Keeping tweens occupied outside can seem like attempting to juggle jelly — slippery and a little unpredictable. They’re that goofy age where playgrounds seem “babyish,” and structured sports are just a tad too serious. There are a handful of simple games that will help bring back the spark without having you shell out lots of dollars on gizmos and equipment.

Below are five outdoor games that tweens secretly (or not-so-secretly) adore — and your wallet will be sighing a sigh of relief as well.

1. Capture the Flag

Unadulterated good old-fashioned chaos. Divide the children into two teams and assign each one a flag (or whatever you have handy — a tea towel does the trick just as well).

2. Water Balloon Dodge

Nothing makes tweens squeal like a carefully thrown water balloon. Fill as many as you’re able (or get them to do similarly) and have easygoing ground rules: get hit, and you’re out. The person who’s the last one left dry is the winner. You might even have a “refill station” and make the mayhem even more chaotic.

3. Obstacle Course Challenge

You don’t have to have equipment as good as the military’s to set up a laugh-inducing obstacle course. Take things you have lying around the house — old skipping ropes, hula hoops, cones, empty buckets — and set up a challenging but doable course. Mix in goofy tasks such as hopping backward or belly-crawling under a set of chairs. Tweens enjoy a friendly competition, but they’ll also enjoy getting a better time next time and congratulating each other on their effort. And besides, they’ll be completely. Worn. Out. By the time they’re done. You might even get a peaceful evening for yourself.

We loaded our equipment into the Ford Ranger and drove off to a vacant area — ideal for creating a decent course without the possibility of crushing Mrs Jones’ begonias.

4. Manhunt

Supersize hide and seek! Do you want something bigger and far more thrilling? Try Manhunt. It’s a great game for big groups and bigger places. There’s one person “on,” and they have to catch the rest of the group. You’re on the catching team once you get caught. It continues until there’s a sole player left hiding. It’s all about sneaking around, being quick on your feet, and being smugly quiet when you’re the one left.

5. Frisbee Golf

If you have a frisbee and a good piece of park or garden, you’re good to go. Create “holes” — perhaps a tree, a chair, or even a bag on the ground — and challenge players to get the frisbee into the goal within as few rounds as possible. You can leave a designated area marked out as a fairway if you want to be grown-up about things, or simply allow the children to get as wildly creative as they’d like designing the most absurd courses they can imagine. It’s daft, curiously addictive, and great for ages mixed together.

Outdoor games need not be complex, costly, or cobbled together using apps and screens. Half the fun of it all is seeing tweens work things out on their own, push the boundaries of the game, and put growing up a temporary blind spot.

ChrissyJ xxx