Games to Play at a Picnic

A picnic reminds everyone of fun and enjoyment. Its an occasion to be together with some close friends or family. It is about being together, eating together and having a lot of fun! A picnic is an occasion to play and no picnic plan is complete without planning the games for it.The right time to begin with the fun games would be the start of the journey.

While planning the games it’s pretty obvious to consider the travel destination and the number of accompanying people. Based on the size of the group and the location of your trip, plan some exciting games to add to the enjoyment. If the journey to the picnic spot is going to take a few hours, its best to plan some light games to be played during the travel. Don't forget to consider the age group of the people who are going to be a part of the picnic. Make sure you have something in store for each member in the camp. Plan some children games for kids. If you have the senior members of your family accompany you, cater to their interests as well.

Some games that can be planned for children include different kinds of races, blow-a-balloon contest and passing the parcel. A running race, a jumping race, a skipping race are some of the races that can be a fun activity. For the blow-a-balloon contest, the kids can be made to stand in a circle with balloons kept in the center. Each of the children can be asked to blow as many balloons as he/she can in the allotted time. 'Passing the parcel’ can be great fun! Have some music played for the game to begin. Children stand in a circle, passing the object in line till the music stops. Whoever is holding the object at the moment the music stops, is out of the game. Memory games are another good option for picnics. Such games can be played even during your journey to the picnic spot. ‘Do-this-do-that’ is another exciting game that we used to play during school picnics. In this game, one person is appointed leader. He/she instructs the group to perform certain actions like hand, face of foot movements, saying either "do this" or "do that". The group has to follow the action shown by the leader only if it has been ordered saying, "do this". The ones who follow a ‘do that’ instruction are out of the game.

Some games, which kids and adults will like alike, are those like treasure hunt. In this game you need to hide a treasure and guide the members of the group with clues that can take them towards the treasure. The one who finds it first is the winner. Another interesting game to play at a picnic is called 'keep-the-pattern'. For this game ask the participants to sit in a circle. Decide a counting pattern such as counting in 5s or counting in odd numbers. That is, the first person says the first number aloud and each one in the circle keeps the pattern. For an odd numbers’ pattern, if the first one starts with the number 1 the next says 3, the next says 5 and the chain continues till someone mistakes in saying the right number. You can be creative to design complex patterns that can make the game challenging.

If the place you are camping at has the facilities of water sports or swimming pools, you can have a great time playing water sports. You can plan swimming races for kids and ball games that can be played in water. In case the picnic spot is going to have ample open space, why not plan some outdoor games for kids and adults? You can take along volleyball, Frisbee or even a football. These games are fun-filled while also being competitive. They involve physical activity, which means they can be really energizing and refreshing for all those enthusiastic members of the crew.

I am sure you will come up with many other interesting games like those given here. Be creative in devising the games to play. Be a careful planner and take along all that will be needed to execute the planned games. Try avoiding games that require too much of an apparatus to be carried to the picnic spot because excessive luggage can bother you. Try to keep the games simple yet competitive and interesting. Plan for games that will invite the interest of one and all in the group and make your picnic a memorable one.