When discussing the importance of kids playing outdoors, Danette Glassy, MD, and Pooja Tandon, MD, wrote on Health Children that it lowers obesity rates and myopia and improves motor development, among others. If you are a kid reading this, isn’t this what you want – growing healthy? And if you are a parent, isn’t this what you want for your kids? 

If you have a routine of playing with your kids in your yard, you, too, will get healthier, physically fit, and more active. But to get these and other benefits, you can’t just run around your lush lawn aimlessly. It would be best if you had a strategy. That is why I have outlined 42 lawn games for kids and adults.

Best Lawn Games for Kids and Adults

Here is the list you have been waiting for – some of the best lawn games for kids and adults alike. 

NB: These best lawn games for kids and adults are categorized into five different segments, namely:

• Backyard water games (solely for kids)
• Lawn ball games (for kids)
• Outdoor lawn games (for kids playing with ropes)
• Lawn games (for kids’ birthday parties)
• Group fun yard games (kids and adults can play these games)

Now let’s start with the most interesting of all – when everyone is over the moon – during their birthday.

Lawn Games for Kids’ Birthday Parties

1. Freeze Dance

For a good reason, freeze dance tops our best lawn games for kids and adults. The kids stand to dance to a piece of sweet music playing in optimum sound and then freeze the moment the music stops. Incredible.

Perhaps you are wondering, “Isn’t that what everyone does – stopping the moment the music stops?’ Relax, here is the catch… whoever continues to dance when the music stops abruptly is eliminated. 

Now you see the sweetness of the Freeze Dance!

2. Musical Chairs

You need a chair, well-selected songs, and at least three kids for this game. Like freeze dance, the catch is the kid sits the moment the music stops singing. The one left standing will be removed from the game. 

So, you see why the name musical chairs? Hahaha

3. Bubbles

Let’s get away a bit from standing or sitting when the music stops. This time, you will buy bubbles or make your own at home. Then, you let your kids run around the yard while blowing their bubbles. Great.

4. Bozo Buckets

Bozo Buckets is another nice lawn game for kids and adults. It would help if you had balls and buckets. Then, let the kids stand in a line at a distance, each holding their ball. Their work will be throwing the ball into the bucket. 

You can imagine the number of misthrows and subsequent laughter throughout the game. 

5. Duck, Duck, Goose

Trust me, if you are a millennial like me, then you know this game. It is classic. Children sit down in a circle, then one of them walks around, patting the heads of the other participants while repeating the words, duck, duck, duck…then suddenly, the kid chooses who to pat Goose. 

Now here is what makes the Duck, Duck, Goose game interesting:

The Goose-tapped kid stands and runs around the circle (once) in the opposite direction, and the tapper runs around in the other direction. If the Goose-tapped sits first, the tapper will continue to tap Duck, Duck, Goose.

But if the tapper sits first, the tapped will tap the participants Duck, Duck, Duck, Goose. The game goes on and on until all participants take part in the tapping.

6. Ghost in the Graveyard

Scary. Isn’t it? But the kids are going to love it. For this game to work, you need to set a part of your garden as a home base (of course, your garden is your home, but this time, a part of the yard will be ‘home’).

One of the kids will be the ghost, dressed like one, and will try to capture as many kids as possible. Remember the ‘home base’ you set? That will be the place of refuge. Kids will run to the home to take cover, but the ‘Ghost in the Graveyard’ will try to stop that from happening.

Outdoor Lawn Games (For Kids Playing with Ropes)

Let’s turn our attention to seeing your kids play with the ropes.

7. Limbo

In this game, kids try as much as they can to go under a rope, but when they try, those swinging it make sure it is so low, making it difficult for a majority to go under. But some good-timers win.

8. Jump Rope Races

This is another classic kids’ game where participants jump rope. Two kids will hold the rope on this end and the other on the other. They swing it as one or more kids jump on the rope under their feet. 

The one who the rope touches their jumping feet leaves the game and takes the position of swinging the rope for the other participants. 

9. Chinese Jump Rope

This game is complex for kids but not for smart modern kids. In this game, kids jump using a Chinese rope that they must buy in advance.

10. Double Dutch

In this game, two rope twirlers will turn two ropes on opposite sides while a third kid will skip the ropes. The game is fast-paced and needs the jumper to be swift and keen, lest it would be hard to skip the ropes.

11. Water Jumping

Water The nice game here where one of the kids takes the position of spinning the rope while the others skip the rope five times while holding a cup full of water. Guess who the winner will be! The kid with the most water remaining in the cup emerges as the winner.

12. Jump Rope Tag or Cat and Mouse

In the case of Double Dutch, two rope twirlers will spin the rope super-fast, while two other kids who emulate the cat and mouse will skip the rope. As you can guess, the mouse will be the first to skip, followed by the cat.

If the mouse makes a mistake during skipping, the cat tags the mouse. 

13. Helicopter or Snake Bite

It is one of the oldest kid games in the world. One kid spins a rope on the lawn while the other participants jump over the rope when it is near the base of the feet. One is eliminated from the game when the rope hits their foot while trying to skip.

