Alison Hammond's favourite garden games, from Boules to Wubble – as seen on This Morning
The bubbly presenter rounds up the best games to keep the whole family entertained
She's one of the most playful people on television, so who better to round up the best garden games than Alison Hammond?!
Ruth introduced her on This Morning saying, 'The warm weather is set to continue right into the weekend so Alison is out in her garden today looking at garden games. It's a beautiful day to do it Alison, isn't it?'
Her response, in true Alison style, ' You know what, it's boiling hot Ruth. But it's absolutely beautiful – what a lovely day to play lots of games and I've got some great ones for you. I've only got six minutes so let's plough through.'
More for little ones: Shopping edit – best kids gardening kits to encourage little green fingers
And plough through she did, here are 7 amazing garden games to buy right now...
1. Go Find It, £8.50, Amazon
'I'm going to start off with this one. It comes in this tiny little bag, and it's called Go Find Me.' Although it's actually called GO find It – bless!
'You can play it outside with your family and friends, and you've literally got to pick a card and go and find something that makes you feel 'yuck' or you might have to go and find something small that can fit in that little circle there, or something red. Oh, I'm red! So you've found me!'
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'So basically you go off and the game can last two minutes or it can last the whole day – it's entirely up to you. And it fits in this tiny little bag so you could go to the park and play with the kids. It's absolutely fantastic and it's £8.50 – bargain!'
Buy now: GoFindIt Outdoor Treasure Hunt, £8.50, Amazon
2. Wubble Super, £10, Argos
'OK, next up, we've got this amazing Wubble – yes, it's called a Wubble, ' she exclaims. 'It looks like a balloon but it plays like a ball. It bounces, it squishes, it's like a latex material. You know kids love all these sorts of things. It feels like slime!'
You're right Alison – what kid won't love this?
Buy now: Super Wubble Bubble Ball, £10, Argos
3. Giant Pass the Pigs Games, £14.95, Amazon
'All you've got to do is grab them by the ears,' says Alison. 'Throw them up into the sky, and they land on the floor, and each position that the pig lands in means something.'
'So that's on four legs, that one's upside down. This little situation here is called 'making bacon'– what I was doing yesterday in the microwave.' Alison playfully adds. 'And each position equals points, and that's how you play that. Or you can just have a pig and walk round with it, it's entirely up to you! It comes with a little bag – really, really good.'
Buy now: Giant Pass The Pigs, £14.95, Amazon
4. Kingfisher giant darts, £17.64, Amazon
'Next up, we've got giant darts – have a look at this! They are giant but they're not really a hazard because they're not pointy, they're flat ended and you can dig them into the ground,' she points out for safety.
'So you place the circles on the floor, and each circle is worth an amount of money. Chuck 'em down, boom, that's how you play. Now obviously, as you can see, it's not sticking into my grass because it's not real grass, it's astroturf. So don't play it on astroturf, play it on a bit of grass!'
Buy now: Kingfisher Giant Darts, £14.95, Amazon
5. KreativeKraft Giant Bubbles Kit, £8.99, Amazon
'Now I've always wanted one of these Eamonn and Ruth, I've always wanted a bubble pool' Alison says excitably.
'I'm going to be honest with you, I put the whole bottle of bubble solution in and I wasn't getting any bubbles, so I put in some washing-up liquid and now I've got the best bubbles ever, look at this, LOOK AT THIS! Absolutely love it!' she squeals, in her element playing with giant bubbles.
Buy now: KreativeKraft Giant Bubbles Kit, £8.99, Amazon
6. Tactic Molkky Wooden Skittles, £30, Amazon
7. Great Garden Games Boules set, £15, Oliver Bonas
'Moving on, this is like skittles. It's called MolKKY, it's made of really good quality wood. You've got your skittles at the top, they've got numbers on them. All you've got to do is roll the cylinder down the path and knock them over,' she explains.
'Each one is a number and once you reach, like, 100 points, you're the winner. That's £30. Sounds like a lot of money, but it's going to last a lifetime,' she adds.
Buy now: Tactic MolKKY in Wooden Crate, £31.98, Amazon
7. Great Garden Games Boules set, £15, Oliver Bonas
'Have you ever played boules?' Alison asks Ruth and Eamonn. 'I used to play this when I was an entertainer in Tunisia. You throw your jack. Then you've got your coloured boules and you've got to try and hit the jack. Or you've got to knock off your other component's balls out the way. Love a game of that! Love a game of boules!'
Incidentally, we think she meant competitors!
Buy now: Great Garden Games Co. Boules Game, £15, Oliver Bonas
8. PMS Quoits Ring Toss, £8.95, Amazon
'This is basically a ring toss, so you've got your ring, you toss it and you've got to try and get 100 points. IT'S THAT SIMPLE' Alison exclaims.
Buy now: PMS Quoits Ring Toss Outdoor Game, £8.99, Amazon
9. Toyland Body Boppers, £24.99, eBay
'My last game I want to show you is this. It looks brilliant. This is called Body Boppers. So the kids put these on their body. As you can see I'm not putting it on my body 'cause I can't actually fit it,' she jests. 'But you put it on your bodies and you basically run around and you smash and bounce into each other.'
Buy now: Inflatable Body Boppers Outdoor Game, £24.99, eBay
More to entertain: Asda's 7ft novelty dinosaur sprinkler is now just £30!
Eamonn ends the segment by rightly saying, 'The thing about you Alison is that you can make anything seem like fun!'
Alison adding, 'Well I can can't, can't I? The thing is, it's got to be fun. I'm on my own in my own back garden with all these toys, I've got to play!'. Oh how we love her.
Amy Cutmore is an experienced interiors editor and writer, who has worked on titles including Ideal Home, Homes & Gardens, LivingEtc, Real Homes, GardeningEtc, Top Ten Reviews and Country Life. And she's a winner of the PPA's Digital Content Leader of the Year. A homes journalist for two decades, she has a strong background in technology and appliances, and has a small portfolio of rental properties, so can offer advice to renters and rentees, alike.
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