Picnic Games

Adult Picnic Games

Board games turn picnic tables into game tables. Volleyball and badminton nets, games of croquet, horseshoes, and kickball, and a fierce tug of war are crowd pleasers. Keep the fun going with a few other games. Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader: From the popular TV show, adults dare to enter into a question-and-answer session with questions from 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-grade levels. When stumped, adults are allowed to ask kids for help. Play to the Crowd: Set a timer for three minutes; each player does impressions of famous people. Whoever receives the most correct guesses from their impersonations wins. Eating Contests: How many hotdogs can a person or team consume in a given amount of time - how many pies? Take it a step further and blindfold players so they have to feel around for their food. Who Dunnit: Before guests arrive, plant clues around the picnic table and nearby grounds. When guests least expect it, someone at the party is murdered, and a detective arrives on the scene to investigate and interrogate witnesses. Anyone with a motive is a suspect. The person who solves the crime wins.

Kid Picnic Games and Activities

If they had their way, kids would eat on the run, returning to the picnic table only for refills. Busy kids are happy kids, and they'll play until they drop. So plan activities just for them:

• Activity Table: Set a picnic table up with paddleballs, bubbles, jump ropes, beach balls, coloring books and crayons, silly string, jacks, pick-up sticks, decks of cards, even temporary tattoos. Each kid can grab one item from the table at a time. Items can be exchanged and traded at any time.
• Potato Sack and Three-legged Races: With both feet in a potato sack, kids hop to the finish line. Or, a team of two - running to the finish line with two legs in the bag, and two out.
• Pictionary: You'll need two easels, two large drawing pads, and two sets of markers. Divide kids in teams; one player from the team races to draw clues that will get the correct response from his team to solve the puzzle.
• Bean Bag Toss: Make 12 beanbags by filling zip-lock Baggies with popcorn. Fill 10 plastic buckets half full with sand and number each bucket one - 10. Kids toss beanbags into buckets and tally scores.