Build a Nerf War Battlefield in your own backyard, it’s not as hard as you think and it is a great upcycle and engineering challenge for kids. Not to mention the hours of play that will follow once it’s constructed.
Build A Nerf War Battlefield In Your Own Yard
What you will discover in this article!
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When my son announced that he wanted to have a Nerf gun war party for his birthday I immediately started researching places that host these types of parties. In the past I always tried to host birthday parties at a facility where they have staff that do all the work. I quickly pulled up all the local offerings, then I started freaking out. The cheapest party package I could find was $300 and they only got an hour of playtime, but it went up from there to $1000 for a two hour party!
Who pays $1000 for a two hour kids party? That is total insanity.
The Backyard Nerf Battle Space
We live on the outskirts of town and are lucky to have quite a large backyard, but unless you have a postage stamp yard, these Nerf War Battlefield obstacles could be built in many backyards or open spaces.
And the best part is that our Nerf War Battlefield uses materials that were heading for the dump or recycling anyway, so it’s a fantastic way to upcycle and build something amazing for next to nothing in cost!
The benefits don’t end there.
Doing this project with the family will teach kids engineering and construction skills, how to use tools, and critical thinking skills as they plan and design their course.
Supplies
- Wood Palettes
- Tires
- Long Screws
- Screw driver or cordless drill
- Work gloves
- Any other supplies you can think of to build obstacles
- Nerf Guns
- Nerf Bullets
To start you need some wood palettes. These can be found in lots of industrial areas. Check your local Kijiji or Craig’s List or Facebook Buy/Sell type groups and I’m sure you will find someone getting rid of these. You might even find them at a local eco-station.
Next you need some tires. Again you can ask around, check local buy/sell or your local eco-station. Our local eco-station always has hundreds of tires waiting to be recycled.
Finally some long screws, which you may already have in your garage.
While building these I recommend you wear gloves. The palettes tend to have splinters and the tires dirty. Give everything a good wash and take a palm sander to the palettes if they are particularly rough.
Now start building your Nerf War Battlefield!
Start simple, stack some tires. We spent some time determining how many tires tall our obstacles should be. It was interesting watching the kids test and evaluate until they determined that 3 tires high was a good height for them.
Next, with the help of Dad, they decided to attach two palettes at the top with a long screw to create a pyramid. These can be placed point up, so you can crawl underneath, or place the palettes on their side to create a barrier you can hide behind. The cool thing with this side arrow type placement is that you can pop a board off and create a slot for firing through.
The boys wanted to do a storm the castle type game, so they also created a special barrier that included two palettes, a stack of tires, and a tire on the top on it’s side. In that top tire they would hide a prize that the teams had to try and capture.
When the boys were happy with the course they had built it was time to organize the Nerf guns!
Here were their favourite Nerf picks:
Tips For Running A Game
The easiest way to run a Nerf War battle is to have everyone bring their own guns, but ask that they only bring guns that use the standard bullets. That way while they are playing they can simply scoop up more ammunition and keep going. We found it easiest to provide all the bullets. That way no one had to worry about losing their bullets. Then at the end of the day we gathered up all the bullets in a bucket, ready for next time.
We also grabbed a batch of old Nerf guns that someone was selling locally so we had lots of extra guns on hand. In the end the only cost for building our Nerf Gun Battlefield was the bullets (which we bought new), and the second hand guns. Not only was it a fraction of what the facilities were charging but now we can have Nerf battles all summer long and my boys continue to go out and engineer new barriers and obstacles.
Going Beyond Nerf
Once you have built your Nerf War Battlefield you can use it for so many other things! Just a few ideas we came up with:
- Graffitti Art Challenge on the Palettes (Grab some paint brushes or spray paint and let the kids create massive art outdoors! It looks incredible!)
- Ninja Warrior Style Training Course
- Water Balloon Battles
- Splatter Art
- Water Gun Battles
Bring some STEM and Create A First Person Video
You can see the course in action in this awesome first person video my son created. Learn more about how he did this here.
It is going to be a fantastic and fun summer in our backyard with our Nerf War Battlefield this year!
Crystal says
This looks like a fun battlefield for boys! My kids would sure love to make this. Since we recycle pallets for a living they have access to them all the time. We don’t have spare tires, but I think we could use the barrels we have?
Thank you for sharing on the #HomeMattersParty. We hope to see you again when we open our doors at 12 AM EST on Friday.
Lorelai @ Life With Lorelai says
Just wanted to let you know that we loved your Build A Nerf War Battlefield so much when you shared it at the #HomeMattersParty last week, we’ve FEATURED it THIS WEEK! Hope you can check it out when you get a sec! Happy weekend!!! http://lifewithlorelai.com/2016/05/19/home-matters-linky-party-87/
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai / Home Matters Linky Party
Mother of 3 says
What a great idea! My boys love Nerf Guns and we have tons of pallets hanging around my husband’s work. PInned!
Shelley says
So glad you enjoyed it! Have a great Nerf summer!
Katie says
How super cool is this?!?!?!?! My boys are small but I’m sure we’ll be building this some day! Thanks for sharing at #HappinessIsHomemade and congrats on the feature this week!
Shelley says
Thanks! I was so excited to be featured! All for doing something we love 🙂
Cindy says
This is a life saver! Thank you!! My son turns 8 this Spring & has asked for a Nerf party. I’m so excited to get started!!
Shelley says
Excellent! Have a great time making amazing memories!
Christina says
Oh my goodness. I can’t wait to show this to my husband so we can get building. The kids will love it!
Star Newman says
Okay, clearly building a Nerf War Battlefield is next on my to-do list this Covid-summer! What a great idea. And we have all the materials handy already!
Stone says
Thanks for the guide! I’m a kid here (bored and wanted to do a NERF war) and I’m slightly obsessed with NERF guns. If you want the best, most accurate experience, you should look into NERF Rival. It can sting a little, but it’s still not bad at all.