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Post by beanbuddymom on Jul 7, 2016 16:39:13 GMT
I will second (or third) corn hole, bocce ball, ladder golf/ball, croquet, and badminton since you mentioned already have a bunch of racquets. Between us and the neighbors, we have most of those and they help to keep people entertained. We've also done water balloons, squirt guns, slip n slide, and s'mores. I've also seen a Twister game board spray painted onto the grass at the ice cream place. A fun twist on s'mores is to put mini marshmallows and chocolate chips into a sugar cone, wrap the whole thing in foil and put it on the grill for a few minutes. Unwrap and enjoy the chocolatey marshmallow goodness with a lot less mess, and no worries about burning the marshmallows either! As for music, we got a small water resistant rechargeable Bluetooth speaker for our lake place. I want to say it was under about $60 at Costco but it has HUGE sound. It's nice to be able to take it with us when we want to go on the pontoon swimming or out fishing and not worry if it gets splashed. It's an Ecostone by Ecoxgear and it works great. ETA: You could also get some of those water resistant picnic blankets for the kids to sit on in the grass for additional temporary seating that doesn't cost a lot and takes up very little room to store. Oh what great ideas! Love the recommendation on the speaker, will check that one out, thanks! Will add the smore cone to my recipes ideas also, good idea and seems like it would be easier for a crowd! Like the idea of the blankets, too - definitely to have on hand, I was just thinking the other day, I have bought those for almost every family and friend over the last 2 years with summer birthdays but never gotten one for us, and we definitely would/could use them, so great idea, another validation that other than the beach we would definitely have another use!
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Post by bc2ca on Jul 7, 2016 16:43:24 GMT
If you have a Big Lots near you, I highly recommend picking up their Resin Stack Barrel Chair. I picked a few up about eight years ago to try them out for extra seating when we had a big party and loved them so much I went back and bought more. They are comfortable to sit in and can be stacked and tucked away easily when not needed.
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Post by jenjie on Jul 7, 2016 16:49:14 GMT
Can Jam For a temporary fire pit, you can also buy a couple of square pavers on the ground to protect your grass, put a metal oil change pan on top of the pavers. Add your firewood. Voila temporary fire pit had to Google Can jam, had no idea it existed, will add to the fun game list and another thing we can do with the frisbees we have along with the golf! Thanks! My kids played this a few weeks ago with their young adult cousins. Lots of laughter.
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abbyg7
Shy Member
Posts: 15
Mar 24, 2016 16:12:48 GMT
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Post by abbyg7 on Jul 7, 2016 17:18:42 GMT
Bocce ball, corn hole or spike ball.
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Post by beanbuddymom on Jul 7, 2016 17:44:47 GMT
If you have a Big Lots near you, I highly recommend picking up their Resin Stack Barrel Chair. I picked a few up about eight years ago to try them out for extra seating when we had a big party and loved them so much I went back and bought more. They are comfortable to sit in and can be stacked and tucked away easily when not needed. Thank you, we do have a Big Lots and will check those out, love them and really perfect for what I am looking for - thanks!
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Post by beanbuddymom on Jul 7, 2016 17:45:50 GMT
Bocce ball, corn hole or spike ball. Oooh spike ball, forgot about that, DD loves that game, has played it at camp! Thanks!
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ellen
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,509
Jun 30, 2014 12:52:45 GMT
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Post by ellen on Jul 7, 2016 18:31:56 GMT
Kind of hard to add, but we have a lake and the various toys that go with it.
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Post by jeremysgirl on Jul 7, 2016 18:53:56 GMT
Well we do have a fire pit and a trampoline...but we also have a fort. All the little kids love the fort. It's three stories tall...the bottom is a sandbox...the middle is the fort with a big slide...and the top is open with guard rails so kids can sit up top and slide down the firemans pole.
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Post by littlemama on Jul 7, 2016 18:58:31 GMT
Bags and/or badminton set! Thank you, it's funny because a friend of mine and I get giddy laughing about the name cornhole, had always called it beanbag toss so hearing you call it bags made me realize I wasn't alone in that's what we called it! We always laugh about "cornhole", too. We say that's what they call it in Ohio. In MI, cornhole means something completely different. However, now it seems like everyone calls it that everywhere. It was bean bag toss here.
