Best Strategies for Kids Playing Cornhole

Children love to play. It doesn’t matter what they’re playing as long as they’re playing. Many parents seem content to park their children in front of a television or computer game and enjoy the peace and quiet that their ecstasy brings into the house. But getting them outside to play, exercise or just enjoy being in the warmth of a loving sun should be the most important thing for any parent.

Cornhole is a game that can inspire kids to be outdoors for hours, days at a time, every week during their vacation. Both adults and children can play, and young children can even compete against adult adults, with some adjustments implemented and disadvantages imposed for adults, of course.

Strategy 1: Board Distance

The most important strategy to help make Cornhole even more exciting and fun for any child is to monitor the distance from the board they stand when tossing the bean bags. The younger the child, the closer they should stand when taking their turn. There is no reason why a five-year-old should be expected to throw from the regulation distance of 27 feet. They won’t hit the board with any of their pitches and then quickly lose interest in the game.

I know some parents argue that allowing them to ‘cheat’ as they would refer to that strategy as teaching them bad habits, but this is simply not the case. Just as you wouldn’t expect a five- or six-year-old to be able to shoot a full-size basketball into a basket set at regulation height, we make adjustments to accommodate their size and strength limitations. Allowing them to be closer will help them appreciate the game and want to spend more time outdoors.

Strategy 2: scoring options

When you play with children, like an adult against a child, you have the luxury of scoring more liberally. Make sure that when you score, it is always in favor of the child. For example, you can make a cornhole that is worth four points to a young child and only two to an adult. This will help keep the game interesting for both the child and the adult playing the game.

Strategy 3: Baggage Limits

Just as airlines limit the number of carry-on bags you can take on a plane, an adult playing against a child may want to avoid throwing one or more of their bean bags. By allowing the boy the regulation four versus her two or three, they are given a significant scoring advantage.

While kids certainly need to learn that winning isn’t the most important aspect of playing any game, when they start playing cornhole, it helps if they can feel like they have a fighting chance to win, or at least compete on some level, and they will have more fun with it. That, at the beginning, is the most important strategy.