Field day was always a day I looked forward to as a kid, and my own kids look forward to it just as much now. You get to go outside, class lessons basically disappear for the day, and running across a field carrying an egg on a spoon feels like an extremely important accomplishment. As kids reach middle school and high school, planning field day activities gets a little trickier.
When planning field day activities for middle and high school ages, you’ll want to pick things that are fun without feeling too childish. They should be competitive without making every game about athletic ability, too, and easy enough to organize without too many volunteers and a ton of equipment. You can also have prizes, or incorporate some sort of fundraiser into the event.
Although the planning might be trickier, there are plenty of field day activities that teens and tweens can have fun doing. Whether you’re planning a school-wide field day, or an end-of-the-year celebration, these ideas give students a chance to compete, laugh, work together, and get a little too invested in winning a plastic ribbon.
What Is Field Day at School?
Field day is a school event where students spend part or all of the day taking part in outdoor games, races, and team activities. Typically, the teams are split by grade. Instead of going to class, students compete in activities like relay races, tug-of-war, obstacle courses, and water games. Some schools keep score and award ribbons or prizes, while others focus more on having fun, working together, and giving students a break from the classroom. Field day is a fun school tradition, like pep rallies and spirit week that is meant to bring the student body closer and have fun. Field day is typically near the end of the school year, but some schools may schedule theirs around homecoming season.
Best Field Day Activities for High Schoolers
Sometimes the old-school field day games are still the best ones to implement. They’re easy to understand, usually require very little equipment, and students already know what they’re supposed to do.
1. Tug-of-War
When you hand two groups of kids a giant rope, it instantly makes them all care deeply about winning. Divide students into even teams and mark a center line on the ground. The first team to pull the other team across the line wins. If you have a large group, you can turn it into a tournament. Winning teams will advance to the next round and compete against each other, continuing this method until only one team remains.
2. Three-Legged Race
Pair students up and loosely tie one person’s inside leg to their partner’s inside leg. Teams race to the finish line while attempting to coordinate their steps, which sounds easy until everyone realizes it’s really not. This is fun because the fastest runners don’t automatically have an advantage. Communication and coordination matter just as much as speed in this field day activity.
3. Sack Race
Use potato sacks, pillowcases, or reusable race sacks and have students hop their way toward the finish line. If you’re working with older students, you can make the race longer or add cones they have to weave around. Expect at least one person to get way too confident, attempt a giant leap, and fall over.
4. Egg-and-Spoon Race
Students balance an egg on a spoon while racing from one point to another. You can use raw or hard-boiled eggs if you don’t mind a mess, but plastic eggs, ping-pong balls, or small rubber balls work the same way. If a student drops an egg, they either return to the starting line or stop and put it back on their spoon before continuing.
5. Relay Race
Relay races are easy to customize depending on the students and space you have available. Teams can simply sprint back and forth while passing a baton, or you can make each leg of the relay different. One student might run, another might skip, another could crab walk, and the final teammate could sprint to the finish. Relay races can also work well with other school-spirit competitions, especially if you’re already planning activities similar to pep rally games.
6. Wheelbarrow Race
Students work in pairs for a wheelbarrow race, and one student walks on their hands while their partner holds their legs and follows behind them. The first pair to cross the finish line wins. Keep the distance relatively short since it gets pretty hard the longer it goes on. It also helps to show a demonstration of how to race.
7. 100-Meter Dash
Sometimes the simplest field day activities are the most competitive. Mark a starting line and finish line about 100 meters apart and have students race in small groups. If you have a lot of students participating, the winners from each race can compete in a final round.
Fun Field Day Games for Teens
Middle and high school students may pretend they’re too old for games, but give them something ridiculous enough and they’ll all want a turn.
8. Water Balloon Toss
Pair students up and give each team one water balloon. Partners start close together and toss the balloon back and forth. For each successful catch, each person takes one step backward. The last pair with an intact balloon wins. This is a common alternative to egg toss, but without the eggy mess.
