Summer is just around the corner — and that means pool parties, beach days, and family vacations are on the horizon. But there's plenty of fun to be had even closer to home. That's right, we're talking lawn games: ladder toss, cornhole, you name it. If you're doing it right, it'll get pretty competitive.
Scroll to find the ultimate list of backyard activities. Grab your water balloons, buckets, ladders, pool noodles — oh, and don't forget the kids — and let the outdoor games begin!
1. Dunk Bucket
2. Lawn Twister
5. Giant Jenga
14. Giant Kerplunk
15. Blanket Run
16. Drip Drip Dunk
17. Yard Yahtzee
18. Watch Your Step
19. Cup Races
21. Swap out baseballs for water balloons to take backyard batting practice to the next level.
22. Use pool toys, sponges, and PVC pipe to make a kiddie car wash.
23. DIY a dunk bucket to drench your friends (and practice your throwing).
24. Take a fill-the-bucket water relay to the next level by drilling holes in the relay cups.
25. Make an easy water slide using a tarp, a hose, and shampoo.
26. Swap out a piñata for water balloons for a game that will actually cool you down.
27. Cup up sponges to make water fight tools that are more gentle than regular balloons.
28. Combine the fun of a sprinkler with a game of limbo for fun at all ages (and heights).
29. Transform pool noodles and a tarp into a backyard hockey rink.
30. Use a hula hoop to make giant person-sized bubbles.
31. Round up the biggest, baddest Disney villains and use them for squirt gun target practice.
32. Use squirt guns to race plastic cups down a line.
33. Transform "Duck, duck goose" into "Drip, drip, drench" by tagging players with a soaked sponge.
34. Construct a water balloon launcher out of a repurposed tub and a wooden plank.
35. Get up a sidewalk racetrack and propel toy cars with squirt guns.
36. Use kiddie pools as bases in a game of kickball that's actually refreshing.
37. Fill water balloons with water, cornstarch, and food coloring to make awesome splatter paint bombs.
38. Rig up this awesome series of water blasters using hoses, pipes, and pool noodles.
39. No water? No problem! Try something call "human surfing"— grab a bunch of friends and roll around on the ground in a competition.
40. Get yourself this set of giant dice and play literally any game that involves rolling a die— but substitute this giant set in your backyard.
41. Get yourself a (or carve your own) set of Viking Chess (aka Kubb).
42. Break out the dictionaries and play some giant word games.
43. And finally, reach for a backyard classic and play some cornhole.
This article contains content from Mallory Mclnnis and Maitland Quitmeyer. It was compiled by Salimah McCullough.