Activities for a work picnic

A fourth vote for bocce. And a putting competition. You can get the practice cup thingies and have co-workers bring in their putters and old golf balls. It's usually broken up into various age groups (kids, teens, adults). Have a prize for whomever sinks the most in his/her age group.

well, i ended up not "over-organizing", which was good because I didn't make it there until 2p (there was an opening at my art gallery the night before). The only idea i actually used from this thread was the water balloon one (which I heard was roundly loved -- and also I really liked the height contest, which I think was done at a work party of my father -- who taught engineering -- at one social function or another ). I really do appreciate all of your responses! thanks everyone!

out of the norm type games and activities; like carnival stuff, etc, that you can do for a long time, or for a short time, or not at all. Have you thought of arts & crafts type stuff? Paint a t-shirt or a beach bucket stations, sand art, clay, etc. Those kind of activities tend to get as complicated/time consuming as the participants want them to be, it gets kids and grownups and it's a neat bonding thing, as people love to show off or look at the one closet artist's stuff. We did a party with a make a puppet station – carton of tube socks, glue, feathers, ping pong balls, Sharpies, googly eyes, etc -- and had a puppet stage set up. Kids and grownups ended up putting on lots of impromptu shows for everyone else.

Try this website http://www.ultimatecampresource.com/site/camp-activities/camp-games.html. It's a resource for summer camp staff and has TONS of games and activities you can do with a group of people, lots of which are good for both adults and kids and the majority of them don't require props. If you do the sack races and need the sacks or need bunches of little prizes that are SUPER cheap check out http://www.orientaltrading.com.

"Pass the Orange" - tuck an orange under the starter's chin and pass it to the next: no hands! http://www.gameskidsplay.net/games/chasing_games/tag/amoeba_tag.htm Balsa Wood Plane Rally Tie Dye - this is a minimal set up, lots of fun, can run all day type of event. Just give lots of notice to people to bring white cotton clothing to dye, even better if you can swing the budget to provide the shirts.

I like the old Relay Races. Pop a baloon by sitting on it, run back and switch, next person eats a can of baby food, run back and switch, next person carries an egg on a spoon in their mouth and back, etc. Also, get in a large circle and do the chicken dance. It is required.

A fish for prizes style game for kids (Get the Oriental Trading Company catalog now). Bean bag toss-style games. If it'll be hot and there are any small hills around the park, summer sledding is always a blast (blocks of ice, towels, you get the picture). ooh. these are all good ideas. I guess what I'm most interested in is sorta out of the norm type games and activities; like carnival stuff, etc, that you can do for a long time, or for a short time, or not at all. I think the more organized stuff might not quite fit our attention spans. Washers might be a good thing.

Croquet. A fish for prizes style game for kids (Get the Oriental Trading Company catalog now). Bean bag toss-style games. If it'll be hot and there are any small hills around the park, summer sledding is always a blast (blocks of ice, towels, you get the picture).

At the family picnic for a hardware store that I used to work at we had a building contest where each team was given identical sets of weird pipes and hardware. Prize went to the tallest construction built in 5 minutes. great idea. Water ballon wars are fun for all ages. I like this too. I should mention that bocce probably is a good answer, but I'm leaning away from it because I have a personal distaste for bocce, and all other games where coordination and thought take precedence over running fast and kicking things hard. we'll probably bring a set anyways, and that will be when I "watch the grill" (ie drink heavily) while everyone else plays. so maybe i was the wrong guy to tap for the activities thing.