Outdoor Party Games for the Entire Family

Is there anything greater than the time when all your family members play games together then savor the steaming hot dishes in a cozy, full-of-laughter atmosphere, ignoring the cold weather outside? If you have a chiminea in your garden or backyard, these scenarios will certainly be more fulfilling and exciting.

Here is the list of outdoor games that definitely make a wonderful party for your entire family.

Make a Family Album

The first thing to do is setting up a place where everyone gathers in between meals and activities to prepare. I suggest you choose a pop-up shelter or an additional family-size, screened-in tent because they are ideal places for setting up. In advance, you should ask party-doers to bring some copies of their family photos which you can compile into a bigger family album. To make the album a special work of art, you should encourage people to decorate the pages of their own on the weekend.

Here are necessary tools and items you should prepare before starting your work:

• Stamps
• Construction paper
• Stickers
• Scissors (scissors safe for children are recommended)
• Glitter (though it seems a mess for you)
• Glue
• Markers, crayons, colored pens or pencils
• One blank scrapbook

Water Balloon Toss

Under scorching hot sunlight, you should never skip this cool game – it is a wonderful must for a family reunion party. First, you get everyone to pick their partner then let them stand facing one another. Get started by standing with two feet apart. After a toss, make one stride in reverse. The group who hurls the water balloon the most distant without giving it a chance to pop will win.

Here, I will give you a quick tip. It is always enjoyable to give prizes for the champs—even something little and silly will be a fun-arouser.

Treasure Hunt

Another awesome game I suggest you play at a family party is treasure hunt. Make an open-air hunting-for-treasure by leaving hints around the backyard. You can divide party guests into different teams in which they will cooperate to discover the hints. Obviously, the first team to find the treasure wins. Check out these 30 clues to reach the treasure destination.

Miniature Golf

Creating a golf course in your backyard, why not? Using some colorful plastic cups and golf tees, you can have a miniature course for your little guests to play with so much fun. Children can use a pool noodle to hit their balls into these cups, using as few strokes as possible. The one having the lowest score will be the winner.

Horseshoes

Yeehaw! This is a real fun-maker and can get all the attraction from your cowgirls and cowboys. These days, horseshoe sets made of rubber are available in many stores. They are far more friendly to children than the tradition horseshoes made of metal.

According to the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association, the appropriate distance between two stakes are 40 feet. However, I think it is fine to lower this distance for your little youngsters.

Grills & Outdoor Cooking

When you bring the cooking outside, it is no longer a chore but becomes an enjoyable experience itself instead. Outside, your kids can play around and run wild, and it is okay. In the fresh air, cooking and having meals become more relaxed and calm.

More interestingly, the food on your plates, despite looking simple, usually tastes a lot better. Especially when you have your food grilled, its flavor also becomes more appealing. There is nothing greater than cooking with a Chiminea, enjoying the nature and strengthening the family bond.

Limbo

You can race fast and slow, but have you ever wondered how low you could go? If you compete with the kids in this classic game, there’s more likely that they will beat you and other grown-ups. All the needed equipment for this “athletic game” is a long broom or pole.

You can also order online a bamboo pole. To add more thrill to this game, you can play some Hawaiian music pieces or other festive tunes. Limbo is an excellent group game to play when you have a party near a pool or the beach.

Football Practice

This is a perfect choice for budding athletes. Or you can let kids play this as an exciting challenge to see who scores the most points.

DIY Mud Run

Let your little guests try this mini obstacle course! I’m sure you will be a jealous onlooker who wishes to be a 3-feet-tall kid again.

Relay Races

If you once did a relay race when you were a little boy or girl, I’m sure you can never forget the thrill of those sack races where you carried a fragile egg on a spoon and took nervous steps across the yard. To add an exciting twist, you even had to do hula-hooping along the race!

Now, you can also give the kids a chance to play a Rainbow Relay Race. Divide the group of kids into teams. Then for each of the kids, give them a paintbrush that you have dipped one of the seven colors of the rainbow. In turn, the kids have to run to the blank poster boards and swipe their color in an arc. The team that paints a rainbow in thecorrect order of colors and with the shortest time length will be the winner.

“Caterpillar” Hunt

This game is another awesome source of fun for your toddling guests at the party. To prepare for this, you need several 1-or-2-inch pieces of wool in different colors. Then you hang or put them on small trees in your garden and around the backyard. Don’t forget to have a count of the hidden “caterpillars.”

Who can find the most will receive the prize. In this game, you can let the kids play individually or in teams.

 Scavenger Hunt

A great game to break the ice, just the way a treasure hunt is. If the kids are too young and cannot read, you can get them to find the items in funny drawings.

Often, I used to hide all the booty bag goodies then turn them into challenging items for a scavenger hunt. When kids start their hunt, their bags are empty and valueless. After an exciting and adventurous hunt, what they get are bags packed with treats and trophies.

Donut Eating Contest

Don’t mistake this game with your traditional donut-eating competition. This version is friendly for kids and requires you to hang donuts from a clothesline string. Players have to try their best to eat as many swinging donuts as possible. Remember, they are not allowed to use their hands. Our friends from social media even report that this thrilling game has been a huge craze among the adults too!

All the group games in the list I suggest above are fantastic ice-breakers. You won’t have to spend much time setting up these games, and you can even bring some of them indoors when it rains. I’m sure they will bring a whole world of difference to your BBQ.