Tweens are a tough age group. Not old enough to really assert their independence, and too old to be watched and protected as much as a loving father wants. With one tween daughter and one tween son (with the third not too far away) we’re always looking for ways to keep them entertained as they grow out of make believe and children’s games.
Summer can be the hardest time to entertain your tweens. At that point in their lives the are less interested in the day camps they used to love but aren’t old enough to be gone for the day with friends on their own. In the interest of entertaining your tweens what we’ve done here is collected a number of tween-aged games and activities, and then asked the tween-aged resident experts about their favorites. This is what we’ve come up with:
Independence Day: Backyard Camp-Out
Given how tight money often is for families, camping is one activity that is really on the rise as an inexpensive family vacation. What that means for your tweens is that you probably either have a tent yourself, or know someone who has one you can borrow (and if you don’t have either, a small tent is available at Amazon quite reasonably like these Coleman tents that get great reviews) and you have a gateway for a great entertainment option for your tweens.
My tweens always have a blast simply setting up and hanging out in a tent in the backyard, day or night. Whether reading, playing, watching something on a laptop or tablet, or just chilling outside, they seem to be able to while away hours in the tent. I think the tent gives them a feeling of independence that they aren’t able to get inside or in their rooms and gives them a little feeling of control over their destiny. Use air mattresses, yoga mats, or blankets to put a little padding under them while they’re out there. The key to this activity is that you need to leave them alone. Make them responsible for putting up the tent and filling it with whatever they are going to do.
While hanging out during the day is fun for them, if your tweens are of the more responsible variety you can take this to the next level by letting them camp out in your backyard overnight. Flashlight, sleeping bags (or more sheets and blankets) and pillows (plus some sweet or salty snacks) are all it takes to make it an adventure. This will really amplify the feeling of independence while keeping them close enough to get you or run inside in the case their nerves or an emergency situation gets the best of them. They will also be close to the bathroom, when nature does call! This kind of activity can also help teach responsibility – if you make them clean up afterwards and put the tent away!
Game On: Water Battle
On a hot summer day, kids and adults alike can all enjoy a good water battle, but this is especially well suited for tweens. Still young enough to engage in play, and typically not old enough to be really body conscious, a water battle fits perfectly for tweens. At their age they can start to make good decisions and are starting to get real control over their bodies, so the game can be fast moving and competitive while they still have no problem being out in swim suits.
Water battles can go from cheap and cheerful to expensive and hyper competitive depending on your tastes. In the late spring and summer you’re able to find water balloons and inexpensive squeeze water guns and the dollar store, but buying a load of large Super Soakers (or a bunch of these when they are available!) can get costly quickly.
Make sure to set the rules for the battle early (such as no intentional face shots) and then get out of the way. Your tweens will be able to handlethe game without significant interference.
Night Time Ninja: Flashlight Tag
As day turns to evening (and those kids definitely start to stay up later when they are tweens don’t they? *Sigh*) letting your tweens out after dark can be both a treat and an adventure – especially if they don’t normally get to be out late. If you’ve got your tweens camping out, or your party runs into the night, try flashlight tag to end the day.
There are a few variations of flashlight tag but my favorite is playing in teams. Divide your tweens into two teams – these teams don’t need to be even, and you probably want fewer people on the “it” team than being caught. Set up a jail where the kids who are caught are sent until they are freed or the last person is caught and equip the “it” team with flashlights.
The “it” team stands near the jail and counts to the number (you choose the number) to give the other team time to hide – and then go hunting! Players are caught by being lit in the beam of a flashlight and go to jail.
The kids in the jail can be freed by someone on the hunted team getting into the jail without being caught and tagging all the captured players without getting hit by a flashlight.
The game ends when everyone is captured, but can be started again by setting a new “it” team (the first few people caught the last game is a good one) and starting the countdown again.
Bonus Option: There are games like Glow Battle (available at Amazon) which take flashlight tag to the next level.
Baseball Fans: Pickle
My baseball tween loves this game. Pickle is a game that they often play to end their winter training or practices that you can easily transfer to the backyard. To play Pickle you need two “bases” and two basemen with gloves and a ball (preferably a softer ball like a tennis ball – you can play it without gloves but it makes it harder to catch). Everyone else are the base runners.
The game starts with one baseman holding the ball and yelling “Go.” The ball then gets thrown between basemen and the runners choose when to try and run between the bases. Runners are out when a baseman with the ball tags them when they are not standing on base.
While there are no rules about how a runner needs to run (they don’t need to go straight from base to base, and they can go back to the base they were on) they can’t stand on their current base for more than 3 throws without being called out.
If you have two adults to play the basemen the game is a little more controlled and the runners will have a bit of an “us vs them” mentality that adds to the fun of the game.
