8 Exciting Outdoor Games For Teenagers

This post is part of our archived content. While we’ve shifted focus, it still may be useful.

The weather is finally warming up (hurrah!) and we’ve been spending too much time on our couches completing Netflix.

It’s time to put those screens down and head for the great outdoors.

Or the smallish green bit in the backyard.

We know teenagers are famously reluctant to move, so we’ve put together ideas for tempting, competitive, energising and fun outdoor games for teenagers.

Outdoor activities for teenagers are an integral part of their overall development as they provide numerous benefits physically, mentally, and socially.

Engaging in outdoor activities allows teenagers to improve their physical fitness levels, enhance their coordination, and build strength.

Outdoor games for tweens and teens like hiking, biking, or playing sports help them enjoy the fresh air and sunlight and develop a healthy lifestyle that can prevent future health issues.

Outdoor activities can also boost their mental wellbeing by reducing stress levels, promoting relaxation, and enabling a break from the pressures of academics and technology.

Being in nature also fosters creativity and problem-solving skills in teenagers, as it exposes them to new environments and challenges.

Fun outdoor activities for teens provide an excellent opportunity for teenagers to connect with their peers, building strong friendships and learning valuable social skills such as teamwork and communication.

Try these outdoor games for young adults for a birthday party, or just for fun.

Once you get the kids out, you’ll find they can really lose themselves in sport or play.

Just don’t draw any attention to it, and remember the golden rule when it comes to outdoor activities for teens: Don’t. Take. Any. Photos. Of. Them.

Our favourite outdoor games for teenagers:

Water Games Ideas

We all like to get wet from time to time and find that teenagers do too.

They are likely to protest at first so aim for a warm day or you won’t get far.

Try filling squeezable water bottles and go for a kind of hide and seek/paintball game where you have to get close enough to one person to ‘mark’ them.

If you have water pistols, these work even better.

If you have access to a wooded park or an area with good hiding places, split into two teams and choose something for each team to try and steal.

Storm The Heights, but wetter and better.

If you have younger kids, ask the teens to help set up a sprinkler or a water slide.

You’ll need a thick piece of plastic for the slide.

Place the slide onto a slope and either ask the teenagers to set up a running hose with soapy suds thrown onto the slide for extra slipperiness.

Or get them to throw bucketfuls of water onto the slide to keep things wet.

They’ll soon go from manning the operations to trying it themselves.

Sponge Pass

This is fun when looking for outdoor games for high school students and has the added bonus of being great for the arm muscles.

Set up two teams and line up facing each other.

At the head of the line, have a bucket full of water and a big, clean sponge.

At the end of the line, place an empty bucket.

When you say ‘go’, your teens must begin soaking up water, passing the sponge down the line and wringing it out in the empty bucket.

The first team to fill the empty bucket is the winner.

You may not get that far though; watch out for sponge wars!

Water Balloon Wars

Buy a big stack of water balloons and get your teenagers to do the tedious task of filling them.

Send them outside to throw the water balloons at each other.

Apologise to your neighbours for the happy screams and shouts that will ensue as the water balloon wars ramp up.

Make sure they clean up all the bits of colourful rubber that will be lying everywhere.

Perhaps the first person to clean up properly wins!

Night Games

Teenagers love going out in the dark, so try introducing to them the idea of night games.

Torch tag is a great one; buy everyone inexpensive torches (or borrow a bunch) and split into two opposing teams.

Play tag as you would normally, but expect a more exciting nighttime vibe.

The last person tagged wins!

Try playing hide and seek with torches.

Glow sticks always get teenagers going, so try to find a range of colors and sizes of glow sticks; the ones that snap together are especially good fun.

Ask your kids to create twisted colorful body jewelry, or a giant collective artwork.

Traditional Fun Outdoor Games

Balls and ball games are always fun.

See what’s stored in the garage or the attic – look for a range of ball sizes, rackets, nets, and ropes.

You don’t need a full team or even the perfect set of rules.

Just start by defining an outdoor space and get passing balls around in teams or just person to person.

Kick, hit, swing, or throw.

You often find that teenagers will respond to a ball heading in their direction by sending it right back to you without even thinking about it.

Then, let instinctive competitiveness take over.

Suggest you hit back and forth for a few minutes, or say it’s the first of you to score ten hits against the other.

Try ping pong, swing ball, a little softball or cricket.

Make it fun and keep it easy.

Encourage the older kids to help the younger ones as this can be a great way to get the teenagers involved naturally.

Outdoor Party Games For Teens

These can be a little more formal.

Get the teens acting like kids again with these retro outdoor games.

They were good for us growing up, so why not reintroduce them to a new generation?

Yard Twister

Find some eco-friendly paint and mark out a giant Twister Board on the grass.

They will secretly love getting close up to each other and Twister is a good old-fashioned yard game for teens.

Scavenger Hunt

Come up with a list of things to find or hunt down.

Think about a seaside scavenge where your lost items could include:

a broken pink shell
a feather
two grams of sand
a piece of dried seaweed.

A scavenger hunt in the park or yard could include:

a snail shell
a cloverleaf
three different types of seeds or leaves
a collection of twigs that vary in thickness and length.

Give the kids a set time and go! This works well when looking for outdoor games for youth clubs.

Treasure Hunt

Spend a little time on a treasure hunt for your group.

Write the clues, hide them earlier, and make sure the final treasure is worth the hunt for the players.

Chocolates work well and they can be shared with everyone.

Your teens can be involved in planning the hunt for their friends, so it can become a double-whammy when it comes to outside games for teens.

What do you think are the best outdoor games for teens?