Outdoor kids games at a large family reunion?

March 27, 2006 6:24 AM

Suggestions for outdoor kids games at a large family reunion?

More info than you want to know: My brother-in-law and I have been volunteered to organize the kids games at a large (150 people or more), 4-5 day family reunion, taking place in a few months. The reunion will be in a somewhat remote part of New Zealand. We are American (and live in the states), but I'm half-Kiwi. There will be a mix of kids who know each other and kids who don't know each other, and a wide range of ages. So far we are bringing one of those "gym-class" parachutes, and now we are looking for other outdoor games and activities that can include as many kids and ages as possible.

posted by chr1sb0y to sports, hobbies, & recreation (17 comments total)

How about Bocce Ball?

Little kids can find themselves evenly matched with grandparents. And it's a quiet, chatty kind of game for those who don't want to run around and sweat.

Also, it only requires one hand, so you can clutch a frosty beverage in the other!
posted by bcwinters at 6:44 AM on March 27, 2006

Bocce is a great game, indeed. 3-legged races can be fun, potato sack races as well. Egg races (running with an egg on a spoon, don't drop it!). Water baloon toss (toss a water balloon to your partner. If it doesn't break, take one step apart. Continue until it breaks, last one dry wins!)
posted by antifuse at 7:12 AM on March 27, 2006

A scavenger hunt! Use some natural stuff (i.e. a leaf from a certain tree) as well as things that the people at the reunion might bring with them (i.e. a paper napkin with a picture of a leaf on it). That way the kids get a little taste of kiwi nature, and they have to talk to relatives!

I've also always wanted to have a family trivia game at our reunions. Prior to the event, send out requests for a couple of facts about each person attending. Then write up questions that will force everybody to interact in order to find out the answers. For example, "Which family member plays the guitar as a hobby?" or "Which family member has webbed toes?" This might work better for the adults or older kids though.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:16 AM on March 27, 2006

Cornhole!
posted by crosten at 7:18 AM on March 27, 2006

Non-stop cricket.

It can be played with a tennis bat if there's no cricket bat. One person bats, everyone else fields, and the way we used to play it you set the "stumps" (bins, trees, coats, whatever) in an L shape. The top of the L is the point you bowl from, the bottom is the batter's position, and the rightmost the point the batter has to run to (this can be brought nearer or taken farther depending on the fitness/age of the batter).

The batter has to run whether they hit the ball or not. They can get out either by catching, or by someone hitting the batter's position with the ball. Tennis balls and underarm bowling make this a safer and more child-friendly game.

Boules (petanque) is good if you can get hold of a set or two, but they're heavy so you don't want to be taking them with you! And take a frisbee for games of piggy-in-the-middle.
posted by handee at 7:19 AM on March 27, 2006

Frisbee (bring a bunch and get a couple cross-games going); volleyball (you can use a beach ball with the smaller kids); in addition to water balloons, you can bring water guns; tag; you can bring stuff to make bubbles (large and small); foxtail; string games; chinese jump rope; capture the flag; hacky sack; really, anything summer camps do.
posted by blackkar at 7:35 AM on March 27, 2006

tug-o-war, relay races. those giant bubbles, kites. is there a grassy hill nearby? flatten out some cardboard boxes and let kids slide/sled on them down the hill. If it is a good hill for sliding, that can fill up quite a bit of time.
posted by mikepop at 7:54 AM on March 27, 2006

Along with bocce ball, you can just play some horseshoes. Cheap, easy to carry, and simple to learn.
posted by inigo2 at 8:17 AM on March 27, 2006

Croquet. How old are these kids? What about regular outside games, like redrover redrover, red light green light, mother may I, tag and its many varieties (including hide-and-seek tag), blind mans bluff, kick the can, capture the flag.... the possibilities are endless!

(incidentally, we've had great sucess with blind mans buff and kick the can at large family gatherings where this entertains people from the ages of 5-55, at least)
posted by dpx.mfx at 8:22 AM on March 27, 2006

I saw a review of these ice cream makers in this morning's Seattle Times. You can get them at camping supply places. (I know I've seen them at REI.) Taking a couple of those along might be fun.

You said outdoors and I've assumed ice cream is good with any kind of weather.
posted by sevenless at 9:08 AM on March 27, 2006

More Details: We need to carry most of the supplies from the US to NZ in our luggage, as we will be going straight from arrival to the reunion, so that may rule out horseshoes and bocce, but thanks for all the suggestions so far.
posted by chr1sb0y at 9:10 AM on March 27, 2006

As long as you have a ball, you can play Spud (previously asked).
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 9:25 AM on March 27, 2006

If you can't take an ice cream maker, you can make Ice Cream In A Bag or Kick The Can Ice Cream!

What about a Xena: Warrior Princess DVD-watching marathon? You could play "Spot That Kiwi Actor" or "Name That Kiwi Landmark."
posted by SuperSquirrel at 9:42 AM on March 27, 2006

A version of horseshoes we used to play: my grandfather took two large coffee cans and buried them up to their necks. We'd then run around collecting rocks, divided into teams and took turns pitching the rocks into the coffee cans. Every other morning or so we'd find a horned toad or a toad at the bottom of one of the cans.
posted by Sara Anne at 10:47 AM on March 27, 2006

I'd also recommend setting up a crafts table for downtime. Even just get some paper and fingerpaints.
posted by radioamy at 9:33 AM on March 28, 2006

Get a copy of the New Games book. It is fabulous.
posted by Raspberry at 6:41 AM on April 2, 2006

FOLLOWUP / CLOSURE / RESOLUTION: Just got back from the trip and reunion. In the end, the play parachute (30 person model) proved to be a big winner, since it practically plays itself, amuses adults and kids alike, and requires no real instructions - you just start playing. Also did a scavenger hunt, several relay races (suitcase, balloon-popping) and a plaster of paris beach craft, vaguely like this.
posted by chr1sb0y at 12:26 PM on January 19, 2007