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31 Super Fun Outdoor Family Games for 2025

by: Kristy Bowen

Published on Mar 7th 2025

As the weather warms and people spend more time outside, outdoor family games are really fun and popular ways to spend your hours out in the daylight. These games are filled with fun ideas to keep kids or party guests occupied while entertaining. While relaxing and enjoying nature can be fun, so can indulging in a little creativity and competition that outdoor family games provide, whether they're wildly active and physical endurance pursuits or just a fun casual game to play while chilling out with a beer or cocktail.

What are some cool family-friendly games? We’ve rounded up a few favorites, ranging from outdoor activities that can be played on the fly with no preparation or special equipment to games that take a little more planning and gear. All can add hours of fun to your next outdoor celebration, BBQ or picnic. They are also just perfect for a random afternoon outside with your kids. Many work well as ice breaker games or birthday party activities, as well as Christmas games for the holiday that can be adapted to inside if necessary.

Outdoor Family Games With No Equipment

1. Tag

Tag is one of the easiest games to play with no equipment. This one requires only a sense of creative play and a little speed and evasion. It’s also easy to play in short bursts or long afternoons and requires little preparation. Designate one person as “It” and everyone else evades getting tagged, at which point they are designated as “out” or become the pursuer themselves.

2. Red Rover

Divide your group into two teams and link arms. The other team then runs and sends the designated person chosen by the line with “Red Rover, Red Rover, send _____ Right Over!” The chosen person then tries to run through the joined arms and out the other side. The goal is to get all members of each side across the opposing team’s line.

3. Simon Says

One designated person, the “Simon,” gives out instructions that the group must follow to win. If anyone in the group fails to do the actions in the correct order or upon command, they lose points or are out for the game til the next round.

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4. Ghost in the Graveyard

A fun and spooky variation of tag, one person is designated as the ghost. This player must try to tag others as they run and hide in the yard in order to remain untouched by the ghost. The last player standing is the winner of the outdoor family game.

5. Nature Scavenger Hunt

Create a list of natural objects in your yard or surrounding area and have participants collect items (or photos of items like animals or trees). The person who finishes first or with the most items checked off, wins the hunt. This one is fun for both playing and learning about nature at the same time.

6. Animal Races

Have participants choose (or choose for them) various animals to play as for this outdoor family game. They then must race using the movement style of the animals, such as crawling, hopping or slithering across the finish line.

7. Charades

To play this party classic outdoor family game (or indoors — anywhere really), write down a list of people, places or things, for players to communicate to others on their team without speaking. Choose a wide range or make the charades specific to a given topic (like film or sports topics). Each successful solve furthers a team towards the win.

8. I-Spy

A great game to play both out in nature and in a car on a long drive, this fun activity relies on curiosity and observation. Choose subject matter like landmarks, colors, natural features and various objects and have participants look for them, shouting “I Spy!” when found. Keep a tally of who spots first and the most.

Outdoor Family Games for Adults

9. Bottle Cap Plinko

Create a board with some glued wooden dowel segments dividing the paths to various values designated at the bottom. With the removal of every beer or soda cap, have the player drop it in the plexiglass-covered gameboard to earn points with every beverage. Keep score and at the end of the party, designate a winner with the most points.

10. Cornhole

For this barbecue classic party game for adults, all you need is a simple platform with a hole in it. Players stand a designated span away and toss bean bags toward the opening, earning points for every try. You can also make it more of a challenge by increasing the distance between the playing line and the hole.

11. Horseshoes

This old school yard game involves metal horseshoes thrown strategically toward a metal pole inside a square of sand. Certain point values are assigned for ringing the shoe around the pole or getting close within the surrounding sand.

12. Croquet

Another centuries-old classic, this game involves small balls pushed around a course by mallets. You score points by getting your ball through the small arched holes that form the course throughout the yard. You can also play strategically to force other players out of the game by hitting their balls with your own. A croquet set also makes an excellent family gift idea.

13. Yard Yahtzee

Turn large wooden or cardboard blocks into oversized dice by painting dots on all six sides. Use a lucket or a large drum to shade the oversized dice to play and score Yahtzee.

14. Patio Chess

Use patio paving stones as a giant board for human-sized chess. Designate each player as a chess piece, including the king, the queen, the bishop and the knight. Move about on the board according to the rules of the game. You can also make this a fun role-playing game which is especially good for larger groups.

Outdoor Family Games for Large Groups

15. Musical Chairs

This is a great outdoor family game if you have access to a large number of chairs and a large group of people. Line up the chairs in one or two rows and have the group circle while the music is playing. Everyone must sit down when the music stops, but the challenge is increased with every new round when an additional chair is removed.

