Baden Backyard

Celebrating Oktoberfest, wandering through corn mazes, and picking out the biggest pumpkin are a few of the ways to spend autumn weekends. From small towns to metropolis cities, harvest festivals are one of the best ways to experience the best of fall. If you’re planning a backyard gathering or community event with an autumnal theme, why not include fun games that everyone can play? Here are a few yard game favorites that are great for crisp fall weather. They’re also terrific because almost every age and ability can play, without learning complicated rules or exerting high-impact activity.  Cornhole Not only perfect for summer barbecues and campsites, cornhole is a fun game for tailgating and harvest festivals, too. Use an ACA regulation size cornhole set with heavy-duty pine wood boards and weather-resistant bean bags. Set up the boards about 27 feet apart on a flat surface. A field, park, or parking lot works great.  Each team stands behind the cor...

Summer is the season of outdoor adventures and family vacations, fun in the sun and relaxing on the beach. From mountain lakes to coastal oceans, bonding over a friendly competitive game and a couple of s’mores over a bonfire are great ways to make memories at the beach. Here are a few outdoor yard games that easily travel to the beach for hours of fun.  Cornhole With easy rules and simple strategy, cornhole is a great game to bring along for a sunny day at the beach. Originally created in Germany in the fourteenth century, this timeless game can be played by kids and adults of various abilities and strengths. Arrange a cornhole set with the two boards facing each other with about 25 feet between them. Depending on the players’ ages and abilities, the distance can be adjusted closer or farther away. Play with two or four players and have the opposing teams stand beside both boards. Each team throws into the board opposite, and in a simple game, the team wit...

Only recently recognized as an Olympic sport, badminton has been played amongst highbrow societies for the past few centuries. Like other garden games, it was a popular pastime for the Victorian upper class in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But why is this game so popular, and how was it only recently inducted into the Olympics as an official sport? Badminton had a simple start and was originally just two players hitting a shuttlecock between two racquets as many times as they could before it hit the ground. Eventually, this game had a more sophisticated evolution when it was brought back from British India to the English countryside in the 19th century. The Indian name, Poona, was transformed to Badminton, after the home of the duke who brought the game to England.  Traditionally, a badminton set includes two to four racquets, a regulation-size net, and a couple of shuttlecocks. Standard racquets are smaller and more lightweight than tennis racquet...

If you go to a family barbecue or stop by a brewery this summer, there’s probably a slightly competitive game of cornhole happening outside. This popular backyard game has grown exponentially in popularity over the last decade and it doesn’t look like it’s stopping anytime soon. Cornhole fits perfectly with classic American summer activities for its simplicity, transportable setup, and easy rules for any skill level. But where did cornhole come from? There’s a variety of sources claiming who exactly invented cornhole. Some say it was the Native Americans, while others insist it was a fourteenth-century German cabinet maker or a family-man Kentucky farmer. One of the most interesting (and consistent) legends says that Mr. Matthias Keupermann created the game after seeing local children inventively throw rocks into a groundhog hole for fun. Concerned for their safety, Keupermann used his skills as a cabinet maker to make boards of wood with similar sized holes so that ...

Looking for a new game to play during your next backyard family gathering? Here are a few outdoor yard games that are easy for all ages and abilities, sure to include everyone who wants to play in a friendly competition. Badminton Badminton is a classic racquet game that uses a shuttle (or shuttlecock). It can include 2-4 players, depending on the match. Created in British India during the 19th century, the British military invented badminton while stationed in India. Now a globally recognized sport and even played at the Olympics, badminton is the fastest racquet sport in the world. Similar to tennis, the shuttle is a small feathered or plastic object hit over a net that divides the court. For casual games, a weatherproof net and a grassy area work best. A traditional badminton set includes 2-4 racquets, a shuttle, and a regulation size badminton net. Boundary lines are helpful to determine those close, questionable calls. Great for any backyard gathering or fam...

Growing up, everyone had parents that signed them up for different sports and activities. To get out of the house, sure, but also to get out of our comfort zones. From volleyball to softball, dance lessons to tennis matches, learning sports skills can help motor development and social development in children. But what happens when kids shift into adulthood? It turns out, the benefits of outdoor hobbies extend beyond childhood. Regular exercise, social connections, and discovering a personal passion are all proven perks of outdoor yard games and recreational sports. Allow yourself to take a break from your everyday routine and try something new outdoors. Meeting new people as an adult can be challenging. You see the same people at work every day, hang out with family at home, surf social media, and the cycle continues. Outdoor hobbies and sports take a break from your typical social interactions and allow you to meet new people in a team atmosphere. Create opportunit...