9. Sponge Relay
Place one bucket of water at the starting line and an empty bucket several yards away. Teams use a large sponge to transfer water between the buckets. The way it works is simple. One player soaks the sponge, runs to the other bucket, squeezes the water out, and brings the sponge back to the next teammate. The first team to fill its second bucket to the designated line wins.
10. Hula Hoop Pass
Have each team stand in a line or circle while holding hands. Place a hula hoop between two players, and students must move the hoop around the entire group without letting go of anyone’s hands. They’ll have to duck, step through it, and maneuver themselves through the hoop while everyone else tries to help. The first team to get the hoop all the way around wins.
11. Dizzy Bat Race
Place a plastic bat or cone at the starting point. Each player puts their forehead against the top, spins around it a few times, and then attempts to run toward the finish line. Watching someone confidently start running in a completely wrong direction is a big part of the entertainment for this one. Make sure you have plenty of open space and keep students far enough apart to avoid collisions.
12. Human Knot Race
Teams stand in small circles and grab hands with two different people across from them. Then they have to untangle themselves without letting go. You can make it a race between teams or simply see which group can solve its human knot the fastest. This is a good option when you want a field day activity that relies more on communication and teamwork than athletic ability.
13. Pool Noodle Javelin
Use pool noodles as a safe, floppy javelin. Students stand behind a line and throw their noodle as far as possible. Mark each landing spot and see who gets the longest distance. You can make pool noodle javelins by taping tennis balls at the end of the foam noodles.
14. Scavenger Hunt
Set up a scavenger hunt around the field day area with clues, hidden objects, photo challenges, or small tasks students have to complete as a team. You can keep it simple with a checklist of things to find or make it more involved by having students solve one clue to unlock the next.
15. Giant Tic-Tac-Toe Relay
Create a giant tic-tac-toe board on the ground using chalk, tape, or hula hoops. Divide students into two teams and give each team three beanbags, cones, or other markers. One player from each team races toward the board, places a marker, and runs back to tag the next person. Once all three markers are on the board, players can move one of their team’s existing markers on each turn until someone gets three in a row.
Team Field Day Activities
Team games are helpful for older students because they give kids a different way to contribute. Not everyone needs to be the fastest runner to help their group win. Field day should be all about fun and team building, so creating teams is a great way to keep things fun for everyone.
16. Kickball
Kickball is a classic field day game that works especially well for older students. Set up bases just like a baseball field, divide students into two teams, and have the pitcher roll the ball toward the kicker. You can play a full game or set a time limit so teams can rotate through the activity.
17. Capture the Flag
Divide students into two teams and give each side a territory and a flag. The goal is to enter the opposing team’s territory, grab its flag, and bring it back without getting tagged. You can create a “jail area” for tagged players or keep the rules simple and send tagged students back to their own side.
18. Obstacle Course
Create a course using whatever equipment you already have available. Some ideas include having students crawl under a rope, weave between cones, jump through hula hoops, balance a beanbag, run around a marker, or toss a ball into a bucket. Students can race individually or complete the course as part of a relay team.
19. Team Ski Race
For this activity, several students stand on two long wooden boards or team walking skis with attached ropes. Everyone has to lift the same foot at the same time in order to move forward. It usually starts with the group yelling “Left! Right! Left!” and ends with everyone laughing because it’s so much harder than it sounds. The first team to cross the finish line wins.
20. Blanket or Tarp Flip Challenge
Split students into teams, and place each team on a tarp, blanket, or large sheet. The challenge is to completely flip the tarp over without anyone stepping off of it. Students have to figure out how to fold, shift, and move the tarp while somehow keeping their entire team standing on it. This field day activity is great for practicing problem-solving.
21. Bucket Brigade
This field day activity requires teams lining up between two buckets. The first bucket is filled with water while the bucket at the opposite end starts empty. Students pass cups of water down the line from one teammate to another until the water reaches the final bucket. You can either set a time limit and see which team transfers the most water or race until one team reaches a marked fill line.
22. Caterpillar Race
Teams line up with each student holding the shoulders or waist of the person in front of them. The entire group has to move toward the finish line without breaking apart. You can make the challenge harder by requiring teams to squat slightly, weave through cones, or carry a ball between players.
