Family Night … let the games begin

Celebrity Heads
The aim of this game is to guess which famous person you are. Choose one person to be a ‘celebrity’ for each round and stick a name to their forehead.We have a selection of crazy hats that we pin famous names on. Each ‘celebrity’ can ask as many questions as desired with only yes or no answers in response. Make sure they are not sitting opposite any mirrors, etc and let the questions begin.

Hide ‘n’ Seek
I’m sure I don’t need to explain how this game works, but to make it even more fun, turn out the lights and arm the seeker with a flashlight. If small children are playing have an adult accompany them to help find their way around and/or prevent them from becoming scared.

Letter Writing
For some children, a handwritten letter is something they would only see in a museum. To prevent the extinction of such an art, grab some pens, paper, cards, envelopes, stamps, stickers, etc and place them in the centre of the table after dinner. Encourage everyone to write a letter to anyone of their choice within 10 minutes … it does not have to be epic. Smaller kids can draw a picture. You can post them the next day or if proximity permits, go for a walk together down to the post box.

Story Writing Game
This is a personal favourite, which requires all participants to be reading and writing! Give everyone at the table a couple of sheets of paper and a pen. The idea is to write as much as you can within one minute leaving a few words for the next person to add to. Set a timer/stopwatch in the centre of the table to one minute. As soon as the alarm rings, fold your paper down so that only the last sentence or few words are revealed, then pass your paper to the person on your left. Start the alarm again and continue until everyone has added to your story. Collect your stories and take turns in reading them aloud. Try not to cry with laughter so everyone can hear what each one reads.

What’s Missing
This game is a hit with smaller children and a great exercise for those who are finding their memory a little foggy. Grab about 15 small items from around the house and spread them out in the centre of the table. Select one person to remove one item while everyone else has their heads bowed and their eyes closed. Once the item is removed call out for everyone to open their eyes and guess what the missing item is. Whoever guesses now gets to remove and item and so on.

Truth or Dare
Okay, so this isn’t quite what some of us may have experienced in high school … this is the PG version. Kids will mostly choose dares such as standing on a chair on one leg while singing a song backwards and the like.

Spoons
Grab a bunch of spoons (one less than the number of people playing) and a deck of cards. Fish sets of 4 of a kind out from the pack corresponding with however many people are playing. Place the spoons in the centre of the table and deal out four cards to each player. Only once the dealer places a card down for the person on their left to pick up, can everyone else follow suit and do the same. As soon as someone has a complete set of 4, they place them on the table and grab a spoon. The last to grab one is out. Take a set of 4 out each round and continue until there is a winner. Trust me this gets VERY loud, messy and competitive … in our family anyway!

Dance For Your Life
This has proven to be side-splittingly funny! Some of you may frown upon dancing throughout a meal, but for us, we love it! Choose a DFYL starter who gets to call out the name of anyone at the table (or during the evening) to dance for their lives for 10 seconds. The tip to make this game work is the element of surprise. Whoever has completed their dance gets to choose another victim at any given time.

Guess The Song
This game is an absolute favourite and has me literally crying with laughter every time! Grab a book (text books are the best) and pass it around the table. Everyone takes turns in singing a song using the text in whatever book chosen as the lyrics. Everyone else has to guess the tune.

Treasure Hunt
This requires a little pre-planning and is really an after dinner game. Write a list of 20 things you must find and split into groups – smaller families may have to split into groups of one – then go hunting for each item. This can be inside the house or around the neighbourhood. We recently played this and took cameras as some things on our list required taking photos of certain stores, etc. A great game for summer when the light lingers longer.

20 Questions
This is a great game to have on hand when there is a mix of new faces at the table. Have a set of questions written out on cards and place them in a bowl for people to dip into over dessert. Make them light-hearted and funny so it does not feel like the Spanish Inquisition.

What am I?
Animal, vegetable, mineral … you know the drill. Everyone chooses an animal, vegetable or mineral and can only answer yes or no to questions thrown at them while the rest of us try to figure it out.

Charades
A game that is as old as time, charades is a good game for any group. Pick a movie, book, etc and mime it out for everyone to guess.

Best Thing …Worst Thing
Not so much a game as a conversation starter … this is good when there are children at the table, often they will offer up insight to their day in the playground. Ask each person what the worst part of their day was which gives a platform for others to offer support, advice or laughter (sometimes). Always finish with asking what the best part of their day was and congratulate them on a job well done or for just seeing the brighter side of things.

Most of all have fun and make Family Night one of the highlights of your week! And don’t forget to leave a comment to share your own game ideas with us.

Michaela

Tagged as: Michaela