Quicksand Search

Here's another Summer Fun game that I wanted to pass along. This one is especially appropriate for birthday parties. And honestly, out of all the games the girls played this week, this one was the most successful. Even the hard-to-please older kids liked it best. One word of warning: don't play this game with kids who are under 5, since they may put the marbles in their mouth.

You will need:
two containers of sand
two buckets or other empty containers
200 or so "gems" (flattened glass marbles or other pretty things)
a stopwatch or clock with a second hand


To prepare, the adult hides half the gems in each container of dry or wet sand. Wet sand is messier, naturally.

To play, divide the children playing into two teams. Each team will stand in front of one container of sand, with an empty bucket at their feet. Stand them in a straight line and place them some distance away from the containers of sand. Younger kids can be closer to their sand. When you say Go, the first child in line runs to the bin and the stopwatch begins. They get 15 seconds to find as many gems as they can. When time is up, they run back to the line, drop the gems in the bucket, and tap the next person.

We had only three children in each line so they played three rounds before we stopped the game and counted the gems. Whichever team gets the most gems wins! I'm sure you can come up with a cooperative way to play this game, with just one bin (maybe make it a big kiddie pool filled with sand and gems) and the teams racing to find every gem in the bin. Then they could hide the gems again, repeat the game, and see if they can find them all again in less time than before. Trust me, they will want to play again.

This makes a nice birthday party game because the gems can then be carefully washed (the kids will want to do this too) and given out in little baggies as party favors. Or, you could wash the gems and then use them in a craft project, such as making stepping stones for each child to take home.

You could also use handfuls of smooth river stones, or other pretty things. Or you can use fewer gems but have them be of a nicer quality.