31 Games to Play On the Trampoline
Here at TeamTrampoline, we think that jumping on a trampoline is one of the most fun ways to spend your leisure time. Of course, just jumping on the trampoline may get boring over time if you never switch things up. That’s why today we’re talking about the top 31 games to play on the trampoline.
In our list of games to play on the trampoline, we’ll include games that are perfect for a fun day on the trampoline. We’ll also talk about the rules for each game, any advice or tips that may make playing more safe/enjoyable, as well as include any available videos we’ve found of people playing the games we’re describing.
So, let’s get to it!
Games to Play On the Trampoline
Please Note: Before playing any of these games, be sure to check your trampoline’s manufacturer specifications to see how much weight it is capable of safely holding and whether multiple people can use that trampoline model at the same time.
Do not proceed with playing any trampoline game or activity if it contradicts or goes against any of the rules or restrictions that were indicated in the user manual that the trampoline came with.
We (TeamTrampoline) will not be held liable for any injuries, deaths, or damages that occur as a result of you playing these games in, on, or around your trampoline.
Always remember to inspect your trampoline before playing any games on it, and ultimately if you try any of these games you agree that you will be doing so at your own risk.
Game #1 Popcorn/Crack the Egg
This is a classic trampoline game that people of all ages have been playing for decades. The premise of the game is that one (or multiple players) are designated as being the popcorn kernels. These players tuck their knees into their chests and wrap their arms around their legs.
Once they have been given adequate time to assume this position, the other players must attempt to “pop” the players that are acting as popcorn kernels.
The difficult aspect of this game is that the players that are playing the role of the popcorn kernels are not able to use their arms to maintain their balance or orientation on the trampoline.
This means that the other players will typically try to win by bouncing the popcorn kernel players high into the air until they get frightened (or get motion sickness hahaha!) and pop.
While this game has the potential to be fairly dangerous, it’s undeniable that it is one of the most fun trampoline games ever conceived of.
Game #2 F.L.I.P
We all played the basketball game H.O.R.S.E. when we were kids. Everyone remembers trying to do a half-court shot or a between-the-legs layup against their friends. Fortunately, that same competitive fun can be had on a trampoline.
F.L.I.P. works the same way as a horse, except obviously it is played on a trampoline. Player A calls out a trick they will attempt and if they land it Player B must then also successfully pull off the trick.
Anytime a player fails a trick that the previous player landed the unsuccessful player is assigned a letter. The first player that spells our F.L.I.P. is either eliminated or declared the loser depending on how many players are playing. Whether it’s 2 players or 10 players, the winner is the last player standing!
One thing to note F.L.I.P. is that it is best played with players of similar skill levels. If one player is significantly more skilled than the others, the less skilled players have a greater risk of injury because they’ll be attempted to do maneuvers that they are uncomfortable with.
Game #3 Simon Says
Simon Says on a trampoline is pretty much the same thing as Simon Says on a regular ground surface. The only difference is that well… you’re on a trampoline!
If you haven’t heard of Simon Says before, the game works by assigning one player the role of Simon. The other players must then quickly copy Simon’s actions whenever he says, “Simon Says insert command here“.
However, if Simon issues a command without saying Simon Says, for example: “Jump High!” the players shouldn’t follow his order.
As you can see from the video above, your children will need to be of a minimum age before they’re able to understand the concept of the game. We’ve found that once players are about 5 years old that they can understand the game, however.
Our recommendation is that if your children are playing this game, watch them at the very minimum the first few times they play. This will allow you to intervene if they issue a command that isn’t safe. Example: “Simon Says do a flip off the trampoline and into the pool!”
Game #4 Poison Balls
Poison Balls is one of the most popular games to play on the trampoline. Fortunately, it’s also one of the safest! While injuries can occur anytime you’re on a trampoline, poison balls is a generally safe game because players aren’t forced into positions or doing tricks they aren’t yet comfortable with.
The idea of poison balls is that the players gather up several balls from the garage and around the house. Once they’ve done that, the players put all the balls onto the trampoline. From there, each player is assigned a certain number of lives (can be 1,3,5 your decision).
The players are then given a few seconds for everyone to comfortably get on the trampoline. Once everyone is on the trampoline, the countdown begins. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… GO!
After the countdown is over and the game begins, the players must avoid touching any of the balls. While this sounds easy, it’s actually surprisingly difficult because the balls of different sizes and positions will bounce to different heights and move unpredictably.
Each time a player touches a ball, they lose a life. This can be counted on the honor system, or by having a parent/older sibling act as the referee. Once a player loses all of their lives they are eliminated and must get off the trampoline. The last player standing is the winner!
Some tips for poison balls:
#1 Some people believe that poison balls is better played on a trampoline with a net. If you don’t have a net, however, see tip #4.
#2 The game is more fun if you use different types of balls. Small foam dodgeballs along with an American football go great together because they bounce differently.
#3 If you come to a stalemate, you can create a rule that all players must jump at all times.
#4 For extra excitement, you can allow players that have been eliminated to get off the trampoline and throw balls at the players that are still jumping (this also has the added effect of keeping everyone involved in the game).
