13 best outdoor toys and garden games kids and families will love

The Den Kit Company is an expert at encouraging little people outdoors with a range of build-your-own dens that pack neatly away into a bag. It has recently relaunched one of its designs – the forest den kit – in a water-resistant backpack, which means not even the British weather can stop the fun.

Inside the camo-coloured bag there’s everything kids need to create their own shelter. That includes a waterproof tarpaulin, two ground sheets, tent pegs, jute rope, camo netting and a wooden mallet to bosh it all together with. There are some prettier design options – the cottage garden den kit (£45, Thedenkitco.com) comes with candy-coloured bunting – but we like the rugged, outdoorsy feel of the forest den kit, which also comes with extras like face paints and an enamel mug. Most of all though, we like the fact there are no single-use plastics, no batteries required, and no need for adults to interfere.

The original cozy coupe car was released in 1979, designed by former Chrysler designer, Jim Mariol. Since then, this compact red and yellow model designed for children has become a design classic and one of the best-selling cars in the world – despite its distinct lack of an engine.

New for this year, Little Tikes has introduced an updated version of the iconic children’s ride-on – and it’s even more nifty than before. We particularly like the removable floor, which means kids can still use their own feet to move around as before – but you can also pop the floor in to tuck their feet away, and use the handle that’s been added to the back to push or pull them around. The wheels have been given a major upgrade too – now on casters, they spin a full 360 degrees and make light work of corners. It takes a little while to build and doesn’t pack away unless you’re willing to dismantle it every time, but once it’s up it’s an incredibly sturdy and waterproof little motor that you can keep hold of for the grandkids.

If there was one product our testers couldn’t wait to get out of the box, it was the gel blaster surge – and it didn’t disappoint. This automatic gun fires water-based gel pellets that don’t leave any mess, as they burst on impact and quickly evaporate.

The gun is rechargeable and comes with a USB-C charging cable, so there’s no need to stock up on batteries. We found the charge lasted well – over three hours in testing – and took less than an hour to charge up again. The compartment at the top holds about 800 gellets, so you’ll need to hydrate more of them two hours in advance if you’re planning an epic battle. It’s not cheap, and of course you’ll need two if you want to shoot an opponent, but this is brilliant fun and feels built to last.

While it’s not available for delivery until 24 June, you can pre-order to make sure it arrives in time for when school’s out.

Kubb is a traditional Scandinavian game that’s said to have been a big hit with the Vikings, so it’s sometimes called Viking chess. The aim of the game is to knock down wooden kubbs by throwing batons at them and ultimately taking the king. What’s really nice about this game is it’s played in teams and it’s just as fun for kids as it is for grown-ups.

This wooden kubb set from Swedish brand Bex is beautifully finished, heavy enough to be stable on grass, and feels like it will last a lifetime. The bag it comes with is quite small and doesn’t close, so we found some of the blocks often fell out while it was stored away but that was our only quibble. This is otherwise a quality game that’s easy to pick up – all you need is a fair bit of space.

Hot day? Long garden? This balloon-filled slip-and-slide went down a treat on a sunny afternoon. You’ll need a hose to fill the rounded end with water, and then attach to the other end of the slide in order to start the sprinklers. It took us a while to find the right hose connector – so make sure you do this before you’re ready to play – but the rest was pretty simple.

Size-wise this is a single-lane slide that measures 4.8m, so it works well for younger children up to pre-teens. The balloons were brilliantly easy to fill – just attach the stem to a hose and you’ve got a hundred water balloons in a couple of seconds – and they were surprisingly sturdy, too. Picking them out of the grass afterwards was a bit of a chore, but it was worth it for the look on our testers’ faces.

This giant tumble tower is hand-crafted from pine and feels top quality. It’s big enough to play in the garden but not so big you can’t sling it in the car for a family trip. All the blocks pack neatly into a smart canvas carry bag and each one is embossed with the Jaques of London stamp. The game itself is as simple as it gets – remove the blocks until the tower crashes down, crushing your opponent (not literally) in the process. Great for a garden party with no complicated rules or small pieces to lose, this one would make a lovely gift.

