Hobbies And Interests
Ice Breaker
As guests arrive, start an easy question-and-answer game to give everyone a chance to meet and mingle. Follow the yard party theme by taping a different fruit or vegetable seed packet to each guest's back. Tell the guests to talk to one another, asking "yes" and "no" questions about their own seed packet, until each guest determines the identity of his fruit or vegetable.
Plant Relay
Organize a relay race that will also improve the look of your yard. Break the guests into teams of four. Give each team a small potted plant, an empty plastic pot, a bag of soil and a watering can. The first player on each team must remove the plant from the original pot. The second player must place the plant in the center of the new pot, while the third must add more soil to the new pot. The fourth player must pat the soil down and water the plant. Give the team that repots its plant the fastest some small gift bags filled with gardening tools like gloves, seeds and a watering can. Display the newly potted plants around your yard and patio.
Bug Detectives
Kids attending the yard party will appreciate a timed game that lets them crawl around in the dirt. Give each child a pencil, small notebook and magnifying glass. Set the kids loose in the yard, giving them 15 minutes to find and sketch as many bugs as they can. Award one point for every bug a child sketches and a bonus point for every insect the child correctly identifies. Give a prize like an ant farm or bug-catching set to the guest who gets the most points.
Bottle Race
Devise a refreshing yard party game that allows the guests to get drenched. Divide the group into two teams with an even mix of kids and adults. Have both teams stand at one end of the yard beside a bucket full of water. Ask an adult who isn't playing to refill these buckets throughout the game. Place an empty bucket for each team at the other end of the yard. Give each team an empty two-liter plastic bottle with 10 holes poked in the sides. When the race begins, one player from each team must fill the bottle with water, run to his team's empty bucket, pour the water in and run the bottle back to the next player. Award prizes like beach towels, sunglasses or sand toys to the team that fills its empty bucket first.