Backyard games

Have you ever played cornhole? Have you ever heard of cornhole?

Cornhole (also known as corn toss or bean bag toss) is a lawn game that, according to the American Cornhole Association, originated in Germany and was discovered in Kentucky over 100 years ago. It’s now a popular Midwestern outdoor activity, which is why I only learned about it a couple of years ago. Growing up in New Jersey, we had frisbees and horseshoes, but we didn’t have cornhole.

I pitched my first corn bag at a friend’s barbecue in Omaha a few summers ago. She had two cornhole platforms set up in her backyard, along with other new-to-me backyard games like ladder toss. Afterwards we bought a ladder toss set of our own but weren’t sure about investing in a large wooden cornhole set.

Fast forward several years: At an Omaha Storm Chasers game earlier this month, my Midwestern-born son discovered cornhole platforms inside Werner Park and had a blast dropping bags into the hole. Watching Levi devote his full attention to throwing those bean bags, I knew we needed some sort of cornhole set for our own backyard.

In the spirit of National Backyard Games Week, Wayfair sent over this bean bag toss game set for Levi. Naturally, Levi was solely interested in standing on top of the board and methodically organizing the bean bags in the own mesh pockets, but I tossed a couple bags from afar, aiming for the 25 point hole.

The verdict? Let’s just say the game is harder than it looks!

Cornhole… Ladder Toss… What are some of your favorite backyard games?