With summer quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking of new ways to keep the kids having fun while burning off all of that energy. Luckily for you, we’ve got some summer backyard games the whole family will love. Let’s jump in!
5 Summer Backyard Games for the Ultimate Family Fun!
Life-Size Candy Land
Created in the 1940s, Candy Land has been a childhood staple for generations. From grandparents to little tikes, everyone can jump in on the fun of a life-sized game of Candy Land this summer right in your own backyard! This is the perfect summer backyard game for birthday parties or simply entertaining the kids on a relaxing weekend at home. Here’s how you can make your own life-size Candy Land game at home:
Create the Candy Land road by using multi-colored Interlocking Foam Floor Tiles. One customer purchased 90 of our interlocking foam tiles to create the road, knowing they would use the mats afterward for other purposes, like other games and as play mats.
Decorate along the road with the themes found in the game, such as making every seventh color block pink and equal to a treat (ice cream cone, gingerbread man, etc), which can be printed out and stuck right to the mat. Decorate along the way with candy cane yard decorations, gumdrops, cardboard cutouts, and more. Let your imagination run wild or keep it simple.
Next, decide how you want to take your turns. You can make a spin wheel, use large dice, or make custom game cards, the choice is yours!
Life-Size Checkers
What better way to teach the kids how to play checkers than by letting them play a life-size version of it! Not only is checkers one of the easiest summer backyard games you can create with interlocking foam mats, but it’s also one of the most fun summer backyard games the whole family can enjoy.
To make your own DIY life-size checkers game, simply choose the two different interlocking foam mat colors to create the board (you will need 32 of each). Next, create 24 giant checker pieces (12 for each player) out of cardboard, foam, or any other material you want. Remember to make the checker pieces two different colors for opposing players to keep track of where they are on the board.
Obstacle Courses
Obstacle courses are a great summer backyard game that can be made easy or difficult depending on age range. Plus, it’s a great way to burn off energy all summer long. Recently, one of our customers used our Cheese Wedge Incline Mats to create a super fun obstacle course for the kids.
You can create crawl tunnels with pool noodles or cardboard boxes, hurdles with folded incline mats or Tumbling Octagons, a calisthenics station complete with jumping jacks or push-ups. Don’t forget a “floor is lava” obstacle, a “tightrope” walk using a foam Balance Beam...the possibilities are endless!
Barrel Race Relay
Take your summer backyard game to the next level with relay races. A barrel relay race is a fun way for the kids to compete against one another in a test of speed and agility. And the best part? It takes just minutes to set up! All you need to do is take three Gymnastics Tumbling Mats like our 4’x6’ Gymnastics Tumbling Mats and stand them upright into a “barrel” shape evenly spaced across the yard.
Next, mark off a start and finish spot and direction arrows of the path you want the kids to go. Instruct them to run, gallop, bear crawl, or “wheel barrel” down (if playing in groups of two) around each mat in the direction of the arrows and back again. The first one to the finish line is the winner!
Battleship
Whether you’ve got 2 or 20 kids to entertain, Battleship is a super fun summer backyard game to keep them entertained for hours. Standing your gymnastics tumbling mats upright on a flat surface, scatter 10-20 bowling pins or plastic water bottles behind the mats. With foam balls in hand, the kids will wait for your command before they begin throwing the balls over the mats to “sink the battleships.” The first team to have all of their battleships sunk must yell “we surrender!” If you have enough kids to spare, assign one on each team to watch over the battleships, that way they may keep track of their victory or demise.
No matter how many kids you’ve got to entertain this summer, We Sell Mats™ has high-quality Gymnastics, Parkour, and Ninja Warrior Mats and Floor Tiles to create summer backyard games the entire family will have a blast playing. Shop today and start your summer fun planning!