Active Games To Play With Friends And During Parties

Do you know of any fun active games to play with friends when your kids are bored? Or may be you are baffled what activities to offer to a rather large crowd of kids who gathered to celebrate your child’s birthday party. Whatever you are going through or celebrating, there are some genius games that will your kid crowds contained and preoccupied.

I’ve gathered some of the most entertaining and go-to active games for my kids. I regularly review this collection and am surprised in a way that our family has gotten some powerful staples in the choice of games.

Please allow me to give you a quick list of active games to play with friends, family and any get-together.

Every editorial product is independently selected by me, though I may be compensated or receive an affiliate commission if you buy something through my links. 

Bean Bag Bucket Interactive Game

When you hear a word interactive, what do you see in your mind? A computer game that keeps you glued to the screen or a fun-filled game with running, tagging, catching and laughing – all done outdoors?

Creative Brainworks team has developed some of the best games that you play with friends and family while making some of the most precious connections in life. This Bean Bag Bucket is one of our favorite games ever! Play it outside, at the beach, at the sidewalk, or even inside the house. It requires minimal space, yet gets everybody off their behinds and into an active and interactive modes!

You can choose your set color, American or Original color palettes, HERE.

PaddleSmash Outdoor Game

One of my favorite games ever is badminton. I’ve been a competitive player since high school. Hence I do appreciate a game that takes my badminton skills to the test. Well, PaddleSmash does it!

You can play this easy-to-learn and skill-forming game in the backyard or the beach, tailgating party or by the lake. It takes minimum two people to play and makes it really fun when all four players are available for a challenge!

Like with any other game, you are in control of the rules. But main gig is that this game pushes you to move, to think quickly on the feet, and connect with other people in the party.

Fill free to explore the game and buy it .

Another entertaining game similar to PaddleSmash is Big Dill Pickleball that you can play anywhere, in any season! You can shop for this active game HERE.

How To Play PopDarts

You may be surprised to learn that playing PopDarts game is so easy and fun that it may become addictive! Explore the shopping options HERE.

Things you need to have in addition to the PopDarts set is a sticking surface like a kitchen table or a refrigerator or even your Robot vacuum! Then you grab your choice of color darts and begin throwing them against the surface you’ve chosen. Just make sure that the surface you choose to play against is sticky for the darts.

The darts are safe to throw, as they are made of silicone material and are very soft.

Make your own rules or use the ones the company offers for the novices. Enjoy the fun and celebrate the connections and the times you share with your friends and family!

And if you want, you could now purchase a set of PopDarts that comes with game boards! Each game board has a surface that allows the silicone darts to stick and stay there! Shop for this option HERE!

Darkridge Reunion Secret Mission Game

When you want your kids to develop leadership qualities and the skills to work and lead a group of other people, Darkridge Reunion is the game to play!

This board game not only incorporates strategy development, but also allows a person to make hard choices. But all is done in a creative, fun and immersive way to build connections and use them throughout the game experience. Wow, we all need to know how to build relationships and maintain them throughout our lives!

Darkridge Reunion Game Features

– Immersive and engaging for groups of 6-12 people ages 12+
– 100% Repayable, as new secret missions change every single game
– Memory-building experience for your family parties, birthdays, holidays and get-togethers

Buy this game HERE for your upcoming occasions and gift ideas.

Let me introduce you to a family of games that have been some of my favorites, since we’ve tested them from the very beginning of their inception. Every game is a unique creation by a teacher and super entrepreneur Judd King.

• Dive Diamonds for summer water activities
• Capture The Flag Redux recreates a Summertime Classic outdoor game
• Glow Battle
• Wizards and Werewolves

STARLUX Dive Diamonds

When the Summer is here, it means that kids want more of water and splashing within this warm time of the year. Naturally, they make up games to enjoy in the pool to celebrate the joys of swimming and diving like fishes.

One of the favorite activities for my children is to through toys and dive to retrieve them from the bottom of the pool. This easy, no brainer water activity can last for hours on end. On and off with breaks and new rules to play it.

What if I told you that STARLUX genius Judd King has created yet another of his masterpieces Dive Diamonds?

You can check out and buy this water fun game HERE.

But you will have a chance to enter and win your own game set in this post!

The individual plastic diamond pieces glow in the dark with a turn of a button and have a huge popularity among kiddos this season. Kids play with diamonds during the day. And when the sun sets, and there’s a chance for the dive diamonds to glow in the dark and under the water, the BIG GAME begins!

I cannot tell you how much joy, happiness, screams of friendly competition and laughter fill the pool and everything around it! The game is the funnest (pardon my English) and most amazing an “in” thing to play in the pool.

Dive Diamonds Game Features

Each Glow-in-the-Dark Dive Diamonds comes in a kit of three. All the batteries are present and ready for the game. All you need to do is to get some extra round batteries in order not to run out ever of them. Here are the feature we adore this amazing water game.

