Arguably the best day of the whole school year, I remember looking forward to field day all year long. I vividly remember the smell of fresh cut grass, sunscreen, and popcorn. The excitement we all felt was palpable. Dressed in our matching t shirts with the school insignia we all lined up to take part in what was basically the Olympics of my younger years. I competed with vigor and had the stamina of a young gazelle. In an effort to recapture my youth, I have scoured the internet in search of the BEST list of yard games you can put together with little to no effort. Lets all go enjoy the sunshine this summer and get back to our Field Day selves.
MUMMY RELAY
Equipment: Rolls of Toilet Paper – LOTS of them.
What You Do:
- Break up in even teams.
- Each team gets 1 roll of toilet paper. One member of each team will be the “mummy.” You can choose anyone!
- On the GO signal, that person stands with arms stretched out and legs spread apart. The second person grabs the toilet paper and wraps one leg of the “mummy” in toilet paper.
- When the wrapping is done, that person passes the toilet paper to the next person in line, who wraps the other leg. The third person wraps an arm and the fourth person wraps the other arm.
- Then the next member of the team wraps the mummy’s body and head. The winning team is the first team to use up its roll of toilet paper.
WHEELBARROW RACE
Equipment: Cones
What You Do:
- Everyone will partner up. One person will have their hands on the ground and the other person will be standing up holding their legs.
- On the GO signal, the person who is on the ground will be moving their hands and the person who has their feet will be moving their feet to try to get to the finish line before the other groups!
BALLOON POP RELAY
Equipment: Balloons and Chairs
What You Do:
- Each person will get a balloon. Inflate the balloons, so each is roughly the same size.
- 2 chairs will be set up for each team across from each other.
- On the GO signal, the first member of the team carries a balloon to the chair, drops the balloon on the chair, and then sits on the balloon until it pops.
- When the balloon pops, the person runs back to his or her team and tags the next person in line.
- The relay continues until the last student in each team has made it back to the line. The first team to finish wins.
KEEP IT UP
Equipment: Big Beach Ball, Small Beach Ball, Jump Ropes
What You Do:
- Have everyone circle up and try to volley the small beach ball in the air as many consecutive times as possible without hitting the ground.
- The contestants are responsible for keeping track of the number of consecutive hits.
- Start over from zero when the ball hits the ground.
- The highest score will be the winner of the contest. After a few minutes of trying this with the smaller beach ball, bring out the BIG BEACH BALL! Do the same activity again.
Need to spice this up a bit? Turn it into a volleyball game by splitting the kids up on two sides, tie jump ropes together on the ground, and have the kids try to hit the ball over to the other team on the opposite side of the jump ropes!
HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS
Equipment: Scooters, Jump Ropes, Small Noodle Pieces, and laundry baskets.
What You Do:
- Form 4 teams.
- The first person will lay down on the scooter or skateboard with the basket. The second person will push the scooter gently towards the center circle.
- The person laying on the scooter will take one chance to collect as many pieces as possible. The second person will then pull them back.
- They will together place the pieces collected into their jump rope circle. This process will continue until all the pieces of noodles are collected. Please stress safety!
TUG O WAR
Equipment: Tug O War Rope
What You Do:
- Lay the rope in a straight line and split the participants up into 2 even teams.
- Place one group on one side of the rope and the other team should go on the opposite side.
- The participants should line up in a straight line on each side and pick up the rope.
- On the GO signal, each team will be pulling as hard as they can.
- The object of the activity is to try to be the team to pull the other team so they cross the line first with their feet before their team crosses the line.
- Once the first persons in line’s feet cross the line, the other team has won!
WATERBALLOON SPOON RELAY
Equipment: Water Balloons, Bucket, Large Wooden Spoons.
What You Do:
- The players should be split up into even teams.
- On the GO signal, the first person in line will pick up a water balloon and place it on a spoon.
- They will walk down to the cones and back trying not to drop the water balloon.
- If a water balloon drops but doesn’t break, they can pick it up and keep going.
- When it breaks, they have to run back to grab another one.
- Once they make it back to the beginning, they hand the spoon off to the next person and the relay continues!
- First team to get all their players through wins!
SPONGE TAG
Equipment: Water , Bucket, Sponges
What You Do:
- You are trying not to be tagged in this game, but most players will want to be!
- One player will start with a sponge. They will try to tag other people with the sponge (they can’t throw it).
- When a player gets tagged, they will grab another sponge and join the tagger!
- The last player standing becomes the new tagger for the next round.
POOL NOODLE BASEBALL
Equipment: Pool Noodles, Beach Balls
What You Do:
Use cones or other markers to set up a goal. Cut pool noodles in half and have kids swing their noodle “bats” at a beach ball or other large, light ball with the object of getting the ball far enough away that they can run the bases.
TREASURE HUNT
Equipment: Note Cards, Pens, A Prize
What You Do:
- Divide everyone into teams of two.
- At the starting point, give each team a card with a picture of where the next clue is located.
- Provide the clues in a different order for both teams, except for the last clue.
- The team that reaches the location first wins.
Most importantly, have fun! Enjoy getting dirty and playing silly games with your friends and family this summer.
We hope you have enjoyed this collection of games put together by: ABCDEELEARNING.com and the team here at Daffy Ducts LLC.
