Quick Answer: The best trampoline games for a backyard trampoline are the ones built around one active jumper at a time — Crack the Egg, Poison Ball, and turn-based Trampoline Basketball top the list, because they turn a group of kids into an audience-plus-one-jumper instead of a mat full of bodies. Games like Trampoline Dodgeball and Bouncing Tag are genuinely popular, but they’re designed for commercial trampoline parks with multiple linked courts, not a single home mat — the CPSC and American Academy of Pediatrics both flag simultaneous jumpers as the biggest driver of trampoline injuries, so this guide adapts every game to a safer, take-turns format for backyard play.
A trampoline is already the most-requested backyard purchase for a reason: the games are half the fun. But the same feature that makes trampolines great for games — several kids together, all wanting to jump at once — is also the single biggest risk factor in the CPSC’s own injury data. This guide covers the games kids actually ask for, adapted so a birthday party or a Saturday afternoon doesn’t turn into an emergency-room story.
By the numbers
- Well over 100,000 — the number of trampoline-related injuries the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates are treated in American emergency rooms each year, across backyard trampolines and trampoline parks combined.
- ~75% — the share of trampoline injuries that involve more than one jumper on the mat at the same time, per CPSC and AAP data — which is why every game below has a one-jumper-friendly version.
- Under 6 — the age below which the AAP recommends against trampoline use entirely, game or no game.
Trampoline games compared
| Game | Active jumpers | Best age | Equipment | Backyard risk level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crack the Egg | 1 at a time | 6+ | None | Low |
| Poison Ball | 1 at a time | 6+ | Soft foam balls | Low |
| Trampoline Basketball | 1 at a time | 6+ | Breakaway hoop | Low |
| HORSE / Knockout (trampoline) | 1 at a time | 8+ | Breakaway hoop, ball | Low |
| Popcorn | 1 at a time | 6+ | Soft ball or toy | Low |
| Simon Says (bounce edition) | 1 at a time | 4+ | None | Low |
| Bouncing Tag (backyard-adapted) | 1 at a time, rotating "it" | 8+ | None | Medium |
| Trampoline Dodgeball (backyard-adapted) | 1 at a time | 10+ | Soft foam balls | Medium |
1. Crack the Egg — Best Low-Key Game
One player curls into the “egg” — knees to chest, arms wrapped around the legs, sitting in the center of the mat. Other players take turns bouncing nearby (never landing on the egg) to try to pop them out of the tucked position using mat movement alone. It’s calm, requires zero equipment, and naturally keeps everyone but the active jumper and the “egg” off the mat, which is exactly the one-active-jumper structure the AAP recommends.
2. Poison Ball — Best for Groups
Scatter a few soft foam balls (“poison”) in the middle of the mat. The active jumper has to bounce around the mat without touching them while everyone else calls out warnings from the sidelines. Swap jumpers every 30–60 seconds. It’s a crowd-pleaser for a birthday party specifically because most of the “players” are spectators cheering from the ground at any given moment, not bouncing.
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3. Trampoline Basketball — Best for Competitive Kids
Clip a breakaway hoop to the enclosure poles and let the active jumper attempt a set number of shots before rotating to the next player. It’s the game that turns a backyard trampoline into the most popular yard on the block, and because only one player needs to be on the mat to take a turn, it scales cleanly from a rainy-afternoon solo session to a full birthday party. See our best trampoline with basketball hoop guide for packages that ship with the hoop already mounted, and bolt-on hoops for a trampoline you already own.
4. HORSE / Knockout — Best for Older Kids
Run the classic basketball shot-matching game on the trampoline hoop instead of a driveway hoop: each player attempts the same shot the previous player made, and misses spell out H-O-R-S-E. It keeps the same one-shooter-at-a-time structure as regular Trampoline Basketball but adds a scoring format older kids and teens actually compete over.
5. Popcorn — Best for Little Kids
The active jumper holds a soft ball or beanbag and bounces gently while trying not to drop it — miss the catch and it’s the next player’s turn. It’s low-intensity, works for younger kids who aren’t ready for Poison Ball’s dodging, and, like Crack the Egg, needs only one person bouncing at a time.
6. Simon Says (Bounce Edition) — Best for Preschool-to-Early-Elementary
A caller on the ground gives bounce instructions — “Simon says touch your toes,” “Simon says spin around,” “sit down” (no “Simon says,” so anyone who does it is out) — and the single active jumper follows along. It’s the gentlest game on this list and doubles as a warm-up before higher-energy games later in a session.