#5 If it’s a particularly hot day, you can use water balloons instead of balls. Perhaps after the game is finished, you could have a rule that all of the losers must get back on the trampoline.
Then, you could have the player that won get off the trampoline and give him/her a water balloon. He/She would then have the opportunity to throw the water balloon at his/her friend!
As you may guess, tip #4 and tip #5 go well together because they help balance the game and prevent any one player from always being the winner and the other players feeling bad that they are continually having water balloons thrown at them.
Game #5 Trampoline Dodgeball
Trampoline dodgeball is perhaps the most exciting game to play on the trampoline. While trampoline dodgeball can be played with as few as two players, the game becomes more fun the more players that join!
Trampoline dodgeball is a very popular game for both children and adults to play at trampoline parks. While it may look the same as regular dodgeball on the surface, trampoline dodgeball is much more fun than traditional dodgeball. The ability to use the pads as a surface to bounce off of creates some crazy opportunities for dodging.
As you can see from the video above, trampoline dodgeball is ideally played in a trampoline park with many trampolines. The enclosed area makes the game more fun because you’re not constantly having to chase after runaway balls.
However, trampoline dodgeball can also be played at home. While we obviously wouldn’t recommend using the dangerous objects used in the video below (eggs, brussels sprouts, etc.), you could easily modify their game to make it much safer.
Playing trampoline dodgeball at home can be done by having one player (or team) bounce on the trampoline. The other player (or team) then stands in a designated area and has a set amount of balls or time to try to hit the team that’s bouncing on the trampoline.
The team that’s throwing will get one point for each player that they hit before they run out of balls or time. The teams then switch positions. The team that was initially dodging will then become the throwers and see if they can get more points than their opponents did in the previous round.
While these are just our ideas for how you could play trampoline dodgeball at home, you could also modify these rules however you see fit!
Game #6 Bubble Wrap Bouncing
Apart from a nice trampoline, all game #6 requires is that you buy some bubble wrap. Once you’ve done that, put all the bubble wrap on the trampoline and let your children jump on it. While this shouldn’t pose any serious risks, of course, you’ll want to make sure to observe your children while they play.
If your children do something that warrants positive reinforcement (getting good grades, consistently doing their chores, etc.), purchasing them lots of bubble wrap and allowing them to play with it on the trampoline could be a fun reward. It could also make for some excellent photos or videos to send to the grandparents!
Game #7 Trampoline Camping
While this is technically an activity and not a game, it could be something fun for your children to do nonetheless. Trampoline camping is basically what it sounds like. You can help your children set up the trampoline with a tarp, blankets, pillows, or anything else they may need and your children then sleep overnight on the trampoline.
Of course, if you choose to allow your children to partake in this activity, you should ensure that you are in a neighborhood or area where they will be safe staying outside overnight. Both the weather and general safety concerns can be a risk here.
If you judge yourself to be in an environment where the risks outweigh the rewards, however, camping overnight on the trampoline could be a lot of fun for your children!
Game #8 Bum Wars
Trampoline bum wars (sometimes called trampoline butt wars) is a simple, yet fun game to play on the trampoline. Here are the rules:
#1 All of the players get on the trampoline.
#2 The players take a short amount of time to warm their bodies up and get comfortable on the trampoline.
#3 At a time that all the players agree on, they will jump and bounce on their bum/butt.
#4 They will then bounce from their bum/butt back onto their feet.
#5 They will repeatedly bounce from their bum to their feet, to their bum, and so on.
#6 The players are not allowed to bounce on either their bum or their feet two consecutive times. If they do, they are eliminated from the game.
#7 The last player that has successfully maintained the cycle of bouncing from feet to bum to feet to bum and so on without being eliminated is the winner!
Game #9 Trampoline Telephone/Trampoline Memory
The Trampoline Memory game, sometimes called Trampoline Telephone is a fun game similar to the Trampoline F.L.I.P. game we discussed earlier. The big difference is that in F.L.I.P. only one move is performed at a time. In F.L.I.P. players also tend to perform difficult moves.
In the Trampoline Memory game, however, the game starts with a basic movement such as a butt bounce. From there, each player performs the initial move along with another original one they’ve added.
Example:
Player A — Butt bounce, front flip
Player B — Butt bounce, front flip, butt bounce
Player C — Butt bounce, front flip, butt bounce, backflip
Players continue adding moves until one of two things occur. First, if a player cannot perform one of the moves in the sequence they are eliminated. Second, if a player forgets the sequence of moves and performs the wrong move at the wrong time they are also eliminated.
Obviously then, the winner is the last player to perform the sequence of moves correctly without making any mistakes!
Tips for Trampoline Memory/Trampoline Telephone:
#1 Start the game off with an easy move.
#2 Allow younger or less skilled players to be first. This ensures that they’ll have at least one opportunity to be successful before more skilled players add moves the younger player isn’t capable of completing.
#3 A parent or additional friend can sit with a computer or piece of paper recording the moves that have already been done. This saves the children from later arguing over what the order of the moves should have been.