One of Decathlon’s best-selling bits of sports equipment, the Geologic soft archery set 100 is a pleasantly portable bit of kit. It comes with a bow, two suction cup arrows, and one target – which doubles as a storage box for all the bits.

The bow can be used by both left-handed and right-handed players and is designed to work from between five and ten metres from the target. You do need a bit of strength to pull the arrow back in the bow, which is fairly big for little hands – our eight-year-old tester just about managed. It takes a bit of practice, but once you’ve got the hang of it this is great fun for adults and kids, and the slimline design means it doesn’t take up too much space when it’s packed away. It’s a decent price, too.

Water fight on the cards? We tested a couple of water guns, but the X-shot skins water blaster won by a mile. The secret is the super-speedy fill-up mechanism, which means you essentially flip the back of the gun open, dunk it in water to fill, and flip it shut again in the space of a couple of seconds – no faffing about necessary.

The gun holds 700ml of water, so you get a decent amount of play before you’re back at the sink for a top-up, and there are no leaks when it’s full. The pump action gives you a decent 9m range, too, but it’s the quick refilling action that earned this one a place in the shortlist.

There’s something weirdly fascinating about the Super Wubble. Part bubble, part ball, it inflates up to 80cm tall and manages to be simultaneously squishy, stretchy and bouncy. It’s also surprisingly strong for something so soft – and while ours stood up to some fairly rough outdoor play, there’s a repair patch provided if you do come up against a rogue thorn.

You can buy the Super Wubble in pink or blue, and some options come with a pump – although ours didn’t, so we used a standard bike pump. It’s not the kind of outdoor toy that’s going to last forever, but it’s great fun and surprisingly durable – and for the price, makes a fun kids’ gift.

Koosh balls have been around since the 1980s, and our younger testers instantly recognised them as sensory toys from school. Made from lots of stringy rubber strands tied together like a pom pom, they’re easier than a ball for little fingers to catch, and the name comes from the sound they make when caught.

Of all the Koosh toys we tested, our favourite was the Comet – which is essentially a Koosh ball with a fabric tail. Use it to swing the ball around your head, let go, and watch it soar. The colourful tail makes it easier to see in the air and to catch – not to mention easier to find in the grass. If you’re playing by the rules there are points awarded for which bit of the Koosh you manage to catch, but our testers were just happy to fling it around.

Tarmak’s wall-mounted basketball hoop is a great option if you’ve got sporty kids but limited outdoor space. It fixes to a wall, so it doesn’t take up any floor space, and they can get active shooting hoops in the absence of a large garden to run around.

The set includes a polycarbonate backboard that measures 116cm across and gives a decent amount of rebound, as well as a rim and net. It’s a sturdy and substantial set that screws directly into the wall, but you can pair it with a compatible wall mount – bought separately – if you want to be able to adjust the height. That way both kids and adults can play, and it’ll grow along with your child.

This Spidey space hopper ticks the box for a pocket money toy that will go down a treat with tots. It’s about 20cm high when inflated, so it’s aimed at ages three and up so is ideal for little legs. It was quick to inflate and nice and robust, and deflates to next to nothing when they’re bored of it. The grab-handle at the top also makes it easy for young children to bounce around relatively unscathed, but we’d recommend starting on grass for a softer landing. At £6 it’s a steal for hours of fun in the garden, and a bargain birthday party gift.

While Smoby’s 6.5ft funny slide is suitable for kids aged two and up, it kept our eight and ten-year-old testers entertained for hours. At 2m it’s a bit longer than your average toddler slide, and the wavy shape adds another element of fun. But it’s the hose connection that sets it apart – particularly on a hot summer day.

Once you’ve attached your hose via a small hole underneath the slide, three huge water jets spray out of the top – a welcome surprise to us, as we expected the water to trickle down gently but instead managed to water half the garden in the process. It’s also incredibly easy to build – all you need is a bit of space, some level ground, and a screwdriver for three small screws underneath. Use it with or without the hose on, or team it with a paddling pool for hours of watery garden fun.