Family Games

Family games are something we enjoy over the Christmas and New Year period. However it can be difficult to find suitable family games that can be played by all family members ranging from 7 to 90. I have found a few successful ones so I thought I would share them here. Although Christmas is over we always play games at Birthdays and often on a Sunday afternoon after lunch. Most of these games only need some paper and pencils so are easy to transport for holidays as well.

Make a Word

Ask each family member to give you a letter from the alphabet or get them to close their eyes and put their finger on a page in a book to give a really random selection. If there aren’t any vowels just add a couple at the end. Everyone can write the selection of letters on the top of their piece of paper and then get someone to set a timer to 5 minutes on their phone. Get everyone to write down as many words as possible that they can make from these letters.  Points are awarded at the end for words that no one else has thought of. One person should read out their list and get everyone else to shout out if they have that word.

Picture Consequences

This is one of our favourite family games. Everyone has a pieces of paper and folds it into four by folding in half and then half again. Each person now draws a person, animal or character on the top section making sure the the neck extends just into the second section of the paper. They fold their picture to the back so that the next person cannot see what they have drawn and then pass on to the next player. The second person will now draw the body and arms down as far as the waist making sure that the lines extend once again onto the third section. Fold it backwards once again and pass on. The third section will be from the waist down including the legs and the last section will be the feet. Pass the paper along once more and then each player opens up their picture one at a time and wait for the howls of laughter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another favourite is Story Consequences.

I prepare this game by typing the begging of the sentences onto some paper, however if you don’t have a printer or are away from home you could suggest what each part of the story should be. Once the first person has written their part it is folded backwards and the paper passed on to the next player for them to continue writing. This continues until the stories are completed and once again stories are read at the end.

Here is one of ours from Christmas. The words in bold are the ones I typed onto the paper and the rest is written by family members.

Once upon a time there was a rasher of streaky bacon. Their name was Johnson. They lived in a green leaf house with a tomato and loved to go shopping in Derby. One day a steel band came to town. The consequence was they all got rich and lived happily ever after.

Here is another.

Once upon a time there was a lion. Their name was Cedric Blart the Third. They lived in a hole in the side of a mountain with a weasel called Wimp, and loved to eat pumpkin pie with a portion of feathers for desert. one day a monster chased them. The consequence was that everyone was sad and hungry.

Another family game that challenges everyone is Write a Story while not using any words longer than three letters. A time limit should be set, we found 7 minutes was a good length.

Here is one example.

One day a man, Bob, had a hat hit him. Bob was so sad! The day was bad and it got to him. So Bob sat and had a bit of pie. Pie was a way Bob got rid of his woe. The End.

Another drawing that works well is Pictionary. There is a game you can buy of if you don’t have this just make a list of things that people can drawer for their team.

One last example for this blog post is the game where everyone takes turns in thinking of a person or story character that they become and the rest of the family ask questions to try to work out who they are. The questions can only be answered with yes or no. Questions could include, are you a real person? Are you still alive? etc. This is a very good game when things have got rather loud as everyone is thinking and quietens down.