Looking for some Cheap Easy Garden Games? Last week we had one of the most fun afternoons we’ve had in a very long time. All it took? Some biscuits, some pencils, some ping pong balls and some cotton wool – plus various crockery and kitchen pots.
I know, it sounds like a ghastly cooking experiment, but I promise, it was SO much fun. Take notes, because this is exactly what you need in your reserves when you’ve got one of those at-home-but-tetchy days in the holidays; you don’t want to go and spend a load more money, but you want some fun outdoor time that’s not ruined by arguments, cries for the playstation or demands for ice cream. It’s genius – and good for any age group; we did this with the 4yr old and the 12yr old. We’re planning another one for an adults barbecue later this month. I suspect, aided by wine and gin, the contestants may not be as successful as my young counterparts (to be fair, even drinking nothing stronger than some lemonade I was beaten in nearly every ‘event’).
Of course, you can go further with creating shiny medals or prizes and drawing up a leaderboard on a large pad or chalkboard – we fully intend to in the future, that’s for sure!
Cheap Easy Garden Games
NB – Make sure you have a kitchen timer – all challenges should be given a 60 second limit; that being the whole ‘minute-to-win-it’ principle, obviously. some of them can be run competitively at the same time, others you’ll need to take turns unless you have doubled up the equipment.
The biscuit challenge
We suggest a smaller biscuit for this; digestives were impossible, Oreos and ginger nuts were fine. Use custard creams if you’re feeling mean!
Place it on your forehead, and get it into your mouth without using your hands.
Involves hilarious facial twitchings. No.1 the only person to actually achieve this.
Sticky nose
Coat nose in vaseline.
Using said nose, transfer cotton wool balls from bowl A to bowl B.
(I won this one. Big Time. *smug big-nosed face*)
No.1 got seriously cross at this particular refusing-to-leave cotton ball. It was cheating apparently.
Pencil Pole Vault
You need a stack of pencils for this one – we found these ones on Amazon, 24 for £2.50 –
Set up a line of cups, hold a large bunch of rubber-ended pencils. Bounce pencil on table top and make it vault into a glass. I thought this one sounded impossibly stupid. Shows what I know, this was TOP game of the afternoon – three rounds hotly contested, ending in a tie between No.1 and Boy.
I lost. Abysmally.
Beaten even by the 4yr old.
Ping Pong Triple Jump
Bounce a ping pong ball on ALL three dinner plates and into the bowl.
Stupid game. Impossible.
Much crossness and lobbing of ping pong balls (and subsequent hunting of said ping pong balls). Jolly DID hit all three plates as I took this though – we gave him bonus points.
And we did keep on trying; this one kept us busy for ages as we each tried to achieve success! Ping Pong balls – you can get a 10pk for £2 on Amazon.
The Orange Waddle
Ah, yes. the old pick-an-orange-up-in-your-knees-and-waddle game.
Place an orange on the ground (or an apple or grapefruit or any other appropriately sized fruit will do. Or a ball, come to think of it – that’d be kinder on the fruit bowl!). Kneel, pick it up with your knees, rise up and then waddle to finish line without dropping it.
I declined to partake.
No.1 tried, failed dreadfully to even lift the orange off the ground once in the 60 seconds and swore it couldn’t be done. Boy and Jolly took 15 secs each to complete the task. *eyeroll*
Obviously, to celebrate the final scores there must be silly dancing (‘Roman Dancer’ off-the-shoulder look optional. Mmm-hmmm).