Slip Sliding Away: Water Slides
Talking to my tweens, water slides got a big thumbs up when looking at backyard activities. We’re surrounded by pools and that makes everyone here a little jealous, so when we have the opportunity to get the water out, everyone is on board.
Now we’re not talking about the big blue hard plastic slides, or the ones you go down into a pool – no, we’re talking about the good ol’ land based run and slide plastic sheets. Like the good ol’ Slip n’ Slide.
To set up a water slide you have a couple of options. You can either purchase a manufactured set (like this one at Amazon) or you can make your own out of a camping tarp or plastic sheeting, some cheap shampoo or dish soap, and a sprinkler or soaker hose.
- Lay out the large rectangular tarp or plastic sheeting (both available at a hardware store – and you’ll want at least 6mm sheeting) on the ground. It’s best if you can run in down a gently sloping hill, but you can make this work on flat ground as well.
- Get the sheeting wet. Very wet. Soak it.
- Apply inexpensive shampoo or dish soap – you can get this from the dollar store. Getting a no tears baby shampoo means that even if your tweens get it in their eyes there won’t be any stinging.
- Set up the sprinkler or soaker hose to continually get the sheeting or tarp wet. Sliding down the slide will push off some of the water each time, and the sprinkler or hose will help keep kids moving.
- Start sliding! You’ll need to regularly re-apply the soap/shampoo to the slide (which is why it needs to be inexpensive!)
Even if you’ve purchased a manufactured slide, having the dish soap or shampoo will help with nice sliding. You’ll have to test out your product to be sure.
Round 1, Fight! Nerf Battle
Nerf guns are a fun childhood pastime, but not something that anyone grows out of. Nerf Office Battles are a great team building event that everyone should have a chance to be part of. And if grownups can still get into it, tweens are definitely still in that wheelhouse.
All a Nerf battle needs are some Nerf guns, lots and lots of Nerf bullets, and a willingness to go at it! I’ve also invested in some protective eyewear for my kids during their Nerf battles – always better safe than sorry. It also gives them a feeling that they’re gearing up for the battle – adds some cool factor to their wardrobe (along with the bandoleers and bandannas!)
The Nerf battle can be fought at any time of the day – including into the evening and is less about winning or losing as it is about creeping around under cover and shooting at each other with foam darts. Divide your group into two even teams, give them the guns, and let them go at it.
If you want to add some rules to the game:
- No physical contact
- No deliberate face shots
- Every player has 5 or 10 hit points – getting hit by a dart means losing a hit point (multiple darts at once is only one hit). Some games you have a short invulnerability time between hits where you can’t lose more hit points – but you can’t shoot at others either.
- When you’re out of hit points, you get out of the game area until everyone is done
- It’s an honor system. No cheating
Getting Your Treasure Hunt On: The Scavenger Hunt
Last but definitely not least on our list is the scavenger or treasure hunt. Now these are a little different
- A scavenger hunt is where a person or a team search a wide area for all the things on a list of items.
- A treasure hunt is where a person or team follow a list of clues to get to a final “treasure”
In both cases, the organizer of the hunt will have to do some preparation – either identifying all the things that need to be found or creating the clues that the team needs to follow in order to complete the hunt.
For a scavenger hunt the older the people the wider the area and the more obscure the list. For tweens, this can be played in a mid to large sized back yard (or over a few back yards) or in a local park or forest. The items can be anything from standard household items (a fork!) to natural things (a pinecone) or anything in between. Splitting your tweens into teams and giving them the same list of items that can be fairly commonly found is a great way to bring out some competitive spirit.
It’s harder to play a scavenger hunt in a smaller area but it can be done with a little technology. Most tweens these days have a device that can take pictures – whether it’s their own phone, an iPod, or access to one of your old phones. Change the rules from gathering the items to taking pictures of the items as they are found and you can use a smaller space and fewer items.
A treasure hunt can be completed in any size yard or outdoor space – the difference will be in the clues. If the space is small and fairly well known (such as a single back yard) the clues can tend more towards riddles that guide the hunters towards hidden targets. If the space is large or less well known the clues can be more directive (20 steps from the maple tree towards the oak and turn left…) as the hunters will be learning to navigate the terrain as well as the clues. Riddles still work in larger areas but could take a lot more hunting if the players aren’t familiar with the area.
The “treasure” at the end of the hunt can be anything but I like it to be something with instant gratification. Candy, chocolate (a “chest” of foil wrapped coins?), desert, etc… that the hunters can get an immediate reward from. If you’re doing a treasure hunt as part of a larger event or party the “treasure” can lead directly into the next event, giving a nice flow.
Summing Up
There are lots of great activities for your tweens to get invovled in, but they’re in a stage of life where they need a little more independence in getting it done. If you’re looking for other ideas, check out our 8 Backyard Games in the Dark and 6 Great Dice Games to Play in your Backyard.
Happy Backyard Living!
