The Top 3 Games to Play in the Park

1.Giants, Wizards and Elves.

This game is a stone cold classic. It helps to involve children because then you don’t feel so stupid doing the actions, but if you can pretend that you’re only enjoying it ironically, then frankly, it’s a game for all ages.

It basically works like a more physical game of Paper, Scissors, Stone. The group is split into 2 teams, who have to separately decide which character they’re going to be: Giant, Wizard or Elf. Each character has an action.

The action for Giant is arms straight up in the air, growling.

The Wizard involves pretending to cast a spell, and yelling ‘Kazam’.

The Elves crouch down, shouting ‘Mimimimi’.

Once the teams have decided the character for their team, they line up facing each other about 20 metres apart. They then slowly approach each other until a few metres apart. At the count of three, both teams do the action of their character.

And now the critical bit. The Giants beats the Elves, the Elves beats the Wizards, and the Wizards beats the Giants. So the team that is doing the ‘winning’ character then has to catch the ‘losing’ team before the losing team get back to their starting line. The ‘losing’ team obviously have to run back to their starting line as fast as their little legs will carry them. Anyone who is caught has to then join the other team. If both teams are doing the same character, it is an honourable draw, so after a few pleasantries are exchanged, you start again.

After each round, the teams regroup to choose a new character, and the game continues until one team has everybody in it. Which means that technically, everyone’s a winner. So if you’re a sore loser, then this game really is for you.

2.Merk Ball

 

That's right, Merk Ball. This game was developed on the foothills of the mighty Austrian Alps, and was a game that humans and bears used to play together, until the bears became too good at it.

For this game you need a decent sized space in the park and a ball of sorts. Preferably this ball is not going to hurt someone when it smacks them, so a rubbery football is ideal. Definitely not a cricket ball.

Quite simply, the game involves everyone running about trying to get hold of the ball to fling at other people. If someone throws the ball and it hits you, you have to kneel down. However if someone throws the ball at you and you catch it, that person has to kneel down. But watch out! If you try and catch it, but drop it, you have to kneel.

If you are kneeling, you have to remember who was responsible for getting you (i.e. who it was that hit you with the ball, or who caught your throw). You can only kneel once that person is hit, and therefore is kneeling. You can then rejoin the fray- go and get those suckers!

The beauty of this game is that it never really ends, because every time you hit one person, it usually releases some other people. So if you want a game that goes on forever, this is the best one out there.


3.Circle Dodgeball

My oh my, what a crowd pleaser. Who doesn’t like a bit of Dodgeball? No-one. Add a circle to the mix and you’ve got a perfect game for a sunny afternoon in the park. Pure joy.

Again, this game requires a ball, ideally the soft one you’ve just been using in Merk ball. Half the group create a large circle, the other half of the group get into that very circle. I think you can guess what’s going to happen next. That’s right, the group forming the circle have to try and fling the ball at those suckers in the middle. If someone in the middle is hit, they have to join the circle and start flinging the ball at those they used to call ‘team mates’. The traitors!

  

The game is ended once the very last person is hit. That person, usually a small and particularly nimble child, is held aloft triumphantly for all to see.