This Old House Reviews Team

Make your backyard more entertaining by adding a simple yard game for family and guests to play. Find the best yard games with our top recommendations here.

Whether you are hosting a large gathering or just want to enjoy outdoor activities a few steps from your door, yard games offer hours of entertaining gameplay on a budget. To help you take a break from your electronic devices, the This Old House Reviews Team researched the best yard games on Amazon. Learn more about our top five recommendations below. 

 

Buyer’s Guide

The best games for your yard are the ones that tie into the interests of you and your family. However, we’ve identified some other criteria to keep in mind as you’re shopping around. Learn more about these factors below. 

Space

Yard games require a certain amount of space to play. Consider the size of your yard before you purchase your desired lawn game. Cramped space may limit the gameplay, which could be unfair for certain players. 

Gameplay

Gameplay ranges from casual to intense. For example, while cornhole and tumbling towers tend to be a relaxed match, Spikeball and volleyball offer high-energy gameplay where players must constantly focus on the moving ball. 

Number of Players

Many yard games can accommodate two to four players, though six-, eight-, 10-, and unlimited-player games also exist. If you choose a game that’s only designed for two players, you may be able to partner up and create teams of two, allowing more people to play at one time. 

Durability 

Inexpensive yard games may only last a handful of uses, especially if they’re left outside. Premium sets that use more durable materials, such as metal rather than plastic, tend to last longer.

Weatherproofing

While you should store your yard games inside when they’re not in use, many games are made with weather-resistant materials or finishes to survive being accidentally left outside in the rain, sun, or snow.

Surface

A non-sloping lawn often suffices as a suitable surface to play many yard games. Horseshoes are usually played using sandpits, but rubber horseshoes allow you to play on grass or dirt. If a particular yard game requires you to modify the landscaping of your outdoor living space, you may want to reconsider purchasing it. 

Portability

Do you want to take your yard game to a local park or friend’s house? Some yard games are easier to transport than others. Many come with a carrying case and are fairly lightweight, but  some, such as cornhole, have bulky components that are awkward to load into your vehicle. 

 

 

How To Enjoy The Outdoors 

Although ready-to-play yard games are useful to have on hand for parties and other events, it’s also fun to get creative with your outdoor living space. Whether you’re playing with your kids or killing time, here are some interesting backyard game ideas to consider:

• Similar to building a playscape or treehouse, you could also build a fort outside for your kids to play in.
• Take Scrabble or another board game outside, and play it on the grass.
• For those with big backyards or long, narrow stretches of grass, consider building soccer goals out of spare PVC piping. 
• Work with your kids to create a makeshift lemonade stand during a hot day. If you have a folding table, a poster board, a pen, cups, lemons, sugar, water, and ice, you can set up on the edge of the street to flag down traffic. 
• Build a sandbox for your kids to play in to make it feel like they’re at the beach. 
• Two baseball mitts and a baseball can entertain you and your kid for hours. Add a bat for hitting practice. 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Are there any age limitations for yard games? 

Unlike board games, most yard games don’t use small pieces that young children could choke on. However, some games that involve hand-eye coordination may have a minimum age requirement of 6 to 8 years. 

How do I take care of my yard games?

Once you’re done playing, take apart the pieces, and store them in the included bag or another storage compartment. Make sure this bag or compartment is in your garage, shed, or home to keep the game dry.

Can I play yard games for exercise?

Badminton, volleyball, disc golf, and other sports offer cardiovascular exercise. While most casual yard games are designed more for entertainment rather than exercise, you can burn a fair number of calories during spirited gameplay. 

How do I integrate yard games into my house party?

If you’re hosting an outdoor party make sure your guests have plenty of cold drinks, snacks, and shade. A large porch or patio lends itself nicely to a grill, which is an ideal hangout space next to your lawn games.

 

Why Trust The This Old House Reviews Team

This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations. 

We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.

 

The This Old House Reviews Team provides overviews of select products that are top-selling on Amazon and/or popular in consumer searches. Our team evaluates the products based on industry research, consumer reviews, pricing data, hands-on testing in select cases, and other objective criteria unique to a given product line. Unless otherwise noted, these product reviews are intended to help inform buying decisions for DIY or other non-pro users only. Editor’s picks are made by members of the This Old House Reviews Team.