Genealogy Icebreaker Activities for Your Family Reunion

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Aunt Mo

Family Tree Photo

Make a live family tree and take a photo. Arrange family members as they would be on a genealogical chart of the family. Begin with Grandma and Grandpa. Add a branch consisting of their children and spouses. Add additional branches for each of their children and so on. Be sure and take a picture- preferably from an elevated position.

Birthday Game

Mix family members up and divide into groups or ten or so. Challenge family members to put themselves in order of their birth date (day, month and year). If you have mostly young children the challenge should be to get in a line, oldest to youngest. To make the challenge more difficult try doing it blindfolded and tell them “No Talking!” It’s amazing how resourceful they will be communicating in other ways.

To involve your entire family ask those that were born in January to get together in one group; do the same for each of the other months. Then have the members of the January group give their birthdates, such as January 21, January 9, etc. and line up accordingly. This is fun activity that forges an immediate bond between those that share the same birthday or even birthday month. This activity is especially effective with reunions of 100 or more participants.

Family Reunion Concentration Game

This activity takes some advance planning. Create a "memory" or "concentration" game. You will need 54 cards with 26 pairs of pictures on them. With so many digital options this is a fairly easy but still a time consuming idea. Make two copies of each photo- be sure and include name, birthdate and birthplace of each person. You can make a game using ancestors or using photos of family members that are attending the current reunion. With this game you will reconnect with the past or make connections with the present.

Family Tree Chart

Make a huge family tree on and display it during the reunion. You can have large 36” x 48” “engineering prints” made at Staples for under $10.00 that work perfectly for this kind of presentation. Be sure and make 8 1/2 x 11 copies of the tree for each family to take home. The chart pictured above is another option. It is available from My History and is a fill in the blank type chart.

Name Tags for Your Family Reunion

Be creative with your reunion name tags. When family members check in at your reunion site give them each a name tag. But instead of the same old “my name is” name tags be a little creative. Put different design on name tags so that everyone with design sits at the same table for meals and are on the same team when dividing for activities. This helps family members get acquainted or Reacquainted with family members they don’t see often. The tags above are from the family reunion helper Heritage Reunion.

Turkeys and Robbers Thanksgiving Game

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Aunt Mo

If you’ve played “Cops & Robbers you can play “Turkeys and Robbers”.

Feeling a little “stuffed” after your Thanksgiving dinner? Here’s a fun game to get your Thanksgiving guests up and moving. Before you know it they’ll be ready for pumpkin pie.

How To Play:

Divide participants into two groups-the "Turkeys" and the "Robbers." If you have an odd number of people, add extra people to the robbers. It is better to have more robbers than turkeys.
Make a “nest” for your turkey eggs by making a circle (hula hoop) and placing soft balls or bean bags in the center. Start with three “eggs” but for a longer game you use more eggs.
Mark off an area to be the "barnyard". When a turkey tags a robber they take the robber to the barnyard. The barnyard could be a tree or an area you mark off.
Mark off a home base for the robbers. Turkeys may not enter the home base.
Robbers can get their friends out of the barnyard by touching them.
To win the game, the robbers must take the eggs while not getting captured by the turkeys.
The turkeys can tag the robbers to remove them from the game or send them to the barnyard (jail).
The robbers win if they successfully steal the turkey eggs and take them back to their "home base."
The turkeys will win the game if they capture all of the robbers and send them to the barnyard.
You will need to decide if the robbers can throw the turkey eggs from one another to keep them from the turkeys. We like that option especially when playing with an older group.
If a robber is tagged while running back to the safe zone with a turkey egg, the turkeys must return the object directly to their nest. At no other time may the turkeys carry the eggs.

Turkeys and Robbers is basically just Cops and Robbers with a Thanksgiving twist. There are many variations to the game and I’m sure you have your favorite rules so feel free to tweak as necessary. For instance,you may want to create a safety zone around the nest for the robbers or decide on a time limit for robbers to be inside any of the safety zones.

Whatever variations your family decides on, Turkeys and Robbers is a great way to burn off that stuffed feeling after you’ve gobbled up Tom Turkey and all the trimmings.

