"Games are a structured way of interacting with other people," states Randy Ray, creator of the Games Information Depot. Ray adds that games have one or more players, a set of rules and a goal. Icebreaker games allow people to become acquainted or to strengthen and renew existing ties. Team-based games provide opportunities for everyone to participate. Skills contests, challenge everyone to reach beyond perceived limitations to set a record or reach a personal milestone.
Icebreakers
Icebreaker games begin with a physical challenge or a conversation starter. Physical challenge icebreakers include passing items from person to person, and connecting people together using rope or by linking arms until they free themselves.
Other icebreaker games provide a conversation starter, such as directions on a slip of paper, describing an action the player must perform or a question she must ask. In Shoe ID, one of several icebreaker games described at Group-Games.com, each player selects a shoe from a pile, finds the person who has the matching shoe and asks three questions.
Lawn Games
Lawn games include classics, such as cornhole, horseshoes, croquet and badminton, among others. Cornhole is a beanbag game played with two sealed rectangular goals set 27 ft. apart, as specified by the American Cornhole Association. Players toss beanbags at the 6-inch diameter hole in each goal.
Horseshoes has a stake at each end of the playing field. Players toss horseshoes, attempting to ring the stake. Players also get points for shoes that strike or lean against the stake.
While horseshoes and croquet both have stakes at each end of the field as goals, croquet is played with colored balls and rubber-tipped, two-headed mallets. Each player's ball must begin at a stake at one end of the playing field. Each player places his ball against the first stake, and then strikes the stake to knock his ball through nine metal wickets in the correct order. He must strike the stake at the other end of the field to win the game.
Badminton, sometimes called "shuttlecock and battledore," has a rubber-tipped, cone-shaped "birdie" that players bat back and forth over a high net using small, light racquets. The earliest birdies consisted of several feathers stuck into a wine cork, records the staff at Official Badminton.com, on their history page.
Team Games
Baseball, softball, soccer, football and basketball permit large numbers of players on the field at the same time. Baseball and softball accommodate up to 18 players, soccer and football allow up to 22, and basketball accommodates up to ten players at a time. As long as you have at least one bat and batting helmet, a chest protector and face mask each for the umpire and catcher, knee pads for the catcher and at least five baseball gloves, you will have a relatively safe game.
Your hands cannot touch the ball when you play soccer. Only feet, head, knees and elbows should ever touch the ball. American football does permit players to touch and carry the ball. Unlike its British cousin, rugby, however, American football also allows players to pass the ball.
Basketball games at campgrounds rarely have a referee. Injuries often occur during "pickup" games, due to more aggressive play. If there is no basketball court, or if players are very young, it is acceptable to use a clean, empty trash barrel as the basket.
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