16. Dodgeball

A schoolyard favorite, this game divides a group into two teams. Each team stands on opposite sides of a central line and is given one or multiple balls. The goal is to hit members of the opposing team as they dodge and dash to avoid being touched by the ball. Those who fail are dismissed from the game until the last team standing wins.

17. Telephone

A fun game that can be played without all the running around is telephone. One person utters a sentence into another's ear. This person then repeats a sentence into another person’s ears. Each person whispers it to another as the original statement and information changes. The fun comes in the various mishearings and evolution of the information as it progresses.

18. B-I-N-G-O

You can buy premade B-I-N-G-O sets or make your own using ping pong balls with numbers written on them and homemade printed cards. Use classic or themed bingo cards and markers or metal chips to cover your cards as the numbers are called out, offering prizes to each round’s winner.

Outdoor Family Games for Kids

19. Ring Toss

All you need for this fun carnival game is several bottles and some plastic rings. Line the bottles up on a low surface or in a box and have players attempt to loop the rings around the bottle heads for points designated on each bottle. The person with the highest point value at the end of the game wins.

20. Piñata

For another party-favorite outdoor family game, fill a fun piñata with treats or small toys. Allow each kid a chance to swing at the pinata with a blindfold in place to add a bit of challenge. The winner breaks the piñata while everyone gets a chance at the resulting avalanche.

21. Supersize Tic-Tac-Toe

Use rope or tape to outline a game board on the sidewalk or grass. Use plates and pieces of cardboard to fashion Xs and Os to play on the large game board until someone is designated the winner by placing three of their signs in a row.

22. Giant Bubbles

Use large-format bubble rings and a bucket filled with soap and water and invite kids to try to make the largest bubble. You can also create challenges based around floating distance, bubble longevity and shape.

23. Balloon Animal Competition

Use a large bag of balloons to create fun creatures. Not only does this activity bring out players’ competitive spirit, but it's also creative and engaging to make creatures, both real and imaginary, with balloons.

24. Balloon Art

For another fun outdoor game involving balloons, attach several balloons filled with inexpensive acrylic paint on an all white board. Have children throw darts at the board that pop the balloons and leave behind swathes of paint to create a design.

25 Obstacle Course

Set up an obstacle course for kids in your yard, using things like rope courses, jumping games, climbing and other activities that get kids moving. You can also involve biking, swimming and other sports if the space can accommodate them. Time each participant or make it a race to the finish line.

26. Bucket Toss

Set up a series of buckets with assigned point values. Have kids throw small balls or water balloons at the buckets, counting points as they manage to sink a shot. Introduce challenges of distance or obstacles to the game for some additional competitive fun.

Hilarious Outdoor Party Games

27. Water Balloon Toss

This gleeful activity is fun for all ages and is perfect for a summertime party. Fill easy-fill water balloons from the hose and then divide into pairs. The winners are the last pair standing whose balloon has not broken in a shower of water on the players.

28. Outdoor Pictionary

Get a large drawing board and play a few rounds of outdoor Pictionary, where teams attempt to identify clues drawn by members of their team. This is a great family activity with kids or a fun drinking game for adults as each team struggles to communicate with markers and imagery as the night goes on.

29. Paper Boat Race

Invite players to engineer their best paper boat and then test their seaworthiness in a swimming pool or pond. If there’s a current, you can even race them. The winner is the first to cross the finish line or is the last boat left floating after the others have sunk.

30. Super Soaker Wars

Get a large water cannon and set out to soak your fellow players for a fun outdoor family game. There may not be a way to easily choose a winner, but everyone is guaranteed to end up wet and cool on a hot Summer day, nevertheless.

31. Tug of War

A classic activity for large groups, you will need a rope for this game. Two teams station themselves at the end of a rope with a line drawn in the center. The challenge comes when members of the opposite team try to pull the opposing team across the center line. This can be even funnier if there is mud or water involved in the center.

Outdoor Family Games FAQs

What Is the Most Popular Yard Game?

For kids, the most popular game to play outside is tag, which can have many variations and rule sets. All involve both critical thinking skills when it comes to avoiding other players, as well as creativity, speed and agility. It also requires no designated space or equipment and can be scaled to the size of your play area.

What Is the Most Fun Game To Play Outside?

If you love competition and have a group of people to divide into teams, dodgeball can be a fun game to play outside that exercises both physical agility and aim. All you need is a court and a ball to play.

What Are Some Cool Family-Friendly Games?

Some of the coolest family games are those that help build creative skills in kids and adults, including fun art and communication activities like outdoor Pictionary, charades, balloon animal construction and balloon painting.

These fun outdoor family games will be perfect for your next outdoor gathering, whatever your age.

For even more fun game ideas, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!