Nerf Gun Games with Nerf Targets from Household Items

Learn a handful of nerf gun games with homemade nerf targets from household items! You can keep your kids busy for hours with this nerf activity. 

Dart wars! What little kid doesn’t love a good nerf battle? You know how some toys are very age specific? Nerf guns and nerf wars never get old for any age (at least in my house it’s true)! The best thing about a good nerf fight is that it can keep the kids occupied outside OR inside (if momma allows it) for hours! Let me share some Nerf Gun Games with nerf targets from household items PLUS free printable nerf targets.

My kids favorite pastime is building forts, making pallets in front of the TV, and pretending that our home is a war zone while protecting it with nerf guns. Oh the messes they can make, LOL! It’s like that quote,

“Don’t mind the mess, we are making memories here.” 

I can’t remember where that quote is from…but nevertheless, I’m about to show you how to create an even bigger mess with a few indoor games. But with that mess will come lasting memories for you and more importantly your kiddos. Let’s be honest, any activity that can distract them from online games is a plus right?

Ready, aim, FIRE!

Let me show you a few household items that work great for nerf gun target practice and a few fun games too. 

Nerf Targets from household items

Create nerf gun targets out of brown paper bags

The kids can really get creative with this one! Give them a bag and tell them to make a target out of anything they want! The bag will act as a target for those nerf darts to hit. 

When they are done creating their own DIY target, open the bag up and hang it around the house. Just make sure whatever is under the bag won’t get hurt if it gets hit with a nerf gun. 

DIY nerf war targets out of disposable plates

Most people have a few paper plates lying around somewhere in the kitchen. This is probably the easiest way to make a DIY nerf target because it’s already a circle. If the paper plate is already the color red, that’s an extra bonus! Use a sharpie or something similar and create your own bullseye’s. 

How to create a nerf war target out of a brown box

Here comes the kids favorite target. What is it about kids and wanting to create their own houses or forts? 

Grab a few cardboard boxes and cut them at the seam. Open it up and now you have a fun “shield” to hide behind. Decorate it as you like. If you have a box big enough, you can even make it your “home base.” 

Below are a few free downloads that you can use to decorate your “fort” or “home” with. Just drag the images over to your desktop! 

P.S. I printed these in black and white but the color would look great too!

Nerf War Target free Printables for Nerf War Games

Here’s a little sneak peak of what the window looks like on the box. I put one on each side.

Before we dive too far into different types of battle games, let me share a recent post about the best Nerf guns with reviews! From a single shot blaster to a Nerf rifle, we’ve covered a handful of different Nerf products.

Nerf Games and Games with Nerf Guns

Nerf targets and nerf guns aren’t any enjoyment without a fun game to go along with it, right? It’s fun to run around and shoot other things, but it’s even more fun if you have a fair game with set rules. Let me show you five of the best nerf gun games to play inside or outside. I hope one of these different games will suit your needs!

1. Protect the Baby– To play “Protect the Baby” with Nerf guns, you’ll need a few players and a designated play area. Here’s how to set it up:
   1. Designate one player as the “parent” who will protect the “baby” (a doll or stuffed animal) while the other players are the “attackers.”
   2. Create a safe zone for the baby, such as a designated area or a playpen.
   3. The attackers will try to “kidnap” the baby by getting it out of the safe zone and back to their own designated area.
   4. The parent’s job is to use their Nerf gun or Nerf blaster to tag the attackers before they can reach the baby and bring it back to safety.
   5. Use obstacles and barriers to create a challenging and fun playing field.
   6. The game can be played in rounds, with players switching roles after each round.
2. Nerf Gun Freeze Tag– This game is awesome even without the nerf guns! To play Nerf Gun Freeze Tag, follow these simple steps:
   1. Designate one or more players as the “taggers” and the rest as “runners.”
   2. When a runner is tagged by a tagger’s Nerf dart, they must freeze in place.
   3. To unfreeze a frozen player, another runner must tag them with a Nerf dart.
   4. The game continues until all runners are frozen or until a set time limit is reached.
   5. You can also add variations such as safe zones where runners cannot be tagged, or special abilities for taggers.
3. Hide and Seek Nerf War– To play hide and seek Nerf war, follow these steps:
   1. Designate one player as the seeker and the rest as hiders.
   2. The seeker counts to a predetermined number (e.g., 60) while the hiders find hiding spots within the designated play area.
   3. Once the seeker finishes counting, they search for the hiders.
   4. When a hider is found, they can engage in a Nerf war with the seeker. If the hider tags the seeker with a Nerf dart, they can return to their hiding spot.
   5. The game continues until all the hiders are found or until a set time limit is reached.
   6. You can establish rules such as safe zones and a designated playing area where hiders cannot be tagged, or boundaries for the play area.
4. Standoff- This is a good old western themed game where two players start by standing back to back.  They both take the same amount of steps away from each other and at the same signal both turn around and start to shoot. Whoever hits their opponent the most times (they each have the same amount of ammo) wins. Note; once the players turn around they cannot move from that spot. 
5. Attack and Defend– To play an attack and defend Nerf game, you can follow these steps:
   1. Divide the players into two teams: attackers and defenders.
   2. Designate an area as the “base” for the defending team, which they must protect.
   3. The attacking team’s goal is to infiltrate the base and capture a specific object or reach a designated area within the base.
   4. The defending team’s objective is to prevent the attackers from reaching their goal by using Nerf guns to tag them.
   5. Set a time limit for each round or establish a point system to determine the winner.
   6. You can also include rules such as respawning for tagged players which allows a set number of lives and limited ammunition to add strategy to the game.

All of these game rules can of course be altered to suit your party! 

My kids used this old brown box for hours pretending it was their “safe spot” from the opposing team.

Happy Hunting friends!