Play enthusiast and author Bernie DeKoven is on a mission to inspire kids to play creatively. And he's got one heck of a vision for putting the fun back in athletic competition.

Junkyard sports is the name he's given to the wacky games he's dreamed up. Designed to exercise both bodies and imaginations, DeKoven's junkyard terminology refers to traditional sports played with non-traditional materials.

Traditional sports fail a lot of kids, says DeKoven. That's why so many children lead inactive lives. Looking at informal games played in backyards and streets, this author of Junkyard Sports: Make Sports Fun Again says the rules of his games are tailored to fit the players and the play space. In traditional sports, the game determines whether kids are good enough to play. In junkyard sports, kids determine if the game is good enough to play.

Imagine a game of junkyard bowling -- with paper cups for pins and a Rubik's Cube for a a ball. Or junkyard baseball -- with a frying pan as a bat and a pair of rolled-up socks for a ball. There are no try-outs for junkyard athletics, no strict rules or score-keeping, and no formal schedule for play. Anyone can participate, even adults. It's an equal-opportunity sport, in every sense of the word, and I just realized that my kids -- ages six and four -- often engage in junkyard sports. Lately, they've created their own version of bowling, complete with Lincoln Logs for pins and a rubber bouncy ball.

What kind of junkyard sports are your kids playing? What kinds of junkyard sports might you inspire them to play?