Lawn Ball Games (For Kids)

Most kids love ball games, and for a good reason, there are many types of lawn ball games for kids. Here is a list of fun yard games for kids you can try:

14. Kickball

Kickball is a popular lawn game for kids. You will have two teams, one on either side of the yard, and each team has its kickers who will take the ball. The team with many goals emerges as the winner.

15. Dodgeball

With Dodgeball, you need at least three kids, a venue (of course, it is your yard), and a ball. In this game, the winning team must hit their opponents with the ball as often as possible. 

16. Soccer

Soccer is a renowned game. However young your kids will be, they know the format. You can invite other kids to form a team to compete with one another. The aim is for the players to kick, dribble, steal, and score to win.

17. Jacks

Jacks is a sit-down ball game. Two players take part in the game. Kids can play this game on the sidewalk, porch, or yard if the area is flat. 

18. Piggy in the Middle

Piggy gets to the middle of a circle where colleagues shoot the ball at each other, thus making the kid sweat as they try to get hold of it. When Piggy finally gets hold of the ball, the kid with a weak and untimely kick becomes the new Piggy.

The game continues until all take part in the Piggy position.

19. Pickleball

If your kids have learned a few strategies about the game, they can enjoy this game during the summer. It would help to have a pickleball paddle for your kids to enjoy the game.

20. Flag Football

It would be best if you had a flag and a ball. Kids participating in this game will aim to pass the ball over the opponent without pulling the other one’s flag. 

Backyard Water Games (Solely for Kids)

These games are for kids only.

21. Fun Water Sprinklers

Even if you have a swimming pool, your kids will love to explore life outside the swimming pool from time to time. A water sprinkler such as VISTOP Non-Slip Splash Pad can make your kids happy.

22. Waterslides

The beauty with Sunny & Fun Mega Climb is the sliders have stoppers so your kids won’t break their arms or foreheads when skidding.

When your kids are done having fun, you only need to fold the portable swimming pool and store it until the next suitable time. 

A tunnel twister is also another best piece of equipment you can bring home to maximize your kids’ ecstasy. 

23. Splash in Your Backyard Swimming Pool

Splash in Your Backyard Swimming Pool is a lovely game for kids, leaving them with wet clothes but happy. In this game, you must buy an artificial or portable swimming pool where your kids will wade endlessly as if there is no tomorrow.

Kiddie Pool comes with additives such as fish, coconut palm, inflatable palm, coral, and a dolphin, which bring the ambiance of marine life closer to your kids.

24. Marco Polo

If you already have a swimming pool or have the above-the-ground inflatable option, you can have fun with your kids playing this game. You will shout ‘Marco’ and ‘Polo’ when playing this game. The kids who shout ‘Marco’ should have their eyes closed by IT. 

The rest of the participants should shout ‘Polo,’ and the IT should find them, and at that moment, it tags the person to be the next IT.

Other games in this category include:

25. Sprinkler Tag

26. Water Balloons

27. Bob for Apples

28. Trampoline Sprinkler for Kids

Group Fun Yard Games (Kids and Adults)

In this category of games, kids and adults alike can participate freely and have fun to the fullest.

29. Races

Running across the yard is meant for kids and a good way for adults to lose pounds. You can define a few races for your kids, run as a family, or alternate. Some of the races you can try include three-legged, crab walk, one-legged, backward race, slowest, fastest, and middlest, among others.

30. Kick the Can

In this game, the kid playing IT guards the can while the rest of the participants hide. They then run from their hideouts to try and kick the can. The game gets interesting when the IT apprehends the kid who kicks the can upon leaving the hideout.

The apprehended kid is taken to prison.

31. Frisbee

One person can play Frisbee. However, the game becomes sweeter if several kids take turns throwing the Frisbee. The kid that fails to catch the Frisbee is automatically removed from the game.

You must create a circle in your yard for your kids to enjoy this game.

32. Twister

In the twister game, the kids enjoy spinning the wheel, which indicates that the dot one needs to place their hands or feet on the wheel. You will automatically be removed from the game if you topple or knock on another participant. 

33. The Grass is Lava

It would be best to have blankets, pool floats, towels, and yoga mats on the grass. Then, kids take turns picking various items from the ground without falling onto the grass (lava). 

Other games in this category include:

34. Red Light & Green Light

35. Hide and Go-Seek

36. Digging for Dinosaurs

37. Parachute

38. Hula Hoop

39. Scavenger Hunt

40. Paper Airplanes

41. Simon Says 

42. Tug of War

Conclusion

You do not have to wait until your kids are on holiday or until you build a swimming pool for your kids to enjoy. With a portable swimming pool, sprinklers, a robe, a soccer ball, or even hide and seek, you can enjoy a wholesome family get-together on selected days of the week.

Indeed, some of these things, such as portable inflatable pools, sprinklers, or cardboard, require you to spend money. But what is the harm if spending a few bucks makes your kids go to bed happy? 

Yes, there are many lawn games for kids and adults that you can enjoy and, together, build a happy family.