Music For Your Family Reunion Slide Show or Video

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Aunt Mo

Creating a family slide show or video is fun and with all the tools available surprisingly easy. Whether you’re reunion is being held at a resort or at a casual retreat, there’s no better way to take a stroll down memory lane than with a reunion slideshow or video presentation.

We’ve been making and showing slide shows at our family reunions for years now and have witnessed for ourselves the evolution of the slide show from the old photo slides and projectors to power point and movie maker presentations projected on wall sized screens.

When making your slide show don’t make it too long-15 minutes is about right and you stretch it to 20 minutes if you keep your background music upbeat and catchy.

Be sure y0u include at least one photo of every member of your family. Review the photos you plan on using to be sure you aren’t featuring one dominant person in your presentation.

Background Music is Important

Through the years we have come to realize the importance of the music used as background music behind the photo presentation. Music has the powerful ability to set the tone of your slide show and evoke strong feelings of good family memories.

When making a family reunion slideshow or video you have to be able to put aside your own music preferences and select music that Grandma will enjoy (and can understand the lyrics) and music your teenagers will be able to bear. I prefer upbeat music for most of my slideshows with one slow, sentimental song to really cement the memories.

Family Reunion Slide Show Music

When I thought about writing this blog I wondered what I could do to help a slide show makers job a little easier. I decided that perhaps a list of good slide show background music might be helpful. So listed below are some of the good old music “standards” we have used in our family slide shows throughout the years. Just click on the song picture to download it for your presentation.

A good opening song might be “These Are My People” from Rodney Atkins.

“This is where I come from
Were givin’ this life everything we got and then some
It ain’t always pretty
But its real
It’s the way we were made
Wouldn’t have it any other way
These are my people”

“Firework” has a great message about how we are all important and can light a the world light a firework. But it also has a catchy, upbeat tempo and your family will probably sing along with it.

If you want to feature Grandma and Grandpa in your slide show consider using Josh Grobin’s “You Raise Me Up” as tribute to these great people in your lives.

There was a time when I was making a lot of slide shows and “We Go Together” from the movie Grease seemed to be a great song for the end of the slide show. It is upbeat and gets across the message that we’re family and “We Go Together”.

My family loves swimming and watersports so our family slide shows always include a lot of “water” pictures. More often than not I look to the “Beach Boys” for good background music for these kinds of pictures.

“Let Them Be Little” by Billy Dean or Lonestar is a great song for showing baby pictures or pictures of the “early” years. With the right pictures this song will bring tears to the Moms and Dads in your family. Of course there is also “Through the Years” by Kenny Rogers and “Sunrise Sunset” though I think these last two songs have been over used.

It’s pretty hard to beat Rascal Flatts “My Wish” for sending out a powerful message to your family. Be careful to not use pictures that will make people laugh when they see it- you don’t want their laughter to cover up the beautiful lyrics of this song.

“But more than anything, more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you’re out there getting where you’re getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.”

“Voices” by country artist Chris Young, is about all the things we hear from our family and how we hear their “voices” as we go throughout our lives. Be sure to check out his music video of the song for some great family reunion video ideas. http://www.cmt.com/videos/chris-young/538509/voices.jhtml

You could say I’m a little bit crazy
You could call me insane
Walkin’ ’round with all these whispers
Runnin’ ’round here in my brain
I just can’t help but hear ‘em
Man, I can’t avoid it

I hear voices
I hear voices like
My dad sayin’ quit the team
And you’ll be a quitter for the rest of your life
Mama tellin’ me to say a prayer
Every time I lay down at night
And grandma sayin’ if you find the one
You’d better treat her right
Yeah, I hear voices all the time

If you have lost someone dear in your family during the year since your last family reunion you my want to include a segment of pictures of them in your slideshow using Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” as background.

For more current music substitute “My Way” for Brad Paisley’s “When I Get Where I’m Going”.

“Yeah when I get where I’m going
There’ll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
And I’ll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I’m going
Don’t cry for me down here”

And if all else fails and you just can’t come up with a song you can always use “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge. It may have been overused but you just can’t beat it’s catchy beat and meaningful lyrics.

“All of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We’re giving love in a family dose”

Use a Projector for a Life Sized Slide Show

When I started doing family reunion presentations to civic and church groups it became necessary for me to get a projector that would project large images on the wall. My projector isn’t fancy with a lot of bells and whistles but so far it’s been just perfect for what I need it for. A projector like mine may be just the thing to show your side show on for your family reunion.

