Giant Game Storage: Where 56 Wooden Blocks Actually Live

Q: How do you store giant Jenga blocks?

Flat and stacked, in the supplied case, somewhere with stable humidity. Blocks stored on end lean against each other under their own weight and can take a set.

Q: Can you store wooden yard games in a shed?

You can if the shed is genuinely dry, and most are not. Sheds swing hard in temperature and humidity, and repeated wet-dry cycles are what warp wood.

Q: Can you store wooden games in a garage?

Usually yes, and it is the best realistic option. A garage is more humidity-stable than a shed and less temperature-swung than an attic. Keep the case off the concrete floor, which wicks moisture.

Q: Do giant games need to be dried before storing?

Yes. Putting damp blocks into a closed nylon case holds moisture against the wood for months. Lay everything out until properly dry before storing.

Giant games have an unusual life cycle. They are bought for a specific event, used intensely for an afternoon, and then stored for most of a year. Which means storage, not play, is what most of a giant game's life consists of — and it is where they get damaged.

All of these games are wood: Yard Games publishes sustainably sourced New Zealand pine for its Timbers and 4-in-a-row lines, and Jenga GIANT publishes premium hardwood. Wood moves with moisture. Everything below follows from that.

What actually goes wrong

The three things that damage a stored wooden game

1. Being put away damp

This is the big one and it is entirely avoidable. A nylon carrying case is close to airtight, so blocks that went in slightly damp stay damp for months. The result is raised grain, sometimes mold, and blocks that no longer slide against each other cleanly.

Lay everything out until it is genuinely dry before it goes in the case. Dew counts as damp. Evening lawns count as damp.

2. Repeated humidity cycling

Wood takes on and gives off moisture with the air around it, and it does not do so evenly — one face dries faster than another, and the block cups. A shed that swings from cold and damp to hot and dry every day is the worst realistic storage location for this reason. A garage is much more stable.

3. Stored under load, or on end

Fifty-six blocks standing on their ends in a bag lean on one another for eleven months. Stack them flat, as they came, and do not stack anything heavy on top of the case.

Realistic options

Where to store, ranked

Storage locations for wooden giant games, ranked on humidity stability.
Location	Verdict	Why
Indoor closet or under a bed	Best	Stable temperature and humidity; the wood does nothing at all
Garage, off the floor	Very good	Cool and stable; keep the case on a shelf, not on concrete
Basement, if dry	Good	Very stable temperature; a dehumidifier settles the question
Dry shed	Acceptable	Workable if genuinely dry, but sheds swing hard day to day
Attic	Poor	Extreme summer heat dries wood unevenly and opens joints
Outdoors under a tarp	Bad	A tarp traps condensation against the wood — worse than no cover

The tarp line is the counter-intuitive one. A tarp over a wooden game stops rain and then traps every bit of ground moisture that evaporates underneath it. That is a worse environment than open air, and it is how people discover their set has gone green.

Specifics

Storing each type

Stacking tower blocks

Flat, in the supplied nylon case, stacked in the shape they were in on the tower. Every Yard Games Timbers size ships with a case; if yours has lost it, a flat crate is better than a bag.

Giant 4 in a row

The Yard Games set publishes 33 by 3 by 22 inches overall at 14.5 pounds, with a carrying case. Store the frame flat rather than standing on its legs — standing on legs for a year puts constant point load on the joints.

Count the coins before storing. The set publishes 42, and a game missing four is a game that ends early.

Yard dice

The easiest of the three. Six pine dice in a canvas bag, anywhere dry. Heat-stamped numbers do not rub off, so the only risk is moisture raising the grain.

For the outdoor-conditions side of this, giant games, wind and weather covers what happens during the party rather than after it.

FAQ

Questions people actually ask

How do you store giant Jenga blocks?

Flat and stacked, in the case they came with, somewhere with stable humidity. Blocks stored on their ends in a bag lean against each other under their own weight and can take a set. Every Yard Games Tumbling Timbers size ships with a high-strength nylon carrying case for exactly this reason.

Can you store wooden yard games in a shed?

You can, with one condition: the shed has to be dry, and most are not. Sheds swing hard in temperature and humidity, and repeated wet-dry cycles are what warp wood — a single damp winter does more damage than a summer of use.

Can you store wooden games in a garage?

Usually yes, and it is the best realistic option for most households. A garage is cooler and more humidity-stable than a shed and less temperature-swung than an attic. Keep the case off the concrete floor — concrete wicks moisture — on a shelf or a pallet.

Do giant games need to be dried before storing?

Yes, always. Putting damp blocks into a closed nylon case is the single fastest way to ruin a set — the case holds the moisture against the wood for months. Lay everything out until it is properly dry before it goes away.

Every figure on this page is copied from one of these sources. If you find one that is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will fix it.

Giant game storage