10 Great Outdoor Games
Outdoor games are a staple of family events and children's parties, yet there are so many out there that can be used for all kinds of outdoor events. If you've hired a marquee and want to have a great, low-cost source of entertainment for your party guests, here's a list of our favourites - because when else do you have the excuse to break out the giant jenga?
Let's Start With the Classics
Tug of War
Ring Toss
Boules
Boules has an extensive and global history behind it, backing up its relevancy in today's plethora of outdoor games. The name itself isn't given to the game, but to an entire category of ball-rolling-and-throwing games. In England we have Bowls, which is typically played on grass with weighted balls that cause their paths to curve, and the balls are rolled towards a jack. In France there is Petanque, where players must all stand firmly in a circle and throw balls towards the jack, instead of grass it is typically played on hard dirt or gravel. In Italy they have the Bocce variant, which is similar to Bowls but uses non-weighted wooden balls, and is played on soil or asphalt instead of grass. So, depending on where you're hosting your outdoor parties or gatherings, there are a whole list of variants and styles of Boules that you can play - and if you look up the history of each one beforehand, you can sound smart while you're doing it!
Croquet/Mini Golf
Croquet may not sound as fun and exciting as Mini Golf, but on paper they're very similar - hit a ball with a club into a hoop or a hole. In fact, in some regards Croquet is more exciting. You're using mallets instead of clubs, and you're hitting large wooden balls instead of small plastic ones. The sound alone of the mallet hitting the ball is usually enough to get the kids up and wanting to play. That said, mini golf kits often come with all kinds of fun holes to putt into with ramps and swirls, so the variation keeps things fresh. Whichever you decide to play, a lot of the fun comes with creating your own course, so try and make it part of the game and get everyone involved.
Bringing the Indoors Out
There are many instances of fantastic indoor games being scaled up and taken outside. In some of those cases, the outdoor versions are arguably even better than the originals and have become outdoor party staples to this day.
Giant Jenga
Jenga is an exciting game of balance that only improves when scaled up. Giant Jenga can come in all shapes and sizes depending on the age of the players, and it's also fully customizable to your wants and wishes. It's cheap, easy to set up, and everyone already knows the rules - so set up your stack and figure out a fun punishment for the one who knocks it down.
Frisbee Noughts and Crosses
A two-minute game of wits becomes a chaotic game of skill. You might know the key to always winning at noughts and crosses, but when you have to throw a frisbee into the exact square that you need, do you have what it takes? All you need is a grid which can be set up with tape, a sheet of paper, painted grass, hoops etc. and some frisbees marked with Xs and Os - it's easy, cheap, and one of the fastest games to set up and start again on this list.
Outdoor Twister
While other games have outdoor variants that change up the rules or play slightly differently to the original, outdoor Twister is simply just Twister but outdoors. With much more space to play with, you can set up huge grids with temporary spray paint or just put down a lot of Twister mats. Grass can also be a lot more comfortable to land on than a wooden floor!
Shake Things Up
We've had outdoor classics and variants on indoor classics, but add some variety to your party by introducing people to these more modern and niche games that are still incredibly easy to understand and learn.
Balloon Down
This game is similar to the school fete classic - the Coconut Shy. You tie a number of helium filled balloons to some weights (bottles of water should be enough), and write point values on them. You then place the balloons in various positions and distances, with the larger points being further back. Finally, put a marker down to show where people should stand and voila, you're all set up! To play, each person has 5 bean bags (or anything that you can throw that won't pop the balloons) and tries to hit as many balloons that they can - each balloon has its point value already written on it.
Capture the Flag
Most people have likely played Capture the Flag at some point in their lives, but it's often forgotten about or ignored when really it should be celebrated for its basic premise and almost non-existent set up. All you need are 2 teams, 2 flags (or anything that's easily recognizable), and (ideally) a forested area where people and flags can easily hide. Each team hides their flag, and the other team has to steal it and bring it back to their own. Add some water balloons to the mix so that defenders can tag attackers and put them in prison, requiring a member of their team to break them out! Read more here.
Kubb
Now this game is one that likely no one has heard of before, but its origins are ancient and its premise simple. Two people stand opposite each other with a decent amount of space between them, they place their 10 wooden posts in the ground in a straight horizontal line with one large post in the middle between both people (this is the 'king'), and the players take it in turns to throw wooden sticks at their opponents posts. Each time a post is hit it gets removed, and once all 10 posts are removed from one person's side, the opponent must hit the 'king' post. When the king has been hit, the game is over and the winner is crowned. All you need are some cheap bits of wood and you can set yourself up a legendary tournament.
