20+ Fun Games to Play With Sticks

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Physical education teacher Ben Landers shares fun games you can play with sticks

Co-authored by Ben Landers and Eric McClure

Last Updated: July 2, 2026 Fact Checked

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Whether you’re looking for an outdoor game to play with a young child that doesn’t involve buying a bunch of stuff or you’re trying to remember the name of that board game that required moving sticks around, we’ve got you covered. We partnered with a physical education teacher to help us come up with a fun list of games that you can play with sticks.

Most Popular Ways to Play with Sticks

Physical education teacher Ben Landers says you can play these fun games with a stick:

• Capture the Stick: Play capture the flag, but with a stick. See which team can steal the other team’s “flag” first.
• Javelin Throw: Find similar-sized sticks and see who can throw them the farthest.
• Tee-Pee or Fort Building: Build a fort, tee-pee, or lean-to shelter against a tree or fence.
• Steal the Bacon: Have two teams race to see who can grab the stick first
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes … Stick! Two players race to grab a stick when they hear “Stick!”

Steps

Section 1 of 3:

Outdoor Games to Play with Branches and Sticks

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   Capture the Stick Landers says that you can use two sticks to play Capture the Stick. This is a version of Capture the Flag—which is already basically a game designed around a stick. The only difference here is that you’re going to use a really cool stick instead of a boring stick with a flag stuck on it. Divide players into two teams (or do one-on-one) and see who can catch the person with the flag. All the player has to do is touch the flag bearer and then they have to carry the other team’s flag back to a pre-determined starting zone without getting caught.

   Meet the wikiHow Expert

   Ben Landers is a physical education teacher who’s taught for 19 years. He’s also a blogger who shares tips, videos, and resources for other elementary school PE teachers.
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   Stick Toss Find a good throwing stick and pick a nearby target. It could be a can hanging on the edge of a remote fence, or you could pick a tree in the distance. Take turns seeing who can hurl the stick and hit the target. Or, Landers says you can try to see who throws the stick the farthest.

   • Landers says this game is also called Javelin Throw—and that for a safer, indoor option, you can throw pool noodles, instead! He shares this YouTube video to show how it works.
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   Tower Stacking Search for branches and sticks that are relatively straight. Then, get to work building a tower out of them! You can layer the sticks horizontally to create stable foundations or floors, or try to balance the sticks vertically to get more air. See who can craft the biggest tower around.
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   Steal the Bacon Steal the Bacon is a game where you put a relay baton on the ground and have two teams line up side-by-side. But Landers says you can easily substitute a stick for the relay button! Assign the number 1 to the first player in each line, then number 2 to the second player, and so on. Then, call out a number—the two players with that number have to race to try to get the stick before the other team!

   • Once a player grabs the stick, the other team must try to tag them before they reach their team.
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   Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes … Stick Landers says that this is a fun game you can play with a stick. Have two people squat facing each other with a stick on the ground between them. A third person calls out body parts in random order, and the players must touch that body part (e.g., their head, shoulders, knees, or toes). When the announcer calls out, “Stick!”, the players race to grab the stick first.

   • Landers shares this YouTube video showing how the game works.
   • If you want to make this a little more challenging, Landers says that once the player grabs the stick, have them run behind a boundary line (which you could also mark with sticks) without getting tagged by the other player.
   • Landers says if a player tags out the player with the stick, their team gets 1 point, but if the player makes it past their boundary line with the stick, their team gets 3 points.
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   Stick-Tac-Toe Use four sticks to create a grid on the ground. Then, each player goes on a little treasure hunt! Players must go find the pieces they want to use for the game of tic-tac-toe. You can pick leaves, use flower petals, or search for stones that could work. To play, each player takes turn putting one of their symbol pieces in one of the squares. Play continues until someone makes a row of 3 horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
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   Stick Golf Put a marker on the ground. You could use a hula hoop, a piece of string, or even a natural indentation in the earth. Then, choose a spot to start. Each player picks a stick and takes a turn throwing it at the hole. The first player to get the stick in the target wins. You can even have each player take turns constructing their own course after each run!
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   Stick Maze Set a timer and go out and collect as many sticks as you can in that time. Once the time is up, you and any other players are allowed to construct a maze using the sticks you’ve found. For an added level of competition, see who can solve the other player’s maze first!
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   Sword-Fighting Sticks make perfect makeshift swords for a fun, playful duel. Just make sure everyone is old enough to use the sticks responsibly, and make it a rule that players can’t hit anywhere near the head or swing the stick hard.
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    Stick Bowling Grab 5-10 sticks and stick them in the ground in a triangular pattern, like the pins at the end of a bowling alley lane. Then, grab a ball (kickballs are perfect here) and take turns trying to knock down all of the pins.
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    Tee-Pee Building Landers says you can use sticks to build a fort, tee-pee, or lean-to shelter against a tree or fence. You can make a real human-sized tee-pee together with larger branches, or use smaller sticks to build tee-pee-style dens for stuffed animals or action figures.
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    Magic Wands Sticks are perfect if you want to do a little fantasy roleplaying while doing some crafting. Use streamers, string, fabric, and any other kinds of materials you might want to use to create your own magic wands.
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    Funny Sound Each player picks a stick and goes around hitting stuff with it. The winner of the game is whoever can make the weirdest noise. It’s a great sensory game to play with younger kids who are still working on dexterity.
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    Batting Practice This one requires a small, soft ball. Grab a stick big enough to hit the ball and do a little batting practice. You can even set out other sticks to play cricket or make a “fence” and have a little home run derby.
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Section 2 of 3:

