What is a hula hoop other than a large circular plastic toy? Plenty more than meets the eye with this most versatile object that can be used to play games beyond mere ‘hula hooping’. There is lots of fun to be had with hula hoops, whether it’s you and your child playing alone or a bunch of excited kids scrambling for those hoops.
Here are the Top 12 Hula Hoop Games for Kids
Have a great time with these amazing hula hoop games!
1.. Block the Ball
Games for kids with balls are great; with balls and hula hoops, even better!
How to Play: Stand in a hula hoop, and have your child stand in another. Take a soft ball and try and throw it in the hula hoop zone of your toddler. Your child has to try and stop the throw with their hands. It’s like a game of football, where the goal is the hula hoop itself.
Tip: Slightly older children must try and block the ball without using their hands. And you can add more hoops for more children.
2. Finding the Number
Hula hoop games can be used to learn numbers in a fun way.
How to Play: Scatter ten hula hoops around a room, and inside each one, place a sheet of paper with a number from one to 10 in it (there should be ten different numbers in each of the hoops). Then, call out a number from the designated range and have your child stand in the hoop with the number to get it right.
Tip: Up to 5 kids can stand in one hoop, so the more kids, the merrier!
3.Beach Obstacle Course
Hula Hoop challenges are activities for kids will certainly be up to, especially if they’re on the beach!
How to Play: Take some hula hoops to the beach (or even a playground, for that matter – somewhere there’s plenty of sand). You need to bury the bottom third of some hula hoops in the sand, and Voila! Your obstacle course is ready. Watch your kids enjoy as they navigate by tunneling through, hopping over, or even running circles around those hoops.
Tip: No sand? No problem. Lay those hoops on the ground and have your kids hop on one foot, in and out of them.
4. Hula Hoop Hopscotch
Hula Hoop Hopscotch
How to Play: Remember the hopscotch game you played as a child? Well, what do you get if you add an ‘o’ to that ‘hop’? Hoop, of course! Instead of drawing a hopscotch court, you have to lay out those hula hoops and have your kids hop into them instead.
Tip: You can vary this game to make it simpler for preschoolers. Once they get the hang of it, they will hop till they drop!
5. Ring Around the Bottle
Playing with hula hoops is even more fun when you have to test your skills. Another twist to a classical game (in this case, the ever-popular ring toss game).
How to Play: Take a few plastic bottles filled with water and set them on the grass, a few feet apart from each other. Your child has to toss the hula hoop so that it lands over those bottles.
Tip: As your toddler gets more adept at playing this game, you can gradually increase the distance between the hoop and the bottles.
6. The Traditional Hula Hoop Game
When flirting with traditional games, we don’t want to miss out on the traditional game of Hula Hoop itself! Hula hoop games like this need more than one child to keep it fair. No prizes for adults here.
How to Play: Have the kids swing hoops around their waists and see how long they can get those hoops to stay up without falling.
Tip: This is not so easy for younger kids. Even though you’re not playing, you can at least assume the role of Hula Hoop Guru and teach them the basics of hula hooping!
7. Musical Hoops
This one’s a great spin on the traditional game of Musical Chairs. Games for kids against a background of beats are always fun.
How to Play: Scatter hoops around a room and play music. The children must find open hoops to stand in when the music stops. The kid who doesn’t find a hoop is out of the game. Remove a hoop for each round.
Tip:Start by not removing hoops for younger kids. Let them find a hoop every round.
8. Catch that Hoop
Hula hoops can be wonderfully used for this amazing roll-and-catch game.
How to Play:
- Show your toddler how to roll that hula hoop on the ground.
- When they can do it easily, have them roll those hoops and catch them when they fall.
- See how often they can ‘roll and catch’ those hoops before falling.
Tip:You can use even small hula hoops for this one
9. Hula Hoop Basketball
Start kids young in basketball practice, and you might have the next Michael Jordan in the making!
How to Play: Fix a hula hoop to a pole with cables. Then, give your toddler a basketball and let them ‘shoot the hoop’. A traditional hoop is so much smaller that they will surely get more dunks with this one.
Tip:Even placing a hoop between some chairs will work well for younger kids.
10. Doing the Animal Walk
Hula Hoop Games are great fun when they have children mimicking animals.
How to Play:Set hoops a few feet apart and have your kid’s animal walk from one to the next.
Tip:You could have your kids engage in several types of animal walks. They can do the bear crawl, duck walk, or even frog jump from one hoop to another.
11. Ball Play
Another hula hoop game you can combine with ball play.
How to Play:Hold the hula hoop and have your child bounce a ball, so it jumps into the hoop.
Tip:As your child starts mastering this game, you can move away further or even stand diagonally across from them.
12. Crossing the River
Hula hoop challenges like this one can be created out of pure imagination!
How to Play:Place some hula hoops wide enough so children can jump from one to the next. Play a game of Pretend, where the hoops are rocks on a river that the children have to jump onto to make that river crossing. If they land outside the hoop, it’s game over.
Tip:Time your children to see how fast they can cross the river. The next time they play, give them a pat on the back if they are better that time.
With the good amount of technology, a hula hoop will be nowhere as engaging as other things kids can access. You’re mistaken. As you have seen, that single hoop can go a long way in keeping your children entertained and getting in some invaluable exercise, too.
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