Ideas for Garden Games for the Family

The kids are stuck inside all day on video games, both parents are off work, the sun is shining and you want to bring the whole family together? No worries, there are plenty of fun, free garden games that will bring everybody outside to enjoy each others company. No matter what size your back garden is there are games you can enjoy as a whole family whether they involves lots of movement or are more focused on bonding.

Some fun garden games

• There are many classic garden games and games for outside that you can play, depending on the size of the garden and the willingness of the adults to get a little silly and playful. Basketball, football and tossing around a ball are fun. This can be changed slightly to play "Donkey", which involves standing around in a circle and tossing a ball amongst each other. Every time somebody drops the ball they add a letter. So it begins with a D and ends when the first person drops it enough times to become the Donkey. They are then the Donkey until the next person loses the game.
• Tip the can is another fun game if there is space. One person is nominated to close their eyes while everybody finds a hiding spot. Then a designated area is chosen as the 'can'. This is usually a can that is left somewhere in full view but can be anything from a pole to a spot on a wall. The person who is in charge of finding everybody must run there and shout out loud where they see somebody while keeping their hand on the 'can'. The people hiding can also run up to the 'can' and shout out that they are out which means they will not be looking for people in the next game. The last person to be caught, or if everybody hiding reaches the can, the person who was looking is looking again in the next game.

More fun garden games

• There are many more outdoor games that can be refreshing to play as a family. Get some old potato sacks if you have them and play a sack race. Every body has to get in a sack and jump down a race track set before it begins. This should bring out the competitive side in everybody and bring the family closer together.
• If you have a family reunion of some sort then a really fun game is to lay out old and new pictures of members of the family and get the children to match the faces together. This is particularly fun if some of the grandparents, parents of uncles and aunts have black and white photographs. You can use baby photographs for the children.