Game #10 Dead Man
Deadman is one of the most fun games for children and adults of different skill levels to play on the trampoline. It is a trampoline game that can be enjoyed by players of all ages.
To begin, one player is chosen to be the dead man. The dead man then goes into the center of the trampoline and closes his eyes. The dead man will then count from 1-10. Once he/she finishes counting, the other players will then say, “Deadman rise!”
That’s where the real fun begins. The dead man plays the entire game with his/her eyes closed. The dead man does his/her best to move along the trampoline and tag one of the other players.
Meanwhile, the other players are allowed to move as much or as little as they want in order to avoid the dead man. If any of the players are tagged they will then become the dead man.
Tips for the dead man trampoline game:
#1 While jumping over the dead man’s head/body is lots of fun, if you’d like the game to be safer, you can create a rule that players are only allowed to go around the dead man and not over him.
#2 Playing this game with a trampoline that includes a safety enclosure net may be safer.
#3 For a fun practical joke, you can have all of the players that are “alive” get off of the trampoline and wait to see how long it will take the dead man to realize that he/she is the only one left on the trampoline.
Game #11 Trampoline Jump Rope/Trampoline Snake
Similar to trampoline camping, trampoline jump rope is more of an activity than a game. With that being said, playing with jump ropes on a trampoline can be TONS of fun.
Because trampolines allow you to jump (bounce) much higher than you could on concrete or grass, you or your children will be amazed at the different jump rope tricks you’re able to perform on a trampoline.
Even without any structured game, you’ll likely find your family or friends get a lot of fun just from jumping on the trampoline with a jump rope.
If you want a new idea for a game you could play on a trampoline, however, we’d recommend playing trampoline snake. This game is simple, yet lots of fun.
Anytime you have at least three players you’re sure to have lots of fun with the trampoline snake. Trampoline snake works by having a single-player stand either outside the trampoline or on the edge of it. You can make this decision based on how large the trampoline is and what you think would be safest.
The lone player that’s standing outside or on the edge of the trampoline is then given a jump rope. All of the other players then get ready for the game to begin by waiting in the center of the trampoline.
Once the game has begun, the player with the jump rope then tries to touch the other players with the jump rope from his/her position outside or on the edge of the trampoline. If the other players are touched by the snake, they are “out”.
The winner of the game is the last player standing.
Tips for playing Trampoline Snake: This game can quickly become dangerous if the player with the jump rope is swinging it recklessly in the air. For that reason, we recommend making a rule that the jump rope isn’t allowed to leave the surface of the trampoline.
Game #12 Stealthy Ninja
Although we couldn’t find any video footage of people playing this trampoline game, we’re lucky in that stealthy ninja is a fairly easy game to explain. To play the stealthy ninja trampoline game you’ll need at least three people. Ideally, you’ll also play this game on a trampoline with a net so that nobody accidentally falls off the trampoline.
Once a ninja is chosen, all of the players except for the ninja are blindfolded (you could also use the honor system and just have players close their eyes). Once the game begins the ninja must make all of the other players fall down.
This of course should be done in a way without using any moves or attacks that would actually hurt the blindfolded players (such as punching, kicking, etc).
On the other hand, the blindfolded participants have the job of trying to avoid falling down or being tripped by the ninja. The blindfolded players also have the goal of trying to trip or make the ninja fall down.
If the ninja knocks down all of the players without falling on himself/herself, the ninja wins. If, however, the ninja falls or one of the blindfolded players is able to trip the ninja, the entire team of blindfolded players wins.
Regardless, after a winner is declared a new person can be selected to be a ninja and you can play the game again!
Game #13 (Finger)Tips
Tips — Short for Fingertips is a popular game you can play on the ground, in the pool, or on the trampoline. Although it’s a lot of fun to play anywhere, we think playing it on the trampoline is the most fun!
The aim of the game is simple — to be the last one standing. The rules of the game are also simple.
You must both catch and throw the ball while you are in the air. This means that when another player throws you the ball, you must catch it and then quickly throw it before gravity makes you fall to the ground (or trampoline’s surface) again.
The game continues with each player catching and throwing the ball (while they are in the air) until one player misses or drops the ball. The player that made a mistake is then eliminated from the game.
You can also have a rule that if a player makes a poor throw that they will also be eliminated from the game. Poor throws can be judged on the honor system, by a parent/referee, or by group consensus.
Regardless of how exactly you play, tips is an exciting game because of the natural time constraint of how long one is able to stay airborne.
Oh, and if you’re wondering why the game is called finger tips… It’s because catching the ball in your fingertips and not in the palm of your hands is the strategy that will give you the most time to throw the ball.
Have fun!
Game #14 Hot Potato
Hot potato is one of the most fun trampoline games we’ve seen for players of different ages and skill levels. It’s also an exciting game for co-ed groups of different strength levels to play together (because even with different levels of athleticism everyone still has a decent chance of winning).
Hot potato on the trampoline has very simple rules. First, you start playing some music. Ideally, this music will be upbeat to make the game more energetic and exciting for players. Then, you simply throw an object that won’t hurt much if someone gets hit by it (a foam ball, stuffed animal, etc).