Punch Board Game

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Aunt Mo

Punch Board For Your Family Reunion

You’ve seen punch boards on the popular TV game show, The Price is Right, but a punch board can be a fun addition to your family reunion. A punch board can be an exciting way to award prizes at your family reunion. You can use a punch board to make assignments or choose what activity you will do next.

A larger board can also be a fair way to divide into teams- for example- write families names on slips of paper (Aunt Geri’s family or Uncle Dan’s family etc.) Punch two or more holes- those families join together to make a tug a war, softball or family skit group. You can use the same strategy to assign seating for meals to mix things up a bit.

Creating Your Punch Board

To create your punch board you will need:

sturdy poster board or a piece of cardboard
tissue paper
Plastic disposable bowls, lunch sacks or sandwich bags
prizes
tape & hot glue
The first punch board we created we used one sheet of tissue paper to cover the entire back of the board. Since then we have found that covering each hole with individual squares seems to work best as punching one hole may pull the paper from around other holes. Tape each square securely around individual holes.
Behind the Punch Board

There are several options for hiding prizes behind your punch board. My favorite option is plastic bowls. Carefully run a line of hot glue around the rim of your bowl and attach it to the inside of the tissue covered holes, with the prize inside. Be sure and put your prize or secret message inside the bowl before attaching it to the board. Other options include taping a lunch sack to the back of each hole or plastic sandwich bags.

Punch boards also make fun advent calendars. Create yours with 24 holes and 24 prizes. Punch out one prize each day to help count down days until Christmas or your favorite holiday.

Giant Activities for Your Family Reunion

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Aunt Mo

”Miscellaneous” Activities for Your Family Reunion

I considered calling this post ”Miscellaneous” activities for your family reunion because they aren’t theme driven but have proven to be great time fillers for small groups of people during our family reunions.

Giant Checkers Rug

I have had this giant Checkers Rug for more than 20 years. We set it out at every family reunion and you will always find two people playing Checkers no matter what time of day it is, usually with a small crowd gathered around cheering for the underdog to win.

Giant Coloring Pages

Giant coloring pages are always a huge hit at our family reunions. Of course, there isn’t room for a lot of people to sit around coloring, but it’s a great activities for someone looking for a little down time. Coloring pages come in different themes that would go along with your reunion theme- jungle, circus, Medieval etc. Some pages come with markers for coloring but you’ll need to bring extra. When your page is complete, roll it up carefully and then enter in your county fair or have it framed for Grandma.

The giant Checker rug and giant coloring pages are both available at the family reunion helper store for under twenty dollars.

Remote Control Car Racing for Your Family Reunion

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Aunt Mo

We attended a party sponsored by my husbands company this summer and when we walked into the huge warehouse all the boys faces, young and old, lit up with excitement at what they saw. A simple remote control race track had been set up in the warehouse and party goers were able to organize their own races against family and friends. What a great party idea and what a fun idea for a family reunion! Here’s how it works-

The Cars

If your reunion committee has the funds, purchase a few cars and at the end of your reunion auction them off or have a prize drawing. Another option is to invite family members to bring their own remote control cars to the reunion. If you’re planning in advance, a good time to purchase remote control cars in during the Thanksgiving Black Friday sales.

The RC Track

First you have to decide if you want a dirt track or an inside track. As far as size goes, you won’t need more than a 20-foot by 20-foot area. You can chart out the obvious oval course or focus on hard turns to make it more challenging. If you are racing on a hard surface, you can easily chart out the borders of the track using chalk or tape. Use 2x4s to make a sturdy track. A garden hose may also be a solution to keep the RC cars on the track. Depending on how many cars and racers you have the track should be within 5 to 7 feet wide.

A barrier in the center of your track helps keep cars roaring around the track and may help keep younger racers from getting stuck in the center. It can also be used as a control central for racers.

RC Jumps and Obstacles

Now it’s time to have some fun adding obstacles and jumps. If your car is a cheaper model, add only slight jumps but medium cost remote control cars can fly right over jumps without being damaged. You can use 2 liter bottles that you spray paint bright orange as obstacles. Put a little sand in each bottle and use them for obstacles to weave in and out off. (You can use orange cones but the smaller ones get pushed out of place.) Another fun obstacle for your track is a tunnel made from plastic or metal that a remote control car can fit through. If you are creating a dirt track the pipe can also double as the base for a jump if dirt is piled around it. You will have to experiment to get the dirt at the right angle. Tunnels can also be made out of cardboard boxes.

