At last! It’s finally spring in the Pacific Northwest! A time to put away the umbrellas and bring out the barbeque. With spring leading into summer, it’s time to think about how you will entertain your company while enjoying the outdoors. Here are 6 popular backyard games to try this year.
Cornhole
A classic outdoor game, cornhole has its players throwing beanbags into a hole located near the top of an elevated wood platform. If a person makes the beanbag into the hole they gain 3 points. If the beanbag lands on the board, the person gains 1 point. First person to 21 points wins.
Glow in the dark ring toss
This game is fun to play when the sun goes down. The rules of this game are simple. You have one vertical piece of wood standing up away from the tosser, and the tosser tries to throw the ring so the ring goes around the piece of wood. The first tosser to 21 wins the game. Because glow in the dark sticks loose power, it’s best to replace the rings after each use.
Giant Jenga
The rules to Giant Jenga are identical to the rules of the regular size Jenga game. You lay three blocks on the ground to create a square shape, then the next row will be the same square shape so the row is rotated 90 degrees. Continue setting up the pattern until you run out of blocks. To play, each player attempts to take a block out of the tower without collapsing the entire tower.
Ladder Golf
Place your ladders 15 feet apart and start tossing your bolas (the two balls connected by a piece of string). Each player tosses all three of their bolas before the next player begins. The top rung is worth 3 points, the middle rung is worth 2 points, and the bottom rung is worth 1 point. The first player to 21 wins.
Badminton
This game is a cross between tennis and volleyball. You can play either 1 on 1 or with teams. One player serves the birdie by throwing the birdie up in the air and hitting it with a racket over the net. The goal is to keep the birdie in the air and off the ground. If the birdie hits the ground, the team that did not hit it to the ground gains a point. The first team to 21 points wins.
Set up your own relay
And of course you can create your own relay as well! Separate your group into teams and create different obstacles for each team to complete. Here is a common relay:
-Separate into teams with equal number of members.
-The first person has to crab walk to the end line (you determine the end), spin around 5 times and crab walk back.
-Once the first person has returned, the second and third person have to three leg race down to the end line, turn around, and 3 leg race back.
-Once the second and third people have returned, the fourth person sprints to the end line turns around and comes back.
-The team that finishes first wins.
The great part about playing backyard games is that they get you outside socializing with your friends and family. Each of these games are relatively inexpensive to purchase and relatively simple to make yourself. So whether you purchase or make, soak up the sun while it’s here, and you’ll make some lasting memories playing these backyard games.