23. Ultimate Frisbee
For students who want something a little more athletic, set up short games of Ultimate Frisbee. Students move the frisbee down the field by passing it between teammates and score when a teammate catches it inside the opposing team’s end zone.
Silly Field Day Activities
Not every field day activity needs to test strength, speed, or coordination. Sometimes the best games are the ones where everyone looks a little ridiculous or silly.
24. Beach Ball Carry Race
Pair students up and give each team a beach ball. The challenge is to carry the ball to a designated point and back without using their hands. Students can hold the beach ball between their backs, stomachs, shoulders, or hips, which usually leads to some very awkward attempts to move quickly without dropping it.
25. Pizza Box Race
For this field day activity, you’ll need a stack of empty pizza boxes for each team. Students race while carrying the boxes from one end of the course to the other, adding more boxes to the stack with each round. The taller the pile gets, the harder it becomes to see where you’re going and keep everything from falling over.
26. Dress-Up Relay
Place a pile of oversized clothing at one end of a relay course. Students race to the pile, put everything on, run back to their team, remove the clothes, and pass them to the next player. The more ridiculous the clothing, the more hilarious this field day activity is.
Some dress-up relay clothing ideas include:
- Giant t-shirts
- Sunglasses
- Hats
- Tutus
- Jackets
- Gloves
- Costume accessories
27. Shoe Kick
Students loosely place one shoe on the end of their foot and kick it as far as they can. Measure where each shoe lands. The farthest shoe wins, but you could also award the shortest distance or the one that went the most off-course just for fun. Another idea is to set up target areas and award points based on where the shoe lands in comparison to the targets.
28. Crab Walk Race
Students race from one point to another while crab walking. You don’t need much equipment and it’s much harder than it looks. For older students, you can turn it into a relay to make it more exciting.
29. Balloon Waddle Race
Students place an inflated balloon between their knees and race toward the finish line without dropping or popping it. The biggest rule for this one is that there are no hands allowed! If the balloon falls, the student stops, puts it back between their knees, and continues. You could also run this as a relay with each student passing the balloon to the next teammate.
30. Minute-to-Win-It Station
A field day doesn’t have to be entirely running and outdoor sports. Set up a station with some quick Minute-to-Win-It games that students can complete in 60 seconds. Try challenges like stacking cups, moving cookies from forehead to mouth without using hands, transferring small objects with chopsticks, or bouncing ping-pong balls into cups.
How to Plan a Field Day for Middle or High School
Planning the field day activities is usually the easy part. The real challenge of field day for middle or high school is figuring out how to get hundreds of kids through them without total chaos. A little organization ahead of time can make a huge difference.
Create Teams
Divide students into teams before field day begins. You can organize teams by homeroom, grade, shirt color, or random assignment. Giving each team a color can make things easier and adds a little school-spirit energy. Students can wear matching shirts, bandanas, stickers, or temporary tattoos.
Include Different Types of Activities
Not every teenager wants to sprint across a field, so including different types of activities helps keep it engaging for everyone. The more variety you have, the more likely every student is to find something they enjoy. This also gives them the chance to try new things that they didn’t know they’d like. You can also set up some time for students to sign each other’s year books, since field day typically takes place at the end of the school year.
Plan Water Breaks
Field day usually means students are outside, moving around, and spending more time in the sun than they would on a normal school day. Set up water stations and make sure to offer plenty of breaks. It’s also a good idea to encourage sunscreen and provide shaded areas when possible. You can also recommend students to wear hats to protect themselves from the sun.
Have an Indoor Backup Plan
Planning an outdoor school event months in advance is tricky because you don’t know what the weather will be like. Just in case it rains, it is a good idea to have an indoor backup plan with a few indoor activities ready. Some ideas for indoor field day activities include trivia, Pictionary, Family Feud-style games, Minute-to-Win-It challenges, and other classroom competitions. These ideas are easy ways to move field day indoors without having to scrap the event or reschedule.