• Waterproof
• Each diamond piece always lands on its flat side
• Batteries last for a long time
• Reusable

Who would like to win their own DIVE DIAMONDS kit for this Summer fun? Enter the giveaway form at the end of the post!

Explore some of the top brain STEM games for your kids and yourself. Puzzles, DIY sets and games of imagination.

Capture The Flag Redux Game

Inspiration for the game arose from experiences Judd had as a Boy Scout.  Hiking, camping and outdoor programs shaped his deep appreciation for nature – but capture the flag offered something a little different: stealth.  It was a combination of the freedom of being outside and the thrill of sneaking around, trying to get the other team’s flag without getting caught, that truly ignited his imagination and made for some of his favorite memories as a scout.

The idea for REDUX came years later, when Judd happened upon a set of color-changing, luminescent ostrich-egg sized LED lights.  He purchased them as a joke and started displaying them as parties.  They proved to be so popular that he started bringing them camping and to music festivals.

Maybe it was rubbing shoulders with so many incredible people or maybe it was being back outside so much, but somehow “LED lights” merged with his favorite outdoor game, capture the flag.  Soon enough, he launched the game on Kickstarter, reached 40% of his funding goal within 48 hours and things haven’t slowed since!

The creation of the game is one thing but its purpose reflects a far more important value.  As a teacher, whether in the classroom or out on a high school wilderness retreat, Judd became increasingly concerned with the way that technology separates people in their face-to-face interactions.  

All too often youth exist in a sort of neither region of spending time with friends while texting people who aren’t present, interrupting conversation with posts from online personalities they’ve never met, and otherwise distracting themselves from what is arguably the most meaningful component of our existence: our connection to other people.

The REDUX team offers a product that incites youth to being fiercely present and aware of one another.  It does this during a time of day when, let’s face it, kids and teens don’t have a lot of options: after sunset.  It encourages kids to put their cell phones, tablets, TV remotes down and INTERACT.  In real time.  Outdoors.  With each other.

This kit has been popular with youth groups, scouting groups, summer camps, and birthday parties. If you are looking for a way to keep your group active and happy, then Capture the Flag REDUX would be a great addition to your summer nights.

Buy it HERE for all your fun celebrations (thank you for using my affiliate link when you buy it, as Amazon influencer I make a small commission from qualified purchases.)

This super entertaining activity belongs to some of the best active games to play with friends.

Now get outside and do something fun!

Glow Battle Group Game With Glowing Swards

Who doesn’t love Star Wars and their infinite fights with lightsabers?! Now, you can enjoy a game that can elevate your thinking and strategy while using a glowing sword. Here is the GLOW BATTLE by Starlux Games. You can buy it HERE (I make a small commission from qualified Amazon sales, thank you for using my link!)

This game is a ton of fun for both kids and adults. This is a game to play with friends when bored. We usually play in large groups where parents and kids are all mixed up in opposite teams. The infinite fun is guaranteed!

If you are thinking STEM games, it is! A child’s brain processes strategies while optimizing the movements of the body. The connections between the brain and body during the game are priceless.

Double the fun using double the weapons! That means every player can fight two handed. The extra items also come in handy for bonus games such as Knights of Old, Death Race and Vampires.

Wizards And Werewolves Outdoor Game of Hunting, Hiding And Howling

If you are into fantasy, then Wizards And Werewolves is your outdoor game to play and act out! This is a fun and epic team-based game that pits two mythical forces against each other in an exciting backyard battle of speed, skill and wits.

Who said that exercise is boring? This active group game will get you back in shape when played regularly. In addition, player from 8-years-old to 65+ are welcome!

These active games to play with friends come in amazingly well-decorated and packaged boxes. Make it a gift that will last.

You can buy this active group game HERE (my affiliate link, thank you for using it).

Croquet Game Health Benefits

When you need to play a low-impact game, without running and jumping, go after the croquet game!

Some say it is way too complicated to play. But you can make your own rules and go after it! Depending on a set you get for family and friends to play with, you will get a ton of fun and funny moments during the game. We do it all the time! Check out croquet games .

Before you push away the idea of playing croquet, check out the health benefits that come when you play this game.

First, it is a game with an awesome socializing element. You can think golf. People are not running there, they talk, they share their life’s experiences during the play, and they enjoy doing it together.

Health specialists note that croquet is a powerful stress reliever. Ideal for all age, croquet allows to focus on certain elements of play during the game. And that leads to an effective de-stressing.

Who would deny that playing outdoors is boring? Fresh air, being in nature, creating atmosphere for family and friends – all that comes into one beautiful moment in time that will be unforgettable.

What you may want to know is that croquet is mentally stimulating. Figuring out strategies, and doing it many steps ahead like in a chess match, puts this game into a good brain-stimulating activity. Play more croquet to develop more powerful neuron connections!

So, to stay sharp – play croquet!

Read my detailed post on different types of games if you are looking for more of family bonding activities.