Finally, an outside parent or referee stops the music. The person holding the object (or about to come into possession of the object if it is in the air) is then eliminated or “out”. The last player standing is then declared the winner!
Tips for trampoline hot potato: If your children are young enough, you can watch them while playing. Very young toddlers won’t typically recognize that you can control when the music stops, and thus influence who the winner is.
Once your children get a little older, however, they’ll quickly recognize that the game isn’t fair if you can control who wins each time. In this case, you’ll have to turn your back on the children when you stop the music so that they don’t think you’re cheating.
Even better yet, keep your back turned for the entire duration of the game in order to prevent them from even accusing you of cheating. Plus, when things get old, you yourself can join the game. Even most high school students will get a good laugh from playing hot potato with a group of friends and someone’s parent.
Game #15 Trampoline Soccer
While trampoline soccer may not take advantage of the trampoline’s bounce properties as much as other games on our list, it can still be lots of fun. As shown in the video above, trampoline soccer is best played on a trampoline with a net.
Once the players have gotten the ball they’ve chosen to play soccer with, they then must choose which portions of the net will serve as the goals for each team. The rest of the game is simple!
The players simply try to kick the ball into the other team’s goal just as traditional soccer (USA) or football (rest of the world) is played.
Tips for trampoline soccer:
#1 To make it easier to identify where each team’s goals are, you can tape a colored paper to the part of the net that represents that team’s goal (or find another way to mark the section of the net that represents the goal).
#2 If your trampoline doesn’t have a net, you can play clearance. This is a simple 1 versus all game that is great for competitive children as it doesn’t require a referee. To play clearance, you must first choose who the clearer will be. All other players then make up the passing team.
The passing team’s job is to keep control of the ball on the trampoline for as long as possible (Using a timer to keep track of this is optional, but could add another fun and competitive element to the game). Of course, because this is a soccer-based game, they should do so without using their hands.
The clearer on the other hand must strive to knock the ball off the trampoline in any fashion. He/She may do this by kicking the ball, jumping high, and bouncing the ball off the trampoline, or simply forcing the passers to make a bad pass that falls off the trampoline.
After the clearer manages to knock the ball off the trampoline, he/she then joins the passing team. The player from the passing team that was most responsible for the loss of the ball then becomes the clearer.
#3 On the other hand, if your trampoline does have a net, we also have another game you could play. If your children are a bit older, you may be worried that them kicking the ball hard and shooting the soccer ball on the trampoline could lead to an injury or someone’s powerful shot damaging the trampoline.
If so, try playing keep-away. This is a classic soccer game teams often use to practice their passing and dribbling skills. You can also play it on the trampoline! Simply divide the players into two teams of equal skill levels.
From there each team simply tries to maintain possession of the ball for as long as possible. While this game is similar to clearance, there’s one key difference. The lopsidedness of the teams and incentive to kick the ball hard.
In keep-away, there’s never an incentive to kick the ball as hard as one can. This is great on trampolines with nets as it greatly reduces the chances of your netting getting damaged.
Alternatively, clearance is great on trampolines with no net because of the lopsidedness of the teams. If you play keep-away on a trampoline with no net the players are probably going to find themselves spending half their time getting off of the trampoline and chasing the ball.
Because clearance is one versus all, however, it makes it easier for the offensive team to maintain possession of the ball. This greatly cuts down on chasing time. Regardless of how you choose to play soccer on a trampoline, it’s sure to be lots of fun!
Game #16 Monkey in the Middle
Man in the middle, also famous as a monkey in the middle, is a simple trampoline game that’s quick enough to be played for almost any duration of time. The rules are simple, you need at least 3 players and a ball (or stuffed animal) to play this game. From there, one player is chosen to be the man or monkey in the middle.
The other players then take positions on the perimeter of the trampoline. The players on the edge or perimeter of the trampoline will pass the ball among themselves. At the same time, they must be careful because the man or monkey in the middle will be trying to steal the ball.
If the person in the middle is able to gain control of the ball, he/she then ceases to be the monkey in the middle. The players then choose a new person to be the monkey in the middle.
We love this game because it is simple enough to be quickly explained to players of almost any age. The game also requires virtually no set-up and thus can be played for as few as 5 minutes!
Tips for trampoline monkey-in-the-middle:
#1 Although the video above shows a dog being the “monkey,” in general, we’d recommend not playing this game with your pup as it’s possible for some dogs to get too excited playing. In rare cases, they may even become uncharacteristically aggressive and hurt one of the players.
#2 If the game seems to be too difficult for the “monkey,” you can create artificial rules that favor the monkey. Examples: Passers cannot jump, only use their left hand, must pass the ball within 5 seconds, etc. If the players are of different skill levels, you could also institute these rules only for certain players.
#3 You can create customized rules over how much physicality is allowed in this game. In general, we recommend only allowing the players to touch the ball. You, however, can create whatever rules you see fit for physical contact.
Game #17 Trampoline Basketball
If you’re lucky enough to have a trampoline with a basketball hoop, trampoline basketball is an obvious choice for one of the best games to play on a trampoline.
