Cornhole facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Cornhole

A typical cornhole board, with two colors of bag
Nicknames	Bags, Baggo, bean bag toss, dummy boards, doghouse, dadhole, sacks, beans, beanbag, bean in the hole, ramps
Characteristics
Contact	No
Team members	Either doubles or singles
Type	Outdoor
Presence
Country or region	North America

Cornhole is a super fun lawn game where players toss special bags at a raised board with a hole in it. It's also known as bags or bean bag toss in some places. The goal is to get your bag into the hole for 3 points, or to land it on the board for 1 point. The game keeps going until one player or team reaches 21 points or more! It's a great game to play outdoors with friends and family.

How to Play Cornhole

What You Need to Play

To play Cornhole, you'll need a few things:

• Two sets of bags (usually four bags per set). Each set should be a different color so you can tell them apart.
• Two Cornhole boards.

The bags used to be filled with corn kernels, which is how the game got its name! But today, they're usually filled with plastic beads. This helps them keep their shape and weight. Some bags even have two different sides, one that slides faster and one that slides slower on the board. This can help players in different weather conditions.

The Boards and Court

Each Cornhole board is about 2 feet wide and 4 feet long. It has a 6-inch hole near the top. The top of the board is 12 inches off the ground, and the bottom is 3-4 inches off the ground, making it angled.

For official games, the holes on the two boards are placed 33 feet apart. This means there's 27 feet between the bottom edges of the boards. If you're playing with younger kids or don't have much space, you can set the boards closer together.

Players throw their bags from a special area called the "pitcher's box." This is the space right next to the board. The front edge of the board is called the "foul line." You can't step past this line when you throw!

Playing the Game

Cornhole being played during a pre-game tailgate party.

Cornhole games are divided into rounds, called "innings" or "frames." In each round, every player throws four bags. Players from different teams take turns throwing their bags.

When you throw, you must stay in your pitcher's box. You can't step over the foul line until your bag has left your hand. If you do, your throw won't count!

The player who scored points in the last round gets to throw first in the next round. If no one scored, the player who threw first in the previous round throws first again. You also have 20 seconds to throw your bag once you step into the pitcher's box.

Team Play

Cornhole can be played in different ways:

• Singles: Two players play against each other. They both throw from the same board, taking turns until all their bags are thrown.
• Doubles: Four players split into two teams. One player from each team throws from one board, and their teammates throw from the other board. They take turns throwing until all bags are used.
• Crew Format: This is for bigger teams, with four players on each team (eight players total). Two players from each team stand at each board. Each player throws two bags per round, still taking turns.

How Scoring Works

To score points, your bag needs to either go into the hole or land on the board.

• Bag in the hole: This is worth 3 points. Your bag can go directly in, slide in, or even be knocked in by another bag.
• Bag on the board: This is worth 1 point. The bag must be on the board at the end of the round. If a bag touches the ground and then lands on the board, it's called a "dirt bag" and doesn't count.

Scoring is done using "cancellation." This means that only one team can score points in each round. Here's how it works: 1. At the end of a round, add up the points for each team. 2. Subtract the lower score from the higher score. 3. The team with the higher score gets the difference in points.

For example, if Team A scores 7 points and Team B scores 5 points in a round, Team A gets 2 points (7 - 5 = 2). The 5 points from Team B cancel out 5 points from Team A.

The game ends when the first player or team reaches or goes over 21 points at the end of a round. You don't need to win by a certain number of points.

Game Strategy

As players get better, they use different strategies. Some players try to slide all their bags into the hole. Others might use "defensive" moves, like throwing a "blocker" bag that lands in front of the hole. This makes it harder for their opponent to get a bag in! If there's a blocker, an opponent might try to slide through it, throw another blocker, or try a risky "airmail" shot (throwing the bag directly into the hole without touching the board).

Cornhole Words You Should Know

Here are some cool terms you might hear when playing Cornhole:

• Airmail: A bag that flies directly into the hole without touching the board. It often goes over another bag.
• Back door: A bag that goes over a "blocker" bag and into the hole.
• Backstop: A bag that lands past the hole but stays on the board. It can help stop other bags from sliding off the board.
• Blocker: A bag that lands in front of the hole, making it harder for opponents to score.
• Busting: An unofficial rule where if a team scores too many points and goes over 21, their score might go back down.
• Cornfusion: When players can't agree on the score for a round.
• Cornhole (or Drano): A bag that falls into the hole, worth 3 points.
• Dirty bag: A bag that touches the ground before landing on the board, so it doesn't count.
• Frame: Another word for a round or turn in the game.
• Four bagger: When a player gets all four of their bags into the hole in one round. That's awesome!
• Flop or floppy bag: A type of throw where the bag doesn't spin much.
• Hammer: A bag thrown with a high arch to try and knock other bags that are near the hole into it.
• Hanger: A bag that is right on the edge of the hole, almost falling in.
• Honors: The player or team who gets to throw first in a round.
• Hooker: A bag that hits the board and then curves around a blocker to go into the hole.
• Jumper: A bag that hits another bag on the board, making it jump up and into the hole.
• Shortbag: When a bag lands on the ground just before the board.
• Skunk, whitewash or shutout: When a game ends with a score of 21-0. Some unofficial rules say 11-0 also counts.
• Slide (or slider): A bag that lands in front of the hole and then slides right into it.
• Swish: Another name for an "airmail" shot.
• Wash: When both teams score the same number of points in a round, so no points are awarded.
• Woody: Any bag that lands and stays on the board at the end of a round.

Images for kids

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  The Collier Cornhole Tournament, held on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology