Spring is nearly here! The air is getting warmer, the days are getting longer, and the backyard is beginning to flourish again. It’s time to head outside and enjoy your backyard and there’s no better way to do this than with a fun lawn game. We’ve put together a list of new and classic backyard games all family members can enjoy playing, even grandparents. These games can be played in your backyard or a park and are a great way to have fun while being outside and moving around in nature. The best part, no equipment is required!
10 backyard games for adults and kids
Stuck in the Mud
One player is selected to be ‘in’ and must run around and tag as many other players as they can. When a player is tagged, they become ‘stuck in the mud’. They cannot move from where they were tagged and must stand with their legs apart. The untagged players can free a tagged player by crawling through their legs. A player cannot be tagged while crawling through a tagged player’s legs. The game ends when all players have been tagged and ‘stuck in the mud’.
Scavenger Hunt
One person creates a list of items to find or tasks to complete. This game can be played in teams or individually. A time limit is set, and each team or player is required to find as many of the items or complete as many tasks as they can in the allotted time. Once the timer ends, the team or player with the most items or tasks ticked off wins.
Red Rover
To play this backyard game, two teams line up facing each other and hold hands to form a chain. Flip a coin to decide which team is the first to play. The winning team decides a player they want to call over from the other team and shouts “red rover, red rover, send (name) on over”. The chosen player then runs towards the other team and tries to break through the chain. If they don’t break through, they have to join the other team but if they do break through the team get to choose one of the two players their teammate broke through to bring back to their team.
Duck Duck Goose
All players except for one sit in a circle. The standing player stands on the outside of the circle and taps each seated player on the head while saying “duck” after each head tap. When the standing player says “goose” after they’ve tapped a seated player on the head, that person has to get up and run around the circle to catch the player. The game ends when the player has been caught.
Cat and Mouse
In this game, one person is selected to be the cat and another person is selected to be the mouse. The rest of the group join hands and stand in a circle. The mouse starts on the inside of the circle and the cat starts on the outside of the circle. The aim of this game is for the cat to catch the mouse. Once the game starts the cat chases the mouse to try to catch it. The people that form the circle can choose to let the cat and mouse through by lifting their arms when the cat or mouse approach them. The game ends once the cat has caught the mouse.
Blob Tag
This game is a variation on the game tag. One person begins as the “blob”. The other players scatter themselves around the play area. The player who is selected as the blob attempts to tag the other players. Once a player has been tagged by the blob, they must hold hands with the blob and attempt to tag more players. The person at each end of the As each player is tagged, they join the blob until the last player is tagged.
Hide and Seek
One player counts to a specified number. While counting the other players hide. Once the main player has finished counting, they being to find the hidden players. Once a player is found, they must go to the designated waiting area until all players have been found. The last player to be found is the next one to count and find the players.
Sardines
This backyard game is a variation on the game hide-and-seek. Only one player hinds and everyone else tries to find them. Once someone finds the player that is hiding, they join that person in the hiding spot. The last person to find everyone is the next person to hide.
Relay Race
There are many variations of relay races which makes them such a fun lawn game. One of the most popular is a three-legged race. All players must be grouped into teams of two. Each pair stand side-by-side and tie their inside legs together with a fabric sash. All teams participated in a race with their legs tied together. Other variations of this game include egg and spoon, wheelbarrow and crab walking relay races.
Limbo
To play this backyard game, two people hold either end of a long pole. Starting from a high position, each player takes it in turn to go under the pole without touching it by bending their knees and leaning back as far as necessary. Players must not touch the floor with their hands at any point while they’re moving under the pole. If a player touches the pole with any part of their body while moving under it, they’re out of the game. After each player had gone under the pole is lowered and all players must try moving under the pole again. This process is repeated until there is one player left. The last remaining player is the winner.
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