The best part about playing trampoline basketball is that you can adjust the rules to fit the group that you’re playing with. You can make dunks worth 1, alley-oops worth 2, and long shots worth 3. Or, anything you want really!
You can also modify the rules in other ways. Obviously dribbling the basketball isn’t practical on a trampoline so you could create other limitations on movement if desired. Perhaps players are only allowed jumps with the ball, or they can pass anywhere including forward, but they aren’t allowed to bounce forward towards the hoop unless they dunk it.
Regardless of the specific rules, you choose to use, we’re sure you’ll have lots of fun playing trampoline basketball!
Game #18 Slam Dunk Contest
If you’re playing with a group that isn’t into traditional basketball, you could also choose to have a trampoline slam dunk contest. Just like the NBA all-star dunk contest, you could choose to have a friend or parent act as referee and rate the impressiveness of the dunks.
We think that declaring a winner isn’t even necessary to have fun with the slam dunk contest, however. In fact, we’ve seen players having the most fun when they treat the whole dunk contest as a cooperative effort to see how many fun and impressive dunks they can accomplish as a group.
Game #19 Trampoline Tag
Trampoline tag is a pretty self-explanatory game. It’s exactly like the “Tag” game we all played as kids. The only difference is that this time you’re playing on a trampoline!
If you haven’t heard of the game tag, however, the idea is very simple. You choose one player to be “It”. The player that’s “It” must attempt to touch the other players. The other players must run away and try to avoid being touched.
If one of the players is touched by the player that’s “It,” however, the player that was touched then becomes the new “It”. The game then repeats with each new child trying to touch a new player and make them “It”.
This may the best game to play on the trampoline if your kids have too much energy and need to run some of it off! Of course, after a while, your children will become bored of the traditional “Tag”.
When that happens, you can spice things up a bit. One way to do that is to play animal tag. This variation of the game makes the player that’s “It” assume the role of an animal. If they choose ‘Dog’ for example, they must then chase the other players while pretending to be a dog.
You could also do the scary tag. This variation is played in the same way as an animal tag. The only difference is that the players choose to be monsters and make monster noises instead of pretending to be animals!
BONUS TIP: When your children get bored of tag and the variations we’ve discussed above, introduce trampoline freeze tag to them. Trampoline freeze tag is similar to tag, but with a twist.
The player that’s “It” still must try to touch/tag the other players, but now the other players become frozen if tagged. The only way frozen players can become unfrozen is if another player that’s not “It” and not frozen touches them.
The game continues until all of the players become frozen, or the player that’s “It” becomes too frustrated and gives up (This rarely happens because most trampolines are small enough that being “It” is fairly easy).
If you want to introduce yet another element to this game, you could use a timer. You can then give each player a turn to be “It” and see how long it takes him/her to freeze all of the other players.
Example: Player A freezes all of the other players in 27 seconds, Player B freezes all of the other players in 34 seconds.
The player that freezes all of the other players the most quickly is then declared the winner! To really up the excitement you could even reward that player with ice cream, frozen yogurt, or a popsicle!
Of course, you don’t want to frustrate or make any extremely young children cry. If the players are pretty young, perhaps you can simply let the winner choose which restaurant or store the group will get ice cream from.
Game #20 Four Corners
Four corners is a pretty simple game to understand. In fact, we’ve seen children as young as 3-4 years old understand it. We believe the above image that we’ve created for you should make this game even easier to understand.
Based on the image we’ve created above, you can see that this game requires someone to be “It”. The person that’s “It” must then go to the center of the trampoline and close their eyes.
Once they’ve closed their eyes, the person that’s “It” will slowly count to 10. 1… 2… 3… 4… You get the idea. While the person that’s “It” is counting, the other players will move around the trampoline.
They can walk stealthily or bounce like crazy people. The only limitation is that they must choose a corner to stop in (A, B, C, or D) before the player that’s “It” says 10.
Once the player that’s “It” finishes counting he/she will say the name of a corner (You can choose to use chalk to label the corners, or simply have him/her keep her eyes closed but point to a corner as well).
If for example the player that was “It” said ‘A’, all of the players in that corner would be eliminated. In this case, the boy would be eliminated. If, however, the player that was “It” said ‘D’, then the boy and girl in Corner D would be eliminated.
Of course, it’s also possible for no players to get eliminated. If the player that was “It” pointed to Corner C for example, all other players would have been safe.
After any applicable eliminations are made, the game continues to the next round and the above instructions can be repeated until only one player if left. The last player to be “found” by the person that’s “It” is of course the winner.
Tips for playing Four Corners:
#1 Four corners is best played on a square or rectangular trampoline. With that being said, this game can also be adapted to a circular or oval trampoline reasonably well.
Game #21 Trampoline Dance-Off
Having a trampoline dance-off is the perfect way for both children and outgoing teenagers to have a good time. Of course, this game is only fun if you have participants that aren’t overly shy.
We have to say, however, that there may not be any trampoline game more fun to play than this one for groups with wide age gaps. High school students may get annoyed at a little brother joining their game of trampoline basketball, but they’ll probably laugh uncontrollably at watching their uninhibited baby brother busting a move.
As you can see from the video above, trampoline dance-offs can be enjoyed with any number of individuals. Of course, the more friends you have the more fun you’re likely to have.
Tips for trampoline dance-offs:
#1 Song selection can be huge in whether this game is a TON of fun or a horrible fail. Try to choose songs that the participants will know. It’s much easier for this game to go over well if you’re choosing songs that they’ve already fallen in love with.
#2 This is one of the best games to play if you’re having a party at your house. You obviously cannot have 10 or 20 individuals on the trampoline simultaneously. It’s easy for 10 or even 20 individuals to have fun in the backyard, however, by taking turns dancing on the trampoline.
#3 A fun spin on trampoline dance-offs is a game called FREEZE. If you play FREEZE, everyone will dance until someone (a parent, sibling, or other friends) stops the music. Once the music stops everyone must freeze in their current position regardless of how awkward it may be.
If anyone moves after the music have stopped, they are “out” and must help identify other players that move and should be called “out” in the next round! For this game to be the most fun, players should be encouraged to dance wholeheartedly and really give it everything they’ve got!
Game #22 Trampoline Hopscotch
Everyone has played the classic game hopscotch. Hopscotch can also be played on your trampoline! Just grab some sidewalk chalk and get drawing. While it’s easy for traditional hopscotch to get old quickly, hopscotch on the trampoline is a lot more exciting.
Game #23 Trampoline Dice Game
The trampoline dice game is a simple game that is the perfect balance of skill and chance. Although we’ve posted a picture of traditional dice above, this game is be played with a giant foam die (singular form of dice).
Once you’ve found a large die and some friends, together you will assign different moves to each side of the die. You could for example say:
1 — front flip
2 — butt bounce
3 — back flip
4 — 360 degree spin
5 — 360 degree butt bounce
6 — Friends choose a move for you to complete
Each player then takes a turn rolling the die and must perform the move that they have rolled. If they are successful they are awarded a point. The first player to 5 points wins!
Tips for playing the trampoline dice game:
#1 Be sure to choose moves and maneuvers that are suitable for the age group and skill level of the players.
#2 It can be helpful to write down which moves are assigned to which number so that the players don’t later argue which tricks should be performed.
#3 If you’d prefer a more cooperative variation of trampoline dice, you can easily modify the game. Instead of having the players compete, you can transform the trampoline dice game into an exercise challenge.
You can assign different moves to each number and the players simply have to perform the different maneuvers at their own pace. This is an excellent way to get the players in shape, and ensure nobody feels left out!
Game #24 Educational Trampoline Race
The educational trampoline race game is best played on medium to large-sized trampolines. It can work on almost any trampoline size, however, except for probably the smallest of indoor mini-trampolines. Let’s get to how the game works!
Before your child or group is ready to play, you’ll need to select a topic. Let’s imagine that you were trying to teach your child about numbers. You could write 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, and 29 on the trampoline.
You’d then ask your child or group questions and they would have to jump to the appropriate answer. If you said, “What’s 8 MINUS 5?” They, of course, would jump to the number 3. For young children, they can have a nice amount of fun even if they are playing this game alone!
Most older children will naturally prefer competition, however. Of course, if you’re playing this game with older children, you’re going to need to make the topics more difficult. Fortunately, this game can be adapted to function as an excellent review for almost any topic.
Here are some sample topics, answers, and questions:
Foreign Languages: What is a dog in Spanish? Answer: Perro
What should you say when meeting another Spanish speaker for the first time? Answer: Mucho gusto
Health: What bodily system is primarily responsible for moving blood around our body? Answer: Circulatory system
What bodily system helps our body break down food? Answer: Digestive system
As you can see, almost any topic can be accommodated by the trampoline educational race game. This makes it one of the most flexible games to play on the trampoline. This is also a rewarding game to play on the trampoline because you’re learning about important topics in the process.
Game #25 Guess Who Did It
We’ve created an infographic for you above to go along with our description of this trampoline game. Guess who did it is one of the most simple games to play on the trampoline. This game is a great choice anytime, but especially when it is late at night and the players want to be respectful of the neighbors’ desire to sleep.
To play Guess Who Did It you’ll need at least three players. Of course, more players will equal more fun. Once you’ve collected enough players you’ll need to select one player to be “It”.
The players that’s “It” will sit in the middle with their eyes closed. The other players will then move around the trampoline for a brief period of time. Once the jumping players feel the sitting player is sufficiently confused, one of the standing players will touch the back of the sitting player.
They of course should do this in a way that won’t hurt the sitting player. The sitting player’s job is to figure out who touched their back without opening their eyes.
Tips for the Guess Who Did It trampoline game:
#1 While this game may seem difficult at first, it grows easier over time as the players become more familiar with the sizes and movement patterns of the other players.
Of course, the game will get boring if we know that a big hand patting us on the back means that it’s Dad. Here’s the twist that keeps the game interesting. The jumping players can touch the sitting player’s back in unconventional ways.
