7 Fun Games to Play with the Whole Family
min read
When you were growing up, did your family have a regular 'game night'? They were always memorable nights of belly-splitting laughter, friendly competitiveness, and a touch of creative genius! To help family bonds grow stronger and encourage siblings to enjoy hanging out with each other, we reminisced over those family game nights and recalled some of our favorite games.
The following is just the start of what could be a very long list. They're the highlights reel of 'Family Game Night Games'. We say, enjoy the trip down memory lane and introduce them to the kids to start their own bank of memories. Enjoy!
1. The Chocolate Game
Combine dress-ups and chocolate and you get the fabulously fun Chocolate Game set to brighten up any family game night.
What you need
- A few wrapped bars of chocolate
- A plate
- A knife and fork
- Dress-up items such as a hat, jackets and gloves
- A pair of dice
Activity
- Sit in a circle on the floor.
- Place the bar of chocolate and the knife and fork on a plate in the middle of the circle with the the bundle of dress-up clothes.
- Have the kids take turns to roll the dice.
- When someone rolls a double (eg each dice rolls a 6), they must put on all items of clothing then unwrap and eat the bar of chocolate only using the knife and fork to cut the chocolate and get it into their mouth. This player must keep going until another player rolls a double. At which point, the player must hand over the dress-up clothes to the next player who must try and unwrap and eat the chocolate bar with the knife and fork.
Notes
If a player is able to unwrap the chocolate bar, have a few spare ones on hand to replace it with. Also replace knives and forks if they have been used for eating.
2. The Flour Game
This game can get strategic and messy. But keeps everyone on their toes!
What you need
- Bowl - needs to be bone dry
- Plate
- Knife
- Flour
- LifeSavers or other small hard candies
Activity
- Fill a bowl full of flour and pack it down. Continue to add flour until the bowl is full to the top and level it off. Place a plate over the bowl and carefully tip it upside-down and lift the bowl off, creating a mound of flour on the plate. Set a LifeSaver on top of the mound of flour.
- Each player takes a turn cutting the flour trying not to allow the LifeSaver to fall.
- Players continue to take turns cutting the flour until the candy falls.
- The person that cuts the flour which causes the LifeSaver to fall has to then retrieve it with his mouth.
- It’s impossible to retrieve the LifeSaver without getting a face full of flour and it's hilarious to see the attempts to retrieve the candy with minimum flour-face-coverage.
3. Headbangers
This is a great quizzicle game suitable for all ages. Can be incredibly frustrating when you know the answer is just on your head!
What you need
- Paper (thin strips that will fit on forehead
- Tape or blu-tak
- Pen
- Imagination
Activity
- Each person writes down either an animal, food, common object or famous person onto a piece of paper
- Take your piece of paper and stick it to the forehead of the person to your left ensuring other players can see what is on it but the player can't
- Everyone takes turns to guess what is written on the paper on their forehead with yes or no questions. For every yes you get, you get to ask another question. For every no, it goes to the next player.
- The winner is the first to guess what is written on the paper on their forehead.
4. Touchy Feely
Despite the name, this game has its origin as a classroom sensory experience but it definitely has a place on the family game night agenda.
What you need
- Large cardboard box with a lid you can close
- Various items such as:
- Cooked rice or spaghetti
- Seeds from a fresh pumpkin
- A piece of fruit – apple, orange, grapes, or cherries
- A toy – child must specify what it is
- Gelatine dessert
- Feathers
- Real and fake flowers
- Dehydrated potatoes
- Cereal
Activity
- Cut a hole in the side of the box large enough for a hand to fit through.
- Put your item inside the box and have each child guess what it is.
- Players can ask questions and you can offer a clue if you wish.
- The “winner” is the player who identifies the most substances and objects.
5. Pass It On
Super simple, yet pretty genius game where it's actually an advantage to have not so perfect drawing.
What you need
- A4 Paper cut in half lengthways
- Pen/Pencil
Activity
- Using the A4 paper strip longways, start by writing a word or a sentence at the top of the page. When you've finished, draw a line under the word/sentence and pass it to the person sitting on your left.
- As you will be to the left of someone else, you will now receive a piece of paper with their word/sentence written on top. You will now, underneath the line, draw what is written and make sure to be as detailed as you can to illustrate what that word or sentence says.
- After you have finished drawing, fold the paper over on the line to hide the sentence/word, so all that is visible is the drawing you have just done. Put a line under your drawing and then pass this on to the person on your left.
- As expected, you will now receive a piece of paper from your right with a drawing on it. You will now write the description for this drawing, making sure to be very expressive.
- After you finish the writing, draw a line under it, fold the last drawing over so only your recent writing is visible and pass this to your neighbour on the left.
- Keep going like this until there is no more space on the page or the page comes back full circle to you.
- Unfold the paper and share in the laughs!
You can find templates and inspiration cards for this game here.
6. Spoons
This game in particular can bring out the competitiveness in just about, everyone! So be prepared.
What you need
- Spoons (one less than the number of players)
- Deck of cards (number of decks dependent on number of players, but 1 is normally enough)
- A cunning edge
Activity
- Have everyone sit in a circle facing each other.
- Place the spoons in the middle. There should be one less than the number of players (EG for seven players, there should be six spoons).
- Making sure the cards are shuffled, deal each player four cards. With the remaining cards, form a stack next to the starting player.
- The starting player takes a card from the stack and decides whether to keep the card or not. The goal is to get 4 of a kind.
- One card must be discarded so the player only ever has four cards in their hand.
- The card that is discarded is handed, face down, to the next person in the circle (going clockwise).
- Once a person gets 4 of the same rank card, they are now eligible to take a spoon from the middle
- Once a spoon is taken, then the rest of the players can now grab a spoon regardless of the cards they have.
- In order not to lose, you must grab a spoon in time.
- The player who is not successful in getting a spoon must leave the circle, and the spoons will be decreased by one.
- Repeat the process until there is only one winner left.
7. Telephone on your Springfree
Taking a classic game and moving to the trampoline is a great way to level up the fun!
What you need
- Springfree Trampoline
- Imagination
- Wit
Activity
- Get everyone to line up around the outside of the trampoline
- One person goes to the centre of the trampoline and performs a move (it could be a bottom drop, bouncing 2-3 times etc). Once done, they exit out of the centre.
- The next person in line then goes to the centre, performs the first person's move and then adds a move of their own.
- This goes on for a continuous cycle until someone is not able to remember the sequence correctly at which point, they are out.
Please remember, only have one jumper at a time and flips and tricks are not recommended for the safety of your children.
We are sure there are plenty more family favourites and we'd love to hear from you as to what yours are! Head to our Facebook page to share your games and stories!
