Halloween Games with Plastic Cups
It’s Spooky Season, one of my favorite times of the year. In the spirit of the season, I have 5 inexpensive games for us to play that are tons of fun. Are you ready?
Get Ready
Grab 8-10 plastic cups that are orange, white or clear. Using a black marker, draw faces on the cups. If you are using orange cups draw a jack-o-lantern face on each of the cups. If you are using white or clear cups draw a ghost face on each of the cups. The cups will look something like this…
Now that you have your cups, here are 5 fun games to try.
Bowling: Arrange the cups on the ground like bowling pins. Then using a small ball like a tennis ball, roll it toward the cups to knock them down. When rolling a ball, sometimes kids need a few cues to get the motion right. I like to say, “Step, Bend, and Roll.” Bowling is a fun way to improve strength, balance, coordination, and graded control.
Air Hockey: This game can be played in 3 different positions laying on your stomach, tall kneeling at a low table, or standing at a higher table or countertop. To play, have your child move to one side of the table and hold one of the plastic cups upside down. Using a ping pong ball, cotton ball, or marble, roll the ball across the table and have your child trap it with the cup. To keep the game going, pass the ball back and forth across the table. Air Hockey is a fun way to work on eye hand coordination and reaction time.
Shuttle Run
Place 8-10 cups face down on the ground in a straight line. Have your child stand at the first cone. Start a timer and ask your child to run grabbing one cup at time and bringing it back to the start. You can collect the cups in a bucket or stack them on the floor or a table. Repeat the game multiple times to see if you can get faster and faster. Shuttle Run is a fun way to improve cardiovascular endurance, balance, and coordination. whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Jumping Hurdles
Practice jumping skills by creating small hurdles with the spooky cups. Depending on your player’s skill level you can create hurdles in a single layer of cups, double layer , or triple layer. Make sure your child jumps high enough to not knock down the cups. Jumping Hurdles is a fun way to improve strength, gross motor skills, and coordination.
Cup Hats
Place a cup upside down on your child’s head like a hat. Then ask your child to walk across the room or along a taped line without letting the cup fall off. Cup Hats is a fun way to work on balance, motor control, and graded control.
If you are on the hunt for some more Spooky Season Fun, check out these videos on my YouTube Channel.
I hope you have a fun Spooky Season!
Dr. Heather, DPT