They could for example use the back of their head, or chin, or even butt! As you would expect, this makes the game significantly more tricky, difficult, and exciting. What you may not have thought of, however, is that this will also make the game fun!
When little brother tries to touch the player that’s “It” with the bottom of his foot, big sister can make a big bounce that’ll make little brother fall and make his identity obvious! When sister tries to touch Mom with the outside of her elbow, Dad can reach into her armpit and tickle her!
As you can imagine, this game is good for endless giggles on the trampoline!
Game #26 Duck, Duck, Goose
Duck, Duck, Goose is a lot of fun no matter where you play. Playing on the trampoline adds another element to the game and makes it even more fun though. The rules for the game are simple.
All of the players form a circle sitting down. One player is then chosen to stand up and walk around the circle. The player that’s standing touches each player’s head as he/she walks around the circle (you can adjust this to be the back if touching the head is discouraged in your religion).
When the standing player touches each person’s head the standing player says either “Duck” or “Goose”. If the standing player says, “Duck” the game continues with the player continuing nonchalantly around the circle.
When the standing player finally touches someone’s head and says, “Goooooose!” the race is on. The standing player’s goal is to run around the circle back to the goose’s spot and sit down.
On the other hand, the player that was called a goose has the objective of touching the standing player before the standing player is able to run around the circle and sit in the goose’s spot.
If the standing player gets to a seated position in the goose’s spot he/she wins and gets to sit down. In this case, the “Goose” would then become the standing player that’s “It”.
If the original standing player was tagged by the goose, however, the standing player would remain the standing player and have to go around the circle labeling each player a “Duck” or “Goose” again.
We’ve done our best to make the trampoline duck, duck, goose game as simple as possible, but if you’re still confused, be sure to check out the cute video we’ve embedded above (video not created by us, just an excellent demonstration of the game we found on YouTube).
Game #27 Hose/Sprinkler
Has your child been keeping up with the chore of watering mom’s flowers? If so, it’s time to reward them and their friends with a game of hose/sprinkler. This game may not involve much strategy, but it’s sure fun!
To play the trampoline hose game you’ll first need to gather a few friends or family members. Once you’ve done that, you’ll need a garden hose that’s within range of the trampoline.
From there, the game is simple. One person stands in a position where the hose is within range of the trampoline. The player with the hose shoots water at the trampoline, while all of the other players on the trampoline try to avoid the water.
Tips for playing the Hose Trampoline game:
#1 Players should be cautious while playing this game. While the water makes jumping on the trampoline more exciting, it also makes it easier to fall off the trampoline. Play this game at your own risk.
#2 You can make creative rules for this game to make it more fun. Perhaps players have a rock-paper-scissors tournament and the winner gets to shoot the others with water for 1 minute.
OR, perhaps you allow each player to shoot the others with water for 30 seconds. Afterward, the player that’s the wettest is declared the loser and is forced to do the Ice Bucket Challenge.
#3 If nobody wants to play as the hose person, you can also set up a sprinkler in your yard so that the players are all able to jump together.
Game #28 500
500 is one of the most fun games to play on the trampoline if you’d like to improve your or your child’s hand-eye coordination. There are just a few things you’ll need to play 500. As with any game, 500 obviously requires some players. You’ll need a minimum of 3, though more players are usually more exciting!
Once you’ve gathered some willing participants, you’ll also need a ball. While we think playing with American football is the most fun because of its unpredictable bounces, you could play with any type of ball that’s fairly soft.
In other words, you shouldn’t use a baseball or golf ball that could seriously hurt someone if they were to get hit by it. Once you have all the materials you need to play 500, it’s time to get started.
There are two types of players in 500. There’s a thrower, and there are many catchers. The thrower will throw the ball and quickly say a number of points and either ‘alive’ or ‘dead’. If the ball is ‘alive’ the player must catch it in the air to get the points the thrower called out.
If the ball is ‘dead, however, the player must catch the ball after it bounces to receive the number of points the thrower called out. If they catch the ball while it is in the air they won’t receive any points.
If you’d like to add to the suspense, you could even say that if someone catches (or even touches) a ‘dead’ ball before it bounces that they themselves will die and have their points reset to zero!
Of course, you can modify the rules to this game, however, your group sees fit. Regardless, the goal for the catchers is for one of them to get up to 500. The catcher that gets 500 points first will win. The winner and the original thrower will then switches places so that the winner is now the thrower and the previous thrower is not a catcher.
Tips for playing 500 on the trampoline:
#1 500 is a lot more fun on the trampoline because it adds another element to the game — trying to time your jumps to be ready to bounce high for an ‘alive’ ball, but not overcommit and lose the flexibility to catch a low ‘dead’ ball.
Unfortunately, 500 can turn into an aggressive and unsafe game to play on the trampoline if you don’t establish rules beforehand. Before playing 500, you should impose some limitations on your group for physical contact.
Someone is almost certain to get hurt if players are shoving each other to try to get favorable positioning for the catch. We recommend encouraging your group to play 500 as a no-contact or incidental contact-only game.