Race Day!

Have your track set up when reunion goers arrive. Invite them to practice racing cars around the track then choose a few cars to race for prizes at the end of the day. Gift bags of “Hot Wheel” and “Cars” goodies are fun awards.

Race Day Party

You can find race day printable invitations, decoration ideas,printable Pit Passes, water bottle (fuel) labels and award certificates in the familyreunionhelper store at Race Day Party.
Whether for a family reunion or birthday party it’s a great party theme with plenty of ZOOM!

Gentlemen, start your engines!

Create a Cities and Towns Game

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Aunt Mo

You can create a fun pencil and paper game using the names of the cities and towns in your state. It’s pretty simple to do, especially if you get a few people together to brainstorm with you. Things might get a little silly as you match up clues and cities but in the end you should have 20- 25 clues for your next reunion or party.

Utah Cities and Towns Game

Here’s the game we made for our state, Utah. Hopefully our ideas will help you create a game for your state. The first part is the clue the second part is the city or town name that matches the clue.

1. Get on a horse smiling- Mount Pleasant

2. What it costs- Price

3. What you do for a girl in need- Helper

4. Has figs in in- Newton

5. Always around a dam site- Beaver

6. Place of 360 degrees- Circleville

7. A wealthy meadow- Richfield

8. Big Wind- Hurricane

9. Fragrant Tree- Cedar

10. Spanish headdress- Mexican Hat

11. A wreath of flowers- Garland

12. Hurrah!- Eureka!

13. Happy outlook- Pleasant View

14. Everyone is under 21- Minersville

15. A prickly weed- Thistle

16. Halfway there- Midway

17. Put your money on us- Backus

18. Give your boy money- Payson

19. A dragging gun holster- Logan

20. Nothing beautiful about her- Plain City

21. What you do with the little cars at mines- Orem

22. His dad is a firearm- Gunnison

Brain Games For Your Family Reunion

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Aunt Mo

Planning Activities For Everyone

I always plan lots of physical activities for our family reunions- there’s no sitting around when I plan a reunion. However; not everyone is able to join in on a game of “Whiffle Ball” or run an obstacle course so I like to plan some “brain games” for them.

You can incorporate brain games into every reunion theme- Boot Camp, All Sport and Olympic themes are perfect themes for brain games. If you are giving awards for your activities be sure to include awards for your “brain games”.

Listed below is a one of my favorite brain games –

Brain Game

1. How many outs are in an inning of baseball? (6)

2. We celebrate Independence Day on the 4^th of July in the United States. Is there a 4^th of July in England. (Yes, there is a 4^th of July everywhere.)

3. Some months have 31 days, some have 30, how many have 28? (They all do)

4. You have become lost in the woods at night. It is winter and getting very cold. Spotting an abandoned cabin, you go inside. By the moonlight you see an oil lamp, an oil heater and some kindling wood in a fireplace. But you discover you only have one match. What do you light first? (the match)

5. Your doctor gives you three pills and tells you to take one every half hour. How long do they last? (One hour. Example: 12:00, 12:30, 1:00)

6. In the state of Mississippi, is it legal for a man to marry his widow’s sister? (He can’t; he’s dead)

7. Take two apples from three apples. How many do you get? (Two, you took two)

8. You’re a school bus driver. At the first stop in the morning, you pick up an eight year old and a six year old. At the second stop you pick up a third grader and two fourth graders. At the third stop you pick up the Gibson twins who are 11 and one five year old. At the fourth stop you pick up one 12 year old and three children who are seven. How old is the bus driver? (Your age, you are the school bus driver.)

9. Divide 30 by ½ and add 10. What do you get? (70)

10. How many animals did Moses take onto the ark? (None, Moses wasn’t on the ark, Noah was)

11. You build a house with four southern exposures. A bear walks by your living room window. What color is the bear? (white, it is a Polar Bear. You are at the north pole.)

