15 brilliant board games to bring to life outside
Summer’s the perfect time to take your favourite board games outside. But, what if you can take it one step further and make them giant, wide games? Here are 15 twists on classic board games that you can use to explore the outdoors and have lots of fun with friends.
1. Giant Cluedo
Use our Scout-themed Cluedo cards and scoresheets for this wide game to see what’s gone missing from camp. Secretly choosing three Scout Cluedo cards (one from each category - location, person and item) and hide them in an envelope. Hide the remaining cards around the area. Players get into groups, get given Cluedo sheets and need to try and find all the cards. After a set time, call everyone in and see if anyone can work out whodunnit.
2. Giant Snakes and Ladders
Use masking tape or chalk to create a huge playing area, and let players become the game pieces, throwing dice to move around the board. You could draw ladders or have toy snakes too.
3. Yahtzee in a Bucket
Bring Yahtzee to life by using big foam dice and large buckets. Players can roll the giant dice by throwing them out of the buckets. Keep score just like the traditional game.
4. Nature Build a Beetle Game
Take inspiration from nature for this creative game. Use sticks, leaves, stones and other natural materials to build your beetle piece by piece. Roll a dice to determine which part to add next. Whoever builds their beetle first, wins!
5. Nature Noughts and Crosses
Also known as Tic Tac Toe, this version uses natural materials. Create a large grid on the ground with sticks or chalk, then use natural objects as the pieces, such as stones and sticks for the X’s and O’s.
6. Outdoor Scrabble
Set up a giant Scrabble board on the lawn with large letter tiles. You could use sheets of paper or card, or even recycle cereal boxes. Players can spell out words by physically moving the tiles around.
7. Tic Tac Toe Frisbee
Combine Frisbee with Tic Tac Toe for a fun and active game. Set up a large grid on the ground and use Frisbees as the playing pieces. Players get into groups, then stand at a throwing line. In each group, each person take turns to try and throw their team’s Frisbees into the grid to try and get three in a row.
8. Human Ring Toss
Use inflatable rings as the rings and have players act as the posts. One person stands still while others try to toss the inflatables onto them.
9. Picnic Blanket Islands
Lay out several picnic blankets around the space as ‘islands’. Everyone pretends they're going for a swim in the ocean, and the picnic blankets are islands. The only problem is, sometimes there are sharks in the ocean! Whenever you shout ‘Sharks!’ each player must step onto the closest island. After everyone is safely and completely on a blanket, ask the group to move around the room again. Anyone not completely on a blanket is out. As they do this, remove one (or more) blanket(s) and repeat the process. You’re allowed more than one person per piece of blanket and a person is on an ‘island’ if no part of their body is touching the surrounding floor. You could also make the islands smaller by folding the blankets.
10. Tic Tac Toe Relay
Set up a large grid at one end of the playing area. Players get into teams, line up by a start line, then take it in turns to run up to the grid and add their X or O to try to get three in a row. You could also use different coloured cones to represent each team. The first team to get three in a row wins.
11. Musical Sleeping Bags
Lay out the sleeping bags in a circle or around the space, then play some tunes. When the music stops, everyone must find a sleeping bag to lie on, sit on or jump into. Anyone not in a sleeping bag at the end of the round is out. Remove one bag each round until there’s a winner.
12. Human Battleships
Turn your friends into battleships in this life-sized version of the classic game. Use a grid on the ground to represent the ocean, and have players stand in the spaces or lie down to act as ships. Call out coordinates to ‘hit’ the ships and sink your opponent’s fleet.
13. Life-Size Angry Birds
Create a real-life version of Angry Birds using cardboard boxes for the structures and balls or plush toys as the birds. Each box or bird could be worth a certain number of points. Take turns throwing the birds to try to knock down the boxes. Use Scout Adventures’ guide to help you.
14. Human Skittles
Set up a giant bowling alley with players acting as the skittles. Use a soft, large foam ball to roll down the ‘alley’ and try to tap as many people as possible. Anyone who’s tapped can crouch down or step off the playing area. The person who taps the most people in three tries, wins.
15. Human Football Table
Create a human-sized Foosball game by getting players to line up in threes and hold a skipping rope or pole between them to restrict player movement, just like the rods in a Foosball table. Players can only move side-to-side and must work together to score goals. It’s a fantastic team game that’s sure to be a hit.
Staying safe
All activities in Scouts must be safely managed. It’s important to choose an appropriate, accessible outdoor area. You may need to think about avoiding steps, being close to public transport, or steep gradients or including frequent breaks. You must have permission to use the location.
You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. You should use our safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Take a look at our guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Always check the weather forecast, tide times and sunset before running the activity.
You should inform parents and carers of any change in venue, days or times, and have a suitable drop-off/collection point. You could use our activity information forms, and always make sure everyone knows what people should bring and wear.
Before playing a wide game, there are some things you need to do to help keep everybody safe and make sure everyone can be included. Take a look at our advice on running active games safely and accessibly.
When pioneering, be careful when moving poles or long items, especially if the ends are sharp, and never lift or move heavy or awkward items alone. Ask for help or, if possible, break them down into smaller parts.