#2 This game should ideally be played on a trampoline with a net. If that is not possible, however, and you choose to proceed to play at your own risk, you should at least caution players to try to maintain awareness of their position on the trampoline.
These tips should help reduce the likelihood of someone bouncing off of the trampoline.
Game #29 Fewest Bounces Possible
The fewest bounces possible game is exactly what it sounds like. It is a game in which you jump on the trampoline for a set amount of time. You then must see how few times you can bounce on the trampoline.
The fewer times you bounce on the trampoline in 30 seconds or 1 minute or whatever time interval you select, the better. In other words, 20 bounces is worse than 17 bounces during the same period of time.
While you could technically play this game alone, you’ll definitely get more laughs and entertainment out of this game if you play it in a group.
Tips for playing Fewest Bounces Possible:
#1 You’ll want to inspect your trampoline before playing this game. Attempting to bounce higher means you’re going to be putting more force on your trampoline. While attempting to bounce high isn’t dangerous in the same way jumping off a roof onto the trampoline is, it’s still better to be overly cautious than getting hurt.
#2 Why not play most bounces possible? You could try. We think the fewest bounces possible is more fun, however, because it allows you to have fun bouncing high into the air.
If you play the fewest bounces possible variation of the game, it’s also much easier to keep track of the scores. If you play most bounces possible, it’ll probably be difficult to observe the number of bounces and you’ll have to rely merely on accurate self-reporting.
Game #30 Bounce Bullseye
While we don’t think Bounce Bullseye is the most exciting game to play on the trampoline, it can offer some fun in the form of novelty once in a while. All you’ll need to play Bounce Bullseye are some stuffed animals (or other unique and easily distinguished objects), a timer/alarm, chalk, and at least one friend.
The idea of the game is simple. You start by putting all of the stuffed animals or other objects in the middle of the trampoline. Once you’ve done that, you choose which objects will belong to each player/team.
You could for example say that the stuffed bears belong to Team Boy and the stuffed rabbits belong to Team Girl. You could also use balled-up socks and say that the black sock balls belong to John and the yellow sock balls belong to Sue.
Once you’ve chosen which objects will belong to which team, you need to draw a bullseye or grid on your trampoline similar to that which we’ve created for you above (we clearly need to work on our infographic game).
Once you’ve drawn the bullseye indicating how many points different parts of the trampoline are worth, start the timer!
We recommend playing quick games of a length of 30-90 seconds each, but you can experiment and see what is most fun or exciting for your group.
Regardless, once time has started, everyone is free to jump for the duration of the game. The goal of the game is to use your jumps to move your objects to the high point locations on the trampoline while simultaneously trying to knock the other team’s objects off of the trampoline.
The only catch? You cannot actually touch any of the objects. Absolutely no intentional contact is allowed between your hands/feet/body and any of the objects.
The only way to influence how an object will move is by changing how forceful your bounces are and how close to the objects you bounce. Once time has expired and the alarm or bell sounds everyone must stop moving immediately.
It can be useful to have a parent/referee judge whether someone has intentionally moved after time has expired. Once everyone has stopped moving, you identify how many objects each team has in each part of the trampoline. Tally up the points and see who is the winner!
Tips for playing Bounce Bullseye:
#1 If you don’t have chalk, or the game seems too complicated, you don’t even need to draw on the trampoline. You can play Bounce Wars which is a simplified version of Bounce Bullseye.
The rules for Bounce Wars are exactly the same as Bounce Bullseye except it doesn’t matter which part of the trampoline your objects are after time has run out. You simply get one point for each object your team owns that hasn’t been knocked off of the trampoline.
This version of the game has less strategy, and involves less chance, but is more quickly played and is much easier to explain to younger children.
#2 Another variation of the game is Mystery Bounce. Mystery Bounce is played exactly the same as Bounce Bullseye except that players play with their eyes closed. This makes the game much more luck-based.
This is great if one team is significantly more skilled or you’re just looking for a new way to play Bounce Bullseye before washing the chalk off of the trampoline.
Game #31 Creative Drawing/Rainy Day Play
The last two things we’ll feature in this post are more activities than they are games to play on a trampoline. With that being said, we still think you can have some fun with these.
Creative Drawing — Give your children some chalk and let them draw on the trampoline. This can be great for ‘quiet playtime’ without you having to move your car out of the driveway.
Rainy Day Play — While injuries do become more probable while playing on a wet trampoline, many people argue that playing on a trampoline is more fun after a storm. Your children will bounce higher from the rain, and the slipperiness of the trampoline adds a new element to the various games we’ve listed earlier in this post.
Of course, you’re the best judge of your child’s ability to jump in the rain (or shortly afterward). While telling them to be careful will be wise, jumping on a wet trampoline is a risk you need to acknowledge.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are literally dozens if not hundreds of games and activities you can enjoy on the trampoline. The fun and joy a trampoline can bring to your family is endless!
If you enjoyed this post, please be sure to share it with your friends. Or, if we’ve got you so pumped up that you’re ready to purchase your own trampoline, check out one of our most recommended trampolines here.
Previous Post: How to Do a Backflip On a Trampoline