Three Great Driveway Games for your Family Are you looking for a few new ways to have some fun as a family, and get everyone away from their screens for a little while? Outdoor games are a great choice, to get some fresh air, sunshine and even a little exercise too. Even if you don't have a large yard or a park nearby, you can play a variety of driveway games right in from of your house. Sometimes kids can just use their imagination to stay occupied but having a few specific games on hand can also go along way when you start hearing complaints about boredom. Enjoy a Game of Basketball This is the classic driveway game, only needing a hoop (freestanding or one attached to the house) and a ball. It's also more versatile than you might realize. Two people can just play one-on-one, or you can break up into teams when you have more of a crowd. Even a single person have have some fun shooting hoops on their own. Horse is another way to play basketball in the driveway, specifically for people of various ages or skill levels, since it requires shooting only rather than the entire range of athletic abilities that come with plain basketball. The general idea is that the first player creates a unique type of shot, and has to make the basket. The next person then has to recreate the shot. If they miss, they get the letter H as a penalty. If they make it, then it's their turn to make up a new crazy shot. As you work through all the players, each time you miss a basket, you earn the letters to spell out HORSE. Once you get all 5 letters, you're out of the game. Giant Blocks can be Hours of Fun! If you don't mind a little more DIY for this game, you can use plain 3x3 lumber to make a set of outdoor blocks for playing in the driveway. Just cut each piece to make cubes, or make a variety of sizes. Build some amazing castles, or have a competition to see who can stack blocks the highest. You can also use this technique to create a giant game of Jenga, stacking the pieces and then seeing who can slowly pull them out without toppling the pile. Remember Hopscotch? The idea of hopscotch is that you have to hop through a series of squares, alternating between one foot and two, and skipping over one square each time. You mark the first square with a pebble, and then you have to hop over it yet complete the rest of the pattern. Even if you've never played it, you probably know how it works. Get creative and do something different than the traditional pattern of squares for a change of pace. Build a whole labyrinth of squares to be followed and hopped through, all without missing the pattern or forgetting to skip the square with your pebble. While not strictly games, there are lots of other ways to have fun outside on a driveway. Drawing on the asphalt with chalk, blowing bubbles, jumping rope or playing marbles are all classic pastimes. In fact, these are more fun on a smooth driveway surface than out on the grass anyway. Remember, when playing family games in the driveway that you are may be close to traffic. Even on a quiet street, you should make sure all your kids play safely, and understand that they need to stay in the driveway, even if a ball gets away from them. Games that stray into traffic can be dangerous.