If you’re going to make a slideshow for your reunion, make sure you budget enough time to put together a good production. Don’t underestimate your show’s ability to influence people’s overall impression of your family. Sharing and reliving memories is a powerful thing!

Aunt MO

Taking Family Reunion Photos

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Aunt Mo

Family reunions are a great time to take a family photo. We have very few family group photos that look perfect- maybe we don’t even have one perfect picture. It’s so hard to get everyone looking in the same direction, smiling and not squinting. It seems that if you get the children looking at the camera their parents are looking at the children but no matter how difficult a family reunion photo may be to take, you’ve just got to do it- old family photographs are a treasured part of any family history and it won’t be long until the pictures you take today become a cherished part of your family memories.

Becoming our Family Reunion Photographer

You can always hire a professional photographer but unfortunately for us, most photographers don’t like to travel to the locations we have our reunions and so we are left with “Do-it-yourself” family reunion pictures. Here’s some things we’ve learned over the years.

Take Photos at the Beginning of Your Reunion

Take pictures earlier in the day and at the first of your reunion. Children haven’t gotten dirty, or sunburned and no one has spilled their food or drink. If you’re camping, take pictures the first day before everyone’s hair has gone flat and make up has worn off.

Get the Light Right

The middle of the day is a difficult time for pictures- The light is harsh and unflattering. Because it’s coming from overhead you will get a lot of light on top of people’s heads, but their faces are not going to be lit. For shady locations it won’t matter as much, but for photos out in the open, before 10 AM or after 2 PM is better, if that fits in your reunion schedule.

Choose a Spot Free of Distractions

A tall row of shrubbery or a colored wall makes ideal backdrops. People say, “I’ll just photo shop that.” But think of the time and headache you’ll save if you just “clean it up” before you take the photo.

Try Something New

Try taking your shot from atop a ladder, bench or table. If you shoot from an elevated position, it’s easier to get everyone’s face, even if people are standing behind one another.

Small Family Groups

Various small groupings of family members can be very nice to have for the future. You can consider having an all girls picture, all boys picture, and an all children picture etc. Try making your pictures “action” shots- besides making interesting pictures they’re a lot more fun to shoot.

Grandma will want to have a picture of her and Grandpa with all the grandkids for their Christmas photo card.

Family Photo Boards and Frames

A fun, new photo trend is photo boards. Cut holes in a piece of plywood to accommodate old frames and let family members pose in family groupings. The effect is that of family photos hanging on a wall. You may want to put wallpaper on your plywood “wall” or paint stripes or dots and hang decorations to give it a more “homey” look.

Putting hands or props outside the frames give a fun 3D effect.

Hand held frames can also be fun remembrances of your reunion. Have a variety of frames available and let family members organize their own family groupings.

Set aside some time for photos of family members in their reunion theme costumes. It’s usually easier to take smaller family groupings and helps with identifying family members.

My Favorite Family Reunion Photo Tip

is to use paper plates to help in identifying family members. Give everyone a paper plate with a number on it. Take a “paper plate” picture then remove the plates and take another picture. After printing the two pictures you can list family names using the numbers on the paper plates- #1- Jane Moyer, #2 Clint Holmes etc. Hint: Don’t let anyone move after you’ve taken the first photo with the paper plates.

Use Digital Camera

And finally, use a digital camera! You may delete more images than you keep but going digital allows you to snap as many pictures as you want and then do simple editing later and print only the best photos for keepsakes.

When it’s all said and done, the only thing you have left of your family reunion are the memories you’ve made and the pictures you’ve taken so- “Say Cheese”!

Aunt MO

Mafia Family Reunion

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Aunt Mo

When it was first suggested that we use “Mafia” as our theme for the Stewart family reunion I was a little apprehensive but after three days of Mafia activities over Labor Day I’ve decided that “Mafia” is just another word for “Family”.

My favorite activity was the marshmallow wars- the longer the game went the more strategic the teams got. I hate to admit I was on the losing team but if the winner is the team that had the most fun it would most certainly be my team!

The “Godfather” of our family got a little help to get around the reunion site.

“Gangster” ball and “Mob” Ball were two favorite activities.

We printed