Board Games that Use Stick-Style Pieces

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   Pick-Up Sticks Also known as Mikado, this is the classic sticks game. You dump the game pieces out in a pile and players take turns removing sticks without disturbing the pile. It’s sort of like Jenga but with more delicate game pieces. You score points based on the color of the sticks you pick up, or how many of them you pick up. You can also play a team-based version where you are assigned a set of colors and have to pick those up first.

   • Get the game here: Pick-Up Sticks
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   Kerplunk Kerplunk is a classic game that doesn’t get the love it deserves. You set up a tube, stick a bunch of the game’s sticks through it, and then pour marbles or balls inside the tube. The goal is to remove sticks without letting any of the marbles or balls fall. If anything falls, you have to pick them up. The game ends when all of the marbles or balls fall and the winner is whoever has the fewest number of balls/marbles collected.

   • Get the game here: Kerplunk
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   Stick Stack Stick Stack is a dexterity game where you have a small platform that sticks up in the air and players must take turns setting sticks on top of it. The goal of the game is to stack all of your sticks on top without toppling the whole thing.

   • Get the game here: Stick Stack
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   Drop the Stick Drop the Stick (or just “Drop Sticks”) is a simple and popular dexterity game where there are six sticks hanging from a platform. The sticks drop in a random order in intervals, and the goal of the game is to catch each stick mid-air before it hits the ground. If you’re a big NFL fan, you’ve seen wide receivers and skill position players play this at the combine and in practice!

   • Get the game here: Drop the Stick
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   Kubb Also known as Viking chess, Kubb is a really fun lawn game that feels like a combination of chess, bowling, horseshoes, and bags. Players set up small pieces and take turns moving them. Players can also throw sticks to try and knock over their opponent’s pieces. It’s a very fun, active game that deserves way more attention than it’s getting.

   • Get the game here: Kubb
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   Yubibo Yubibo is a social cooperative party game where players connect their fingers and palms to one another using sticks. It’s sort of like a mutual balancing game—kind of like Twister, but with fingers and balancing.

   • Get the game here: Yubibo
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   Tumbling Monkeys Also known as Jumping Monkeys or Tumblin’ Monkeys, Tumbling Monkeys is basically Kerplunk but with little monkey figurines instead of balls or marbles. The twist is that the monkeys usually have loopy hands and tails that get stuck on the sticks as they fall, and you can try to move the monkeys from one stick to another before removing it to avoid losing points.

   • Get the game here: Tumbling Monkeys
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   Mäuse-Rallye Mäuse-Rallye is a relatively old German board game about helping your mice get cheese. To move pieces around, you use sticks to flick your mice and block your opponent. It’s a fun, competitive dexterity game that’s equally interesting for younger players and older players alike.

   • Get the game here: Mäuse-Rallye
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   Jenga We’ll readily admit that Jenga blocks are not really traditional sticks, but it’s close enough, right? If you’re looking for a fun hands-on game involving wood pieces, Jenga is hard to beat. Try to pull pieces out of a tower stack without knocking the whole thing over!

   • Get the game here: Jenga
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Section 3 of 3:

Sports with Sticks

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1. Many popular sports require sticks as part of the equipment. You’ve likely played many of these games (or at least seen them played), but some of them may be totally new to you! We’ll highlight some of the more unique or niche options, but here are the major sports that require sticks of some kind:

   • Hockey (including field hockey, ice hockey, and even more obscure versions, like broomball or spongee)
   • Lacrosse
   • Polo (but not water polo!)
   • Croquet
   • Billiards (this includes games like carom and snooker)
   • Baseball
   • Hurling (hurling is an Irish sport played in a field with sticks and helmets; it’s kind of a combination of field hockey and rugby)
   • Cricket (it’s more of a paddle, but it’s stick-like!)
   • Jousting (competitive jousting is still a popular sport in many parts of the world)
   • Golf
   • Shinty (very similar to hurling, but it’s a Scottish game played without helmets and with tighter rules surrounding physical contact)
   • Quidditch (the fictional game from the Harry Potter universe is actually played IRL; you can find a local team or league online)

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