7. Bouncing Tag — Backyard-Adapted, Use With Caution
The park version of Bouncing Tag runs several kids bouncing at once while one player who’s “it” tries to tag another. On a single backyard trampoline, that’s the multi-jumper scenario the CPSC’s ~75% figure is describing — adapt it instead to a rotating one-jumper format: the person who’s “it” stays on the mat and tries to reach a target zone before a timer runs out, then the next player takes over as “it.” It keeps the tag concept without ever putting two people on the mat together.
8. Trampoline Dodgeball — Backyard-Adapted, Use With Caution
Commercial trampoline parks run real dodgeball across multiple linked courts with a divider net, teams of 6–8, and padded walls — a setup no backyard trampoline replicates. The safer backyard version puts one jumper on the mat as the “dodger,” with everyone else standing on the ground around the trampoline throwing soft foam balls (never hard playground balls) at the jumper below shoulder height. Rotate the dodger every round. Skip this one entirely for kids under 10, and skip it altogether on smaller trampolines where there isn’t room to dodge.
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The one rule that matters more than any game
Every game on this list can be played two ways: the version with one active jumper and everyone else waiting a turn, or the version with several kids bouncing at once. Only the first version is the one the AAP and CPSC’s own numbers support. Roughly three out of four trampoline injuries happen with more than one person on the mat — usually from a collision, or from a smaller, lighter jumper absorbing the bounce energy of a bigger one and getting launched at an unpredictable angle. None of the games above need two people bouncing simultaneously to work; the take-turns structure is what makes them safe and what makes them last longer, since nobody’s session gets cut short by someone else crowding the mat.
A few practical rules that apply across every game in this guide:
- One jumper on the mat, always — spectators wait on the ground or outside the enclosure, not standing on the mat edge.
- Soft, oversized foam balls only for anything Poison Ball- or dodgeball-style — a hard playground ball on a bouncing surface is a different injury risk entirely.
- No under-6s in the active rotation. The AAP’s under-6 recommendation applies to games the same as free bouncing; let younger siblings play Simon Says from the ground instead.
- Adult supervision for anything faster than Crack the Egg or Popcorn. Tag and dodgeball variants move fast enough that an adult calling rotations keeps the one-jumper rule from slipping mid-game.
- Check your weight limit before adding a hoop or extra gear. Our trampoline weight limit guide covers how per-jumper ratings work if you’re outfitting the trampoline for a specific age group.
How to pick games for your group
- Under 6: Simon Says and Popcorn only, always with an adult on the mat or spotting closely. Full games are a “when they’re older” thing — see our best toddler trampoline guide for age-appropriate models instead.
- 6–9: Crack the Egg, Poison Ball, Popcorn, and basic Trampoline Basketball all work well at this age, still one jumper at a time.
- 10+ and teens: Add HORSE/Knockout, the backyard-adapted dodgeball round, and rotating Bouncing Tag once kids are consistent about waiting their turn. Once the games feel easy, our trampoline tricks guide covers the seat-drop-to-swivel-hips progression worth adding next — no flips required.
- Birthday parties: Poison Ball and Trampoline Basketball scale best to a crowd, since most of the group is cheering from the ground at any given moment rather than waiting in a line on the mat.
- After dark: Add a rim-light kit before extending any game into the evening — see our best trampoline lights guide.
The bottom line
The best trampoline games are the ones that never need two people bouncing at once — Crack the Egg, Poison Ball, and Trampoline Basketball cover most ages with almost no equipment beyond a hoop and some soft foam balls. Save Bouncing Tag and Trampoline Dodgeball for kids 8–10 and up, and only in their backyard-adapted, one-jumper-at-a-time form — the full multi-court park versions aren’t built for a single home mat. Whatever you play, the CPSC’s own numbers make the case better than any house rule: about three-quarters of trampoline injuries involve more than one jumper on the mat, so the take-turns structure isn’t a buzzkill, it’s the thing that keeps the games going all summer. Outfitting the trampoline for game day? See our best trampoline basketball hoop guide, our best trampoline sprinkler guide for hot-day sessions, and whether Amazon Prime is worth it for trampoline shoppers before you order accessories.