12. You have two coins that total 55 cents. One of them is not a nickel. What are they? (Half dollar and a nickel)

13. Billy’s mom has three kids. One is Penny and one is Nickel. What is the name of her third kid? (Billy)

The Family That Eats Together Stays Together

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Aunt Mo

Or Forcing Your Family to Mingle

One difficult part of a family reunion or party can be getting your family to mingle during meal time. We usually have each family group sitting together- the Maddox family, the Wynnes and the Stewarts all sitting in their own little group. It’s not that we don’t like each other or don’t get along-we just gravitate to our own family group.

Here’s a fun way to mix things up. Put a pieces of colored tape or ribbon on each chair or seating space (if you’re dealing with picnic benches) When everyone has begun eating announce that everyone sitting on a yellow space must switch places with another yellow. A few minutes later have pinks switch and so on.

DO NOT make it too complicated! If you have green switch with pink and yellow with red, nothing will happen- everyone will remain in their original seat. If you’re family is compliant and seems to enjoy the mixing up you could try switching two colors at a time but for the most part it’s best to focus on one color at a time. You don’t have to mix people up all in one meal- keep the colors on during your entire reunion and only do a couple of swaps per meal.

Towards the end of the meal you can announce “Rainbow Mixup” and everyone has to switch places.

HINT: Choose a meal that doesn’t have a lot of plates and silverware etc. to be moved.

Party Games 411

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Aunt Mo

What Game Should We Play?

If you’re looking for a game to play you should check out this new game site- Party Games 411. It’s a very simple site to use and a marvelous resource for party planners.

I plan a lot of parties and family reunions and I am always looking for a new game or activity. I search the web trying to find ideas but this site is the easiest way I’ve found.

Search for a Game

There are several ways to search for a game at Party Games 411. You can:

1. Enter the number of players and the location (inside or outside) that the game will be played. For instance, I searched for an indoor or outdoor game for 80 people and it gave me 40 possible games we could play.

2. You can also search for games alphabetically.

3. You can search for particular game by entering the name of it.

Each game gives you recommended ages and game requirements and easy to understand rules and instructions.

Games, Games, Games

You will find ideas for card games, team building games, tag games, mind games, party games, large group games and so much more. So next time you ask, “What game should we play?” check out Party Games 411.

Jugball

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Aunt Mo

Jugball is a game that the Stewart family “invented” about 20 years ago and has become a family favorite at our annual family reunions. It doesn’t matter what else we do or what our reunion theme is, we always play Jugball.

Jugball Milk Jugs

The most difficult part of Jugball is getting enough jugs for everyone to use. We ask family members to bring their own jugs and then an extra jug for someone who forgets theirs. We just cut the bottom out of old milk jugs. If you wanted to be creative you could decorate them with duct tape and markers but we play with our jugs just the way they are. A note about the ball- bring several types and sizes of balls to see what works for you. You don’t want a ball that is too bouncy or it will be difficult to keep in your jug.

Jugball Rules- sort of

I’ve never played Jugball but those that do assure me that it is an easy game to learn. It’s pretty much like football with goal being to get the jugball into the end zone in a teammate’s jug.

First mark off a large field, with boundaries and two end zones.

The game begins with a(throw off), and the receiving team may either catch the jugball, and move it from there, or drop it, or let it hit the ground upon reception. Then, the receiving team works the jugball forward, toward the other team’s end zone. The ball may move only through the air.

Upon catching a pass, a player must stop running (you are allowed to be carried two steps by the act of the catch), and try to find a teammate who is trying to get open. This game continues until a point is scored, at which point the scoring team throws off.

If, at any point, the jugball hits the ground (not during a throw off), the team who was not in possession before the fault assumes control.

A score happens when a player catches the jugball in the other team’s end zone. If an out of bounds pass happens, the other team throws in from that spot on the boundary.

The defense may cover the player with possession of the ball, like defenders in basketball (but the jugball may not be knocked out of a players jug, it must be allowed to be thrown). Also, if the other team is on offense, it is worth simply knocking down the jugball if catching it is difficult, as this will also result in a change of possession.

My favorite thing about Jugball is that our family just made it up at family reunion. It doesn’t take a lot of expensive equipment or extensive planning- you just do it. If you’re family tries Jugball it might become a family tradition at your reunions or maybe… you’ll make up your own game.

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Category Archives: Family Reunion Games