Boxing Day Walk Games And Outdoor Family Games: 16 For A Cold Field

The Boxing Day walk is the best British tradition there is, and also the hardest sell to anyone under twelve who received a new games console eighteen hours earlier.

Games are how you win that argument. These need nothing but a coat and work in a field, a park or a lane.

Games for the walk itself

• Boxing Day bingo - a spotting list made before you go: a robin, a dog in a coat, a wreath still up, a discarded cracker, someone in new wellies.
• Twenty questions, walking pace, one person thinking.
• The alphabet game with things you can see, A to Z along the route.
• Fortunately, unfortunately - a story told one sentence at a time as you walk.
• Pooh sticks at any bridge, no exceptions.
• The turnaround game - whoever spots the halfway landmark first picks the route home.

Games to play when you stop

• Stick throwing for distance, then accuracy at a tree.
• Conkers if anyone kept a pocketful, or a stone-skimming contest at water.
• Hide and seek in a wood, with a whistle or a shout as the recall signal.
• Build the best den, judged by whoever is coldest.
• Photo challenge: five shots on the way round - something dead, something alive, something red, something ridiculous, everyone.

Garden games for Boxing Day

• Football with coats for goalposts, the oldest game there is.
• Frisbee or catch with whatever came out of a cracker.
• A garden obstacle course made from the recycling.
• Tug of war with the washing line rope, adults versus children.
• Bird feeding station made from leftovers - fat, seeds and pastry crumbs on a plate.

Getting everyone out of the door

• Announce a time and a length - 'forty minutes, to the bridge and back' beats 'a walk'.
• Give the spotting list out before coats go on. It's a game, not a walk.
• Have a pub, a hot chocolate or the leftovers sandwich at the other end and say so early.
• Whoever gets to the car first picks the playlist.

Shop Christmas cards

How to write it so it lands

• Make the spotting list on Christmas Day evening, not on the doorstep.
• Name the distance and the finish point before anyone puts a coat on.
• Something hot at the end, every time.

Where to shop next

• Christmas gift ideas hub
• Christmas Day games for after dinner
• Christmas games for the whole family
• Christmas Eve games and traditions
• Christmas party games for adults
• Christmas games for two people
• Secret Santa and gift swap games
• The left right Christmas story game
• Christmas charades and Pictionary word lists
• Christmas Day quiz
• Christmas morning games for kids
• Twelve games of Christmas
• New Year's Eve party games
• Christmas board games
• Boxing Day games
• Board games hub
• Secret Santa gift ideas
• Free feel good tools
• Shop Christmas cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What games can you play on a Boxing Day walk?

Boxing Day bingo with a spotting list, twenty questions, the alphabet game, Pooh sticks at any bridge and a five-photo challenge. All of them work at walking pace with nothing to carry.

How do you get children to go on the Boxing Day walk?

Announce a time and a distance rather than 'a walk', hand out a spotting list before coats go on, and promise something at the far end - a hot chocolate, a pub, or the leftovers sandwich when you get back.

What outdoor games work in winter?

Anything that keeps people moving: football with coats for goalposts, stick throwing, hide and seek in a wood, den building and tug of war. Avoid anything where half the group stands still and gets cold.

What do you do on Boxing Day if the weather is awful?

Shorten the walk rather than cancel it - twenty minutes in the rain still resets everyone - then come home to board games, a film and the leftovers. The walk is about getting out of the house, not the distance.

Do you sell games or party supplies?

No - we make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. The games here need little or nothing to run, and the only products on this page are our own cards.