How to Create Your Backyard Olympic Games

Read our top Olympic backyard games ideas so you can host your own Olympics for your kids, family or even your entire neighborhood!

Inspired by the Summer Olympics Games in Tokyo? The Olympics are a perfect way to introduce your friends and family to friendly competition and how to make exercise fun, engaging and supportive.

Read on for 10+ ideas on hosting the best backyard Olympic summer games for your family, friends and neighborhood.

Opening Ceremony

Have each athlete pick a country to represent in your Opening Ceremony. Kids can make their own uniforms by coloring or painting on plain white T-shirts.

You can also make flags from around the world, craft some Olympic leaf crowns, and walk through your neighborhood holding your very own homemade Olympic torch.

Play music from around the world, too!

Backyard Obstacle Course

There are tons of ways to create an obstacle course – and that’s sometimes more than half the fun!

Get creative with your course and mix it up with items you have at home like:

• hula hoops, rings, cones
• yoga blocks / mats
• sports equipment
• chalk to draw squares / lines to jump through or on
• leftover flower pots
• buckets
• cardboard shipping boxes
• milk cartons

Water Balloon Relay

Fill up tons of biodegradable water balloons and have your athletes try to get as many water balloons to the finish line by carrying them in their shirt or pants.

Another option is to make it a baton-style relay and place runners at points along the way to the finish line.

Advanced tip: Do this at the beach; it’s harder running in the sand!

Egg Race Relay

A classic backyard game!

Boil a dozen hard-boiled eggs (extra fun – dye them in the colors of the Olympic rings :). Then have your athletes place the eggs in the spoon and race to the finish line with the egg staying in the spoon. Athletes have to run back to the start if the egg falls to the ground.

Advanced tip: Have the athletes spin around a few times before starting. Or try it with blindfolds!

Backyard Olympics Gymnastics

Paint a line on the lawn or draw a line with chalk on the sidewalk to act as your “balance beam”.

Your Olympic athletes can try:

• balancing across it as fast as possible
• balancing backward
• hopping on one foot
• doing cartwheels
• doing spins

Advanced tip: Set up a backyard tightrope (add a higher rope so little kids can hold on as they cross).

Corn Hole or Bean Bag Toss

Place 5 hula hoops, plastic rings or coffee filters into the classic intersecting Olympic rings pattern.

Have players take turns tossing the bean bags from a good distance and award points for each one that lands in a ring.

Pool Relay Race

Create a traditional relay race at your neighborhood pool. Create teams of 2-4 with cones acting as the pretend lane markers outside of the pool.

To make it easier for everyone, pass on the stroke requirements and just focus on the time to the finish line.

Pool Noodle Javelin

Mark a starting line with some masking tape. Each athlete tries to throw the pool noodle as far as possible and mark each landing spot with tape.

Each athlete gets three attempts and you keep the best of the three scores.

Celebrate All Athletes with a Closing Ceremony

Create your own medals to award at your very own Olympics closing ceremony. Stack leftover cardboard boxes to create the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place podiums.

Create fun Olympic-themed treats, make or order Japanese food to honor this year’s host country, or pick up food from different world cuisines from your neighborhood.

Looking for more activities to do with the kids? Check out our Top 5 Kid-Friendly Hikes in San Diego for our favorite trails around the County.