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5 Games to Play at the Park with Friends

5 Games to Play at the Park with Friends

The value of play is something essential to our health and wellbeing as people. It is crucial for child development and continues to benefit us into adulthood as an effective stress reliever, energy and creativity booster, relationship tool, and more. 

Oh— and by the way, you’re never too old for slides and swings. But just in case you’re looking to mix it up a bit, we’re about to introduce you to five fantastic games to play at the park with your friends. 

What Are the Most Exciting Games To Play at the Park With Friends?

Here are five of the top games we recommend for having fun with friends at the park. They will be down to join you in getting some outdoor activity at the park, and they’re sure to be stoked about the new game you brought.

What is a Unique New Frisbee Game?

Woman playing bottle bash at the beach

Our Bottle Bash Bundle will put your tossing, catching, and teamwork skills to the test. It’s an intense combination of frisbee golf and horseshoes that requires quick reactions and effective communication between you and your partner. 

The setup for Bottle Bash is centered around two poles staked into the ground 15-20 feet apart. The poles are retractable for easy transportation and setup and have a mechanism to keep score. On top of each pole is a little platform on which sits a yellow plastic bottle.

Players stand in pairs next to their partners at each pole. The goal of Bottle Bash is to toss the frisbee so that it hits the bottle or the pole and knocks it to the ground. A secondary goal is preventing this from happening when the other team throws their disc. 

It takes strong communication between partners to figure out who is catching the bottle and who is catching the disk. If either drops to the ground, points are awarded to the other team. 

Bring the Bottle Bash Bundle to the park; you might just have people lining up to get the next game!

Always Wondered How To Use Throwing Stars Correctly? 

Hoku game on top of grass at the parkHave you ever tossed a wooden throwing star? The Caliber Games HOKU Bundle offers you the chance to tap into your inner ninja and throw wooden stars with precise accuracy (and a bit of luck). However, unlike dangerous ninja stars, HOKU’s wooden stars are safe and easy to use. Each of the six throwing stars has rounded wooden edges, and the stars are gently tossed and bounced off the ground.

HOKU puts a fun spin on tossing games by changing up the materials and shapes used to make this modern classic. 

Players take turns tossing throwing stars at a game board (both made from varnished rubberwood). Points are awarded for landing on top of the game board or one of the notches. 

The game itself is aesthetically pleasing and satisfying just to hold and feel, but HOKU only gets better the more rounds you play. 

What Happens When Volleyball and Foursquare Are Combined?

Women playing Crossnet at the park with friendsAnswer: You get the CROSSNET Bundle; a dynamic intersection of volleyball and foursquare. It features a two-way net in the shape of a plus sign, dividing the playing surface into four equal squares.

Along with the net and collapsible poles to stand it up, CROSSNET comes with boundary lines to stake in the ground, a volleyball, a pump, and a carrying case for convenient transportation. 

Take it to the park and play it with your homies! Four players can play at a time, but you can also have a line leading up to the action. Once you get out, head to the back of the line and let the next person step up for the fun challenge of Crossnet!

What’s the Best Alternative to Cornhole? 

It’s TowerBall and it’s the hottest new backyard tossing game. It centered around a four-sided tower, with targets on each side. That makes for 360-degree playing action and the capacity to play with large groups. 

Toss it underhand, arc it in there with a basketball motion, or throw it towards the target with some heat on it— there are a few different approaches you can take to your TowerBall technique. All of them are fair game in TowerBall. 

Bring this game to the park, set it up on the grass, text everyone in your contacts and invite them for an awesome afternoon of TowerBall.

What’s the Best Board Game to Play at the Park?

Image of boy holding wooden bucket playing Yardzee game at the park

Yardzee is the outdoor version of the classic dice game, except you play this version with supersized wooden dice. You’ve never rolled dice like this before. You can toss them, kick them out of the included wooden bucket, or even throw them in the air if you like. 

At the ark, there are all sorts of room to toss these giant dice, and you don’t have to worry about keeping them on the table (unless you want to designate a target area to roll into to add an extra challenge). 

Better yet, this elegant set of oversized dice comes with reusable score cards to play Yardzee and instructions for 20 different dice games to enjoy. That means you can keep switching games and playing until the sun goes down. 

Why Play at the Park in the First Place?

  • You can enjoy the great outdoors.
  • Spend time off your screen(s)
  • Get exciting exercise
  • Have social fun with friendly competition

What do you do at the park? You play. You’ve been playing at the park since you were little; that’s what the park is for. For most of us, the way we play at the park will change over the years. We start by digging in sandboxes, move on to playing sports on the grass, then deal cards on a picnic date, and eventually watch our own kid play in the sandbox. 

Now that we’ve covered the five games we recommend, let’s cover a few more reasons why playing at the park is a great idea.

You Can Enjoy the Great Outdoors

Group of friends hanging out at the park overlooking bridge

Going to your local park allows you to get fresh air, appreciate nature, and spend time in the sun. Also, you don’t have to go far to enjoy the great outdoors. The term isn’t limited to national parks or uncharted wilderness territories. 

It’s recommended that people spend a minimum of two hours a week outside. That’s not a ton of time, but studies show it’s enough to get the health benefits you need, and it’s enough time to play your favorite games at the park as well. 

Spend Time Off Your Screen(s)

People spend a lot of time looking at screens. Spending at least three hours a day completely unattached from screens is good practice. Sounds easy, but it can prove difficult if you spend most of the day looking at a screen for your job. 

It’s not difficult if you’re playing at the park, though! Games at the park are also an effective way to get your kids away from the screens and do something healthy and fun. 

Get Exciting Exercise

No matter what you do at the park, you’re bound to get some exercise. At the minimum, you’ll walk from the parking lot to the picnic bench in the shade. Or you might go for a jog around the park before joining your homies for a game on the grassy field. You might even get a few sets in on the public exercise equipment. 

Have Social Fun with Friendly Competition

The park is a perfect place to meet up with your friends. Since so many of us spend a lot of time indoors, meeting up at the park is literally a breath of fresh air. Playing games at the park is a safe and healthy way to meet up with friends and make new friends as well. 

Take Advantage of the Outdoors

Set aside time to make it to the park soon. Invite your friends. Pack some snacks, hydration, sunscreen, and bring one of these great games with you for a day at the park-like never before.

You can start off playing casually, and once people get into it, maybe set up some kind of tournament or scoring system. A little friendly competition at the park can make for memories that you and your friend group will look back on for years to come.

Browse all our games for more family fun game ideas and products.

 

Sources:

The Benefits of Play for Adults | HelpGuide.org

How Much Nature Is Enough? 120 Minutes a Week, Doctors Say | NY Times

How Much Screen Time Is Too Much for Adults? | Time