Let's play on the grass.

A collection of grass-loved games from around the world.

Lawn Games

Outdoor ground games loved on lawns around the world.

Illustration of an orange cylindrical goal with a horizontal slot in the front and a green flying disc sailing toward it

KanJam Rules: Scoring, Distance & Going Over 21

KanJam (Kan Jam) rules with diagrams: 50 ft between goals, Dinger 1, Deuce 2, Dunk 3, the instant win, exactly 21 and what happens if you go over.

United States · 4 players

Illustration of eight stacked pairs of wooden cylinders (kyykkä) standing on the front line of a gravel square, with a wooden club with a handle (karttu) lying on the grass in front

Kyykkä Rules: How to Play Finnish Skittles, Court Size & Scoring

Kyykkä (Finnish skittles) rules with diagrams: 5 m squares 10 m apart, knocking pins out with a karttu, minus-point scoring, distances, vs Mölkky.

Finland · 2–8 players

Illustration of a wooden box with a cup in the middle, a silver washer inside the cup, silver and green washers resting on the box, and another green washer on the grass in front

Washers Game Rules: Distance, Scoring & Box Dimensions

Washers (washer toss) rules with diagrams: distance between boxes (about 20 to 25 ft), cup and box scoring, box and washer sizes, and games to 21.

United States · 2–4 players

Web Games

Drop by here when the rain rolls in.

Shibanba

Program the lawn mower to cut the whole field. A puzzle about minimizing turns.

The Sheepdog Theorem

Dog and sheep claim paddocks in turn; whoever lands exactly on the target flock size wins. Play either side.

3 Cats

Find three cats hidden on an 8×8 board by throwing food and reading meow hints.

Grass Guide

Lawn grasses from around the world, and how to grow them.

Creeping bentgrass

The only practical turf that can be mown down to a few millimetres, which is why it carpets golf greens. Unmatched in density and finish — at the price of daily mowing, watering and disease control. Not a home lawn grass.

Agrostis stolonifera

Fine fescue (red fescue)

Needle-fine blades and the best shade tolerance of the cool-season grasses. It gets by on little fertiliser or water, but does not take traffic — best under trees and in spots nobody walks on.

Festuca rubra

Kentucky bluegrass

Known for its deep blue-green colour and for creeping rhizomes that let it repair its own damage. Very cold-hardy, but unhappy in hot humid summers — in Japan it suits cooler regions.

Poa pratensis