeds and feeding, horse reproduction, horse talk, parts of all the tack used in both English and Western riding, safety rules in the barn, and hundreds of other subjects. The game continues with asking and answering questions, and it is a great way to increase the kids' knowledge of horses. It is also a great way to pass the time. The other ground game that I and my instructor partners always loved to play was Equine Jeopardy!! This game is played the same way as the one that is shown on TV, except that all the subjects have to do with horses. Kids LOVE Jeopardy! and some of them are real experts at it. I have actually learned more things from them at times than I could have on my own. You can also do things like have a drawing contest, or have a "good hands' game. For that, you need to have the kids pair off into partners. One kid in each partnership gets a horse bridle, which they must hold in their hands while sitting facing away from their partner. The kid who doesn't have the bridle, but can hold the reins, is the"rider" and his/her partner is the "horse". The instructor gives a series of instructions to the "riders", while the " horses' act out the part of a horse who is being ridden, right down to the whinnies and the snorts. If the "riders "pull too hard on the reins, the "horses" can protest this by moving around, making noise, etc. After about 15 minutes, the pairs switch places. At the end of the game, the instructor asks each person in each pair what he or she learned about the importance of "good hands". This is another wonderful way to teach a very basic- but very important- concept to kids in a way that they can really understand and relate to. Once they feel the pressure of the bit on their own hands, they can understand what their horse feels when the reins are pulled on- and it tends to make kids a LOT more aware of what they are doing when they ride. I have actually seen kids who were very heavy handed become far less so after a few rounds of a "good hands" game. The kids start to realize that the bridle is a tool, not a toy, and it shouldn't be misused because it can really hurt the horse. And since most kids who come to ride at camp are usually horse crazy, the last thing they want to do is hurt an animal that they love. These are just a few ideas for you. I know of many, many more, but these are some of my favorites. Good luck, and I hope you have a great summer !!!
16. I used to run a riding program in Malibu at a Summer camp, something fun that the kids really liked was horse painting. Get just regular old water based paint and let them go to, then when its all done the kids help shampoo the horses!