DIY Yard Pong Game

If you’re looking to have a little backyard fun, try creating this $15 DIY Yard Pong game.

Since our state issued a stay at home order two months ago, Scott got creative and managed to take me to the prom and Disney World right in our living room. So, when he challenged me to come up with a creative idea for date day, the bar was set pretty high.

I racked my brain trying to think of things Scott likes to do that I could turn into a fun at-home activity. Problem is, my husband is not a complicated guy. His likes are pretty simple…food, sports, craft beer, and any game where he has a high likelihood of winning.

We’re both a tad on the competitive side, so we enjoy playing games together. In fact, we’ve been playing cornhole quite a bit recently.  It’s been one of our favorite games to play since we first started dating. So much so that I gifted Scott a set of custom cornhole boards my sister made for our wedding.

Those boards led to one of our favorite memories to date: having a legitimate “parking lot party” in the parking lot of our hotel with all of our friends the night before our wedding.

Going off that train of thought, I started brainstorming other games Scott enjoys. Particularly games that might take him back to the good old days of college when he and his fraternity brothers threw ridiculous parties.

A Little Collegiate Inspiration

So, here’s another fun fact about Scott and me: we attended the same college and graduated only a year apart. We even lived in the same apartment complex for a while, in neighboring buildings. But we never knew the other existed on campus. (I talk more about this in this post about how we met).

Scott spent his college days studying psychology and planning those parties with his brothers. I spent my college days studying journalism and working on the student newspaper.  Our social circles weren’t even close.

Which is why, despite the fact that we both played our fair share of beer pong back in the day and love to engage in competitive activities, we’ve never played beer pong together.

I decided it was time to rectify that situation.

Obviously, we don’t have the supplies for beer pong laying around the house. Plus, I wanted to be a little more creative than setting up some plastic cups on a table. I’ve heard of Yard Pong (a giant outdoor version of the game) before and decided it would be perfect.

Originally, I tried searching for a set online. I did find this one but it wasn’t available in any stores near me. I thought it might be back to the drawing board for date ideas until inspiration struck…why not make my own set?

A quick trip the Dollar Tree and $15 later, we were all set for hours of fun. Our game consisted of 12 round laundry baskets and two inflatable beach balls.

I will note the beach balls added a fun (and funny) challenge to the game. Aiming was nearly impossible and even the slightest breeze blows them all over the place (also, we nearly lost one of the balls to Lola and her sharp teeth). We plan to pick up a couple of these inexpensive playground balls and see the difference they make.

Want More Outdoor Fun?

Like I said, Scott and I love playing games where we can be competitive. Since Summer is quickly approaching, we’ll be looking to take even more of our competitions outdoors. If you’re also a fan of playing games and being outdoors, here are a few other games we enjoy playing or want to add to our collection.

Cornhole: Again, this is one of our favorites. You can pick up a ready-made set like this one from plenty of retailers. Or, if you want to create a custom set like ours, I bought a set of unfinished boards that my sister customized for us.

Giant Jenga: If you really want to kick the anxiety of Jenga up a notch or ten, make it giant-sized. We’ve played this game several times in the past and it’s a lot of fun. It’s also another game that you can easily purchase or make it yourself.

Ladder Toss: So, in full disclosure, this is a game we used to have that mysteriously disappeared during one of our moves. It might or might not have had anything to do with the fact that I was never able to beat Scott at it. (Have I mentioned that we’re both really competitive?) Nevertheless, it was fun to play, and I might buy a new set for this summer.

Floating Beer Pong: We absolutely plan to pick up one of these for the pool this summer. Because, how could we not?