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Outdoor games for teenagers often involve more skill or challenges than the games they enjoyed as children. Popular and fun games among teenagers typically require teamwork and cooperation, which allow kids of all ages to be social as they work toward a goal. A few simple games and fun activities enable teenagers of any age group to learn the finer points of coordination and working together while providing the basis for an enjoyable activity in the great outdoors.
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Fun Teenage Outdoor Games
When summer sets in, it’s time to escape the indoors and head outside. For teens, this means getting away from video games and into the sunshine, and outdoor fun teen party games are just the incentive for them to do that. Encourage teens to put their own twist on the outdoor games, customizing them to fit their specific group.
Water Balloon Volleyball
Set up a volleyball net, and get two-bed sheets or tarps and a number of water balloons. Each team takes a sheet and spreads it out on their side of the net, holding it taut. The object of this fun outdoor game is to keep tossing a water balloon back and forth by bouncing it off the sheets. This great game requires a little cooperation among team members, as well as some luck.
Fresh
The game “Fresh” is a teen-friendly version of Tag. Team line up on opposite sides of a field. Team members may enter the field at any time, but can only tag people who are less “fresh”–that is, people who were already on the field when the player entered. Tagged teammates must join the opposing team’s line. While there, at least one captured team member must keep his or her feet on the line, but the others may hold hands to form a chain reaching back into the field.
Team members who haven’t been tagged can tag their own captured teammates to bring them back into play. However, the closer players get to the opposite side, the more likely they’ll be tagged themselves. The object is to capture all of the opposing team’s players.
Capture the Flag
This is a classic game that only requires two handkerchiefs or T-shirts of different colours. Divide the yard or outdoor area into two separate spaces and divide the kids into two groups. Designate each team to a side, and give each team a handkerchief.
The teams pick a spot as their home base and hide the “flag” around that area. Each team tries to capture the flag of the other team and get it back to their own home base, to win the perfect game. The teams must determine how to find the opposing team’s flag, while also guarding their own. Make things harder by letting the teams tag players from the opposing team to eliminate them from the game.
Outdoor Scavenger Hunt
Create a list of fun things and items found in the great outdoors. For example, include a four-leaf clover, certain colours of flowers, leaves, and rocks.
Divide the teens into groups and give each group a list of the items. The first team that makes it back with every item on the list wins. Alternatively, give the teens just an hour and reward the team that finds the most items and makes it back within the hour.
Murder Mystery Wink
Cut small slips of paper and write ‘townsperson’ on each slip, except for one. Write ‘murderer’ on that piece of paper. Let each teen select a slip of paper, then you can start the game.
The ‘murderer’ must kill others in the group by winking at them; once the ‘murderer’ winks at a player, that person is out of the game. In the meantime, the other players wander around the outdoor area, watching the others, trying to determine the ‘murderer.’ The winner is the person who correctly identifies the ‘murderer,’ or the player who ‘murders’ all the others.
Finding an outdoor game for groups of friends to play at family reunions or other get-togethers where the adults can’t be entertaining their children all the time. Finding simple backyard games that the little kids can play and enjoy the fresh air with very little adult supervision will help keep the children and the whole family entertained while helping their parents focus on other things they may need to do at the time. These games are good for kids of similar ages but are lots of fun for older kids too.
Roads and Alleys
This is a game that is fun for a small or a large group. You’ll want at least 8 players for this game; 1 will be the robber, 1 will be the cop, and at least 6 will be the roads and alleys. Arrange the players so that they’re in a grid that is longer than is wide standing arms-length apart from each other with their arms up.
One member of the game, who if there is an odd number of players, can stand outside of the ‘walls’ but otherwise can be part of the wall, will give the commands of ‘alley’ and ‘road’ to the wall-pieces. When the command of ‘alley’ is given, all wall pieces should turn so that they make several ‘short’ paths width-wise. For the ‘Road’ command, all pieces of the wall should turn so that they make ‘long’ paths length-wise.
The ‘cop’ will run down these paths that are made by the ‘walls’ trying to capture the ‘robber’ who will be trying to not get caught. Being as random as possible with the commands will make the game fun, but make sure the players don’t skip over the walls! This game is suitable for all ages.
No Bears Are Out Tonight
This is a creative ‘nighttime’ version of the simple game of tag which is better suited to being played by a large group of players that are of similar age and skill level. It’s an ‘elimination’ active outdoor game where the seeker hides while those who would normally hide while waiting for their ‘tagger’ go and seek them out while chanting; “No bears are out tonight, daddy got ’em all last night” over and over. The first one to find the bear should start screaming and run away toward the ‘safe’ space.
The bear should jump out of hiding and start tagging any players they can. All players who make it to ‘safe’ get to play again. This open space game will go for as many rounds as needed until there is only one player left. They now take over the role of the ‘bear’.
Ghost In the Graveyard
This is a silent version and a fun twist of the outdoor party game above. One ghost, however few players you’d like. The ghost must hide in the space allotted for the ‘graveyard’, the ‘rest of the group’ should go out and look for the ghost. Once found, the player who finds said ghost should yell ‘GHOST IN THE GRAVEYARD’ and run for a save. Whoever the ghost grabs first will join their ranks. More and more ghosts will join until only one ‘living’ player stands. The last teen standing will then become the ghost.
Shark Attack
This is a fun party game and a fun outdoor activity for a large group of younger kids. All you need for it is space and a large piece of cloth such as a sheet or a tarp. Have one person become the ‘shark’. The rest of the players will sit, with their legs out in front of them, around the edge of the tarp/sheet/whatever it is you’re using, holding onto the edges of it. The shark should be underneath the tarp so they can crawl around. Have the holders of the ‘ocean’, or the sheet, shake it up and down.
This will hide the ‘shark’, which will crawl around underneath the tarp and grab the other players by the legs and pull them under. All players who are pulled underneath the tarp will become ‘sharks’ as well. There is no other point to the game other than to have fun.
Hopefully, these best outdoor games and fun outdoor activities will be keeping the little feet out in the yard, or inside a large room, and help you have a great time! They were always great ideas and a big hit at my family reunions as a kid.
