Throw, hit, have fun! My favourite garden games for the whole family
4/4/2025
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Michael Restin
Just sitting around in the garden? It's not just the children who find that boring, I feel the same way after a short time. Games are needed. The following games from the "throw and hit" department have proved their worth for me.
When the hunger for exercise is great and the flat is small, the best playground is still outside. Over time, we've accumulated a few things that I always like to get out of the cellar in spring. After weeks of maltreating the mini basketball hoop in the room, the duels are now shifting back to the fresh air. What follows is a list of what I and my family enjoy doing. And a panicked bad purchase is also included.
Wobbly throwing discs
It doesn't usually get any easier than this, and that's a good thing. After all, games that don't require a lot of set-up time or complicated explanations end up being the most popular. And if not, it doesn't matter. Let's start small: I like to have the mini frisbee from Waboba with me. It's always good for a few quick throws, flies far, fits in any bag and can't break anything.
If you have enough space, the frisbee golf variant (backnine set) is also quite fun, where the aim is to get into the target ring with as few throws as possible. The four mini frisbees and throwing ring are also a really good deal. They correspond to the discs sold individually and are just not quite as nicely printed, but are significantly cheaper.
Soft crossboccia
The Kugeln bags are also soft and light in crossboccia - the off-road version of the classic throwing game. You don't need a flat surface or good accident insurance to play crossboccia. All you need is five minutes and one to three other players.
Favourite throwing balls
Always worth a throw is the moonball from Waboba, a bouncy ball with considerable bounce. However, no garden table is safe from it. Waboba actually stands for "Water Bouncing Ball", but we particularly enjoy the beach and land products. They are available in countless variations.
Classic Kubb and (perhaps soon) Cornhole
A classic that should not be missed is Viking chess (Kubb). Bowling over a few wooden sticks is always fun, especially when you're already tired of throwing balls. The playing field is limited and the risk of escalation is low.
I haven't bought it yet, but I have my eye on "Cornhole" - the throwing game in which the aim is to sink filled cloth bags into the opposite hole. But first I have to make some space in the cellar. And you can actually do it yourself.
Speedminton is unbeatable outdoors
Backstroke games are at least as good, but usually more limited in terms of the number of players and require more effort to set up. Anything with a ball, racket and net has a firm place in my heart
Which makes me wonder why we used to spend hours playing featherball. The sport is called badminton and belongs indoors. Outside, speedminton is much more fun because the equipment doesn't develop an unpredictable life of its own at the slightest breeze.
You don't even need a net for this, the two fields are simply marked out with a tape on the grass or on the beach. But even without a playing field and points, the small, heavier shuttle can be hit back and forth over long distances.
Speedball doesn't need much space
Speedball is entertaining in confined spaces. The game stood in our garden for years and was well used by the children before it fell victim to the weather. Here you can hit the ball on the line in pairs or alone, which is more difficult and fun than it looks at first. If the rhythm is right, it can almost degenerate into sport.
If younger children are running around, however, caution is advised: An accidental direct hit with the spinning ball can be painful and dangerous, and the string can also get wrapped around the body. The beginner version of Artengo has a soft rubber ball to minimise at least one danger.
Spikeball and Roundnet everywhere
Spikeball is not dangerous, but can only be played from about eight years upwards and with a ball-savvy group. A game that is also available much more cheaply under the name Roundnet and is played roughly according to beach volleyball rules in teams of two. By the third ball contact at the latest, the ball must be hit into the net instead of over it, which catapults it upwards like a trampoline.
For starters, it's challenging enough to somehow keep the ball in play together. Five or six people can also do this and have fun without taking up too much space in the garden, in the park or on the beach.
Since the game is so popular, there are now other variants that have been modelled on it. I would love to try PaddleSmash, for example. It combines Pickleball (also on my to-do list) with a playing and target field on the floor modelled on Spikeball.
Classics in small format
Because tables and baskets are too high, goals too big and basements too small, I've collected a lot of miniature classics over the years. The mini table tennis table was particularly useful for playing first rallies with younger children. But the adults always had fun with it too.
It is still used today in the children's room or as a "coaster" for a mini billiard and also makes a useful children's table at a garden party. Goals and a basketball hoop suitable for children naturally round off the sports facilities on the doorstep.
No tip: outdoor Mikado
I don't know what possessed me when I ordered the giant outdoor-mikado. Or rather, it was a panic buy just before Easter, which predictably went down badly. For one thing, Mikado was never a hit indoors. Secondly, every other stick was bent to such an extent that the pieces could at best be used as oversized barbecue skewers.
In future, I'll keep my hands off Mikado - or go for the edible nibble variant, while I eagerly await new outdoor game tips in the comments column. If you have any other ideas - feel free to share! I'm always on the lookout for the next big thing.
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
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