Outdoor Fun and Games!
Being outside has been our choice du jour with pets and family of late and we thought it was high time to make a list of outdoor games we can play to maximize our enjoyment. Try out some of these games and activities with that select group of people in your health bubble and maximize your outdoor fun!
First stop, CNET, where you’ll find six featured games to play, plus outdoor toys, tabletop games, fantasy board games — and for winter – video games for your Nintendo Switch and PS4.
Hybrid Games You’ll Love to Play
Kubb (pronounced “koob”) Viking Clash is a lawn “game of throws” for all ages. The object of the game involves tossing a wooden dowel at wood blocks in an attempt to knock them over. It’s a horseshoe-meets-chess-match concept and incredibly fun for two-on-two play – although any sized teams can play. This game works on windy days and GoSports offers both regulation and backyard versions. You’ll need some room to space out the blocks, so think ahead to arrange your blocks.
Speaking of horseshoes – you can still get a set on Amazon, along with lots of similar ring toss games for kids – whether onto a hookey board, stakes or cones.
Another best-of game option that combines frisbee golf and cornhole is the Kan Jam (where do they get these names?!). The “Kan” is a hard-plastic bucket-looking container with a slot in the front. The goal is to fling a frisbee-looking disc through that slot, or into the top. This is likely more fun for families with older kids, because it takes a little coordination to throw the disc with any accuracy.
This next hybrid takes advantage of the popularity of cornhole and adds a rubber ball to spice up the action. People love trying to toss something into a hole, and RampShot widened the opening of a typical cornhole board, and replaced the bean bag with a bouncing ball. You’ll need four people to play RampShot, one making the tosses, while three stand by, waiting for their turn. But it’s a short wait – the rounds go quickly.
And finally, there’s volleyball meets four-square. Remember four-square? It was played with a cantaloupe-sized rubber ball, bounced between four squares drawn on the ground. The object was not to hit a line and to only let the ball bounce once. The four players in what is essentially four-sided volleyball, keep the ball in the air, volleying back and forth between quadrants. It takes some time to set up and tear down so this might best be left as a backyard fixture between now and October.
Let’s Get Creative
You can make your own Pipe Ball yard game with these instructions from the DIY Network, or buy the best-seller on Etsy. With two colors of PVC pipe, this game has graduated levels of difficulty with different heights of piping. You can order the colors you’d like, and then all you’ll need is a container of tennis balls (included in your Etsy order).
If you’re all about the DIY, check out Country Living’s collection of 30 or more games you can make and set up in the backyard, from mini-golf and tabletop checkers to lawn tic-tac-toe and bowling. You can even find tutorials for making your own kubb game and lawn twister.
You’ll need some room to set up this 80-foot zipline in your backyard, but you can see from this video that the littles love it – and they’re only about a foot off the ground and moving about as fast as they can run at half speed. Available at Hearthsong for $134, even the adults will be lining up for a turn!
All Kinds of Fun in Colliers Hill
While the amenities, like the pool, parks and sports fields offer things to do in the master-planned community of Colliers Hill this summer – so do the backyards of these brand new homes from Richmond American Homes and Century Communities – and coming this fall – K B Home with paired offerings. It’s a great time to buy with rates so low – and lots of possibilities from the high $300s.