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Post by beanbuddymom on Jul 7, 2016 19:48:36 GMT
Well we do have a fire pit and a trampoline...but we also have a fort. All the little kids love the fort. It's three stories tall...the bottom is a sandbox...the middle is the fort with a big slide...and the top is open with guard rails so kids can sit up top and slide down the firemans pole. That fort sounds awesome. I wish Pinterest had been around when my kids were little - they're 12 and 16 so long past the sandbox stage - we had the little plastic turtle sandbox with the cover but they never seemed to play much in it because it was in the sun - seeing on Pinterest all the ideas they have for forts and sandboxes I know the kids would have had a blast out there - DH was never into much of doing anything for the kids other than putting up the metal swingset that a friend gave him when their kids outgrew it, so I just took them to the beach or the playground. But that fort sounds awesome, you have lucky kids
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Post by beanbuddymom on Jul 7, 2016 19:53:24 GMT
Kind of hard to add, but we have a lake and the various toys that go with it. ha ha ha! Yeah, we don't have a lake to add but that's another thing that DD said some of her friends have too, she spent last weekend at a huge lake house that belonged to a friend's family and they did paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing, tubing. Kind of hard to compete with that at our house. Though we do live 10 min from the beach, so I have tried to encourage outings there but oddly enough the kids don't seem to want to do that - man it drives me nuts. Talk about spoiled I think to myself, so many kids would love to live so close. When I was their age I spent the summer there and at night you would either walk down there or bring games down there and play, but no one seems to want to do that. I may bring a few of them down there some nice night anyway when they're "bored" and see how much fun it really can be to play at the beach in the evening after most people have gone home/to dinner. So much more fun than during the day, ha ha.
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Post by 950nancy on Jul 7, 2016 21:17:47 GMT
What about carefully timed sprinklers to go off on the whining kids?
We have lots of games in the garage or backyard like the ones mentioned. My son also acquired a ping pong table for mowing a neighbors yard twice. The kids love it.
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PaperAngel
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,360
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on Jul 7, 2016 22:38:02 GMT
Several wooden adirondack chairs are a fixture on our covered terrace that overlooks the backyard with pillows/throws that are changed each season, & an outdoor rug & outdoor poufs (that are used indoors the rest of the year) are added when expecting more young people. The terrace has can/recessed lights with a dimmer, a built-in kitchen, & a fireplace that we use during the cooler months. An in-ground basketball hoop & soccer net is used year round, & lawn games, such as bean bag toss, flag football, dominoes, & a sports net (for badmitton, beachball, etc), are brought out in late spring through early fall. When those get boring, I break out the plastic mason jars with tiny holes in the lids & challenge them to catch lightning bugs/fireflies.
Since retail stores have summer items on clearance this month, it's also a great time to stock up on outdoor seating, throw pillows, blankets, games, etc.! A friend has a large family & needs furniture to accommodate several people in a relatively small space; she choose wrought iron benches with backs & comfortable cushions & to seat adults & matching floor cushions for the children. Perhaps that solution will also work on your deck. Enjoy the rest of the summer!
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Post by mellyw on Jul 7, 2016 23:24:37 GMT
Don't have much to add, but want to reiterate that big box stores are starting to clearance out summer stuff. When DD was a teen, I took full advantage. I would buy some cool stuff not marked down real far yet, but you knew wouldn't last long, to use the rest of the summer. Then watch for the serious markdowns & store those for the following summer.
Worked really well, & if something didn't survive rough play (we have a pool, so I'm mostly talking inflatables), didn't matter because I paid so little for it.
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Post by malibou on Jul 8, 2016 0:48:41 GMT
I find lots of little gathering places is helpful. You can get creative with benches, stacked blocks, big floor pillows, and blankets. You'll want seating in the yard too, for spectators of all those glorious game ideas.
J
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Post by melanell on Jul 8, 2016 1:00:55 GMT
I'd start with comfy deck furniture and then add sports and/or yard game equipment.
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Post by mama2three on Jul 8, 2016 3:07:28 GMT
For kids: We have tether ball and the teens love it. We keep it up until the snow falls and it gets s lot of use. It gets quite competitive! We've also put 4x4s on the ground as ground level balance beams. That was a hit with our kids and their friends when they were younger. They loved trying to make their way around the yard without touching the ground. For a while we had an old fashioned wood swing made from a board and strong rope. That was fun too. I've seen giant chess and checker boards built in a yard using different color paver bricks. You can get a bunch of hula hoops and pool noodles from dollar store or 5below and let kids make up games with them. My scouts were very creative in making up games.
My neighbors put out those tiki torches when they have guests. They look nice but I'm afraid someone's hair is going to catch fire as the flame seems to be right at shoulder height.
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Post by Really Red on Jul 8, 2016 3:29:38 GMT
Bocce is the BEST. But don't underestimate the fire pit. YOu can buy one relatively cheap and it's fun for the adults to sit around while the kids are playing - or vice versa.
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