Diversify your outdoor leisure activities by setting aside some space in your backyard for vintage lawn games. These family-friendly games have survived for centuries, and today some even have professional associations and worldwide tournaments. Most lawn games only require a modest investment for the equipment that you need. In return, they provide exercise and lively entertainment for children and adults.
Badminton
Some people call badminton "lawn tennis," but the only similarity is the net and the racket. In your backyard, the amount of space available for play, rather than regulations, defines the badminton court. The equipment includes a shuttlecock: a small ball attached to a webbed cone that makes its travel from one side of the court to the other more efficient. The rackets for badminton are similar to tennis rackets, but much lighter, often using plastic for the strings and in some cases, the handle. The net stands at a height of five feet, between two poles driven into the lawn, and removed as needed. Like tennis, you play badminton with two players or as doubles, a team of two players on each side. CBS News notes that in doubles, only the server scores points when the opposing side fails to return a serve.
Horseshoes
Horseshoe pitching is a game that came to the U. S. by way of England. This simple game involves throwing a horseshoe at metal stakes in the lawn. The objective is getting your two horseshoes closer to the stake than your opponent in each round. The stakes are usually 40 feet apart, if space allows. Each player stands at one stake, and pitches his horseshoes to the opposite stake. The Independent Mail newspaper notes that accumulating points for the winning pitch depend on several factors. When your horseshoe encircles the stake (a ringer), you receive three points. If neither player's horseshoe touches the stake, the one that is closer gets one point. If both players' horseshoes are the same distance or they both are ringers, neither player scores, as the points cancel each other. Play continues until one player accumulates 21 points.
Croquet
This multi-player yard game uses wire hoops, shaped like the letter "U", colorful wooden mallets and a set of four balls---red, yellow, black and blue. Game regulations, imported from Europe, determine the arrangement of the nine hoops or wickets provided in most vintage croquet equipment sets. Obstacles on the lawn, such as trees, often require adjustments to the shape of the course. Each player---up to six---or team takes turns at using the mallets to drive the assigned balls through the wickets in the required sequence. Either side scores by passing through the wickets and wins by completing the course with both balls. Croquet allows numerous variations from the standard play, which both sides may accept before play begins.
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