Fun Golf Games for Kids

Putting games can be set up on the carpet or most kinds of inside floors. You can use plastic putting holes available from golf stores or improvise to make your own "holes." Place cups on their side or draw circles on paper or card stock and place them on the floor. Depending on space, you can set up 9 or 18 holes, or just change the "tee" position and putt to the same hole. Once your indoor putting course is set up, the kids can play all kinds of different games: you could assign a par for each hole, have a closest to the hole challenge between two children, or assign points for each hole-in-one or two. An alternative is to putt one colored or marked ball and aim to hit that ball or surround it with the subsequent putts.

There are many games for kids to play on the putting green that will help them practice both their putting and their math skills. Allow each child three balls and three tries at each hole. You can assign a point value, such as 10 points for getting the first ball in the hole in one, 8 points for getting the second ball in the hole in one, 6 points for the third, and lower points values for getting them in with more putts. For a different game to help children learn both feel and how to read the greens, either blindfold one kid or instruct him that he cannot look up and watch the shot. Another child can direct the blindfolded (or not-looking) child's putt by telling him to aim a little right or left and how hard he should hit the ball. The other child could even position the putting child to help him learn about stance and aim. The putter can guess how close his ball is before looking, and may only look at the shot after the ball has stopped moving.

Although you can purchase chipping nets to use for practice in the yard, children will have more fun if you set up an outdoor "obstacle course" using household objects. You can use cardboard boxes, plastic plant pots, buckets and trash cans of various sizes and arrange them around the yard at different distances and heights from the "tee" spot. If you have a playset in the yard, you can incorporate it, for example, by placing a bucket at the bottom of a slide to catch balls aimed for the slide. Assign a points value for each target, or just let the kids invent their own system.

The driving range is the perfect place for children to safely practice golf shots, and if you make a game of it, it becomes much more fun. There are an almost infinite number of games and competitions you can play with kids. They can use one particular club and aim for a series of different flags or other targets to practice distance control, or aim for the same target with a series of different clubs and learn about each club's length. Kids can compete with each other or with a parent to get the ball closest to an assigned pin.

Even if your child is not yet ready to play a full hole on the golf course, you can allow her to play some games during your round that are fun without holding up the group behind you. Once you are within the child's reach of the green, allow her to hit a shot from each of yours, or if she is good enough, you can make her a tee box closer to the green and assign an achievable par value for the hole. Children who are just beginners can join you on the green and chip or putt to the hole. This is a good opportunity to teach kids about good behavior and golf etiquette around the green. You could assign them to "flag duty" or ask them to help you read the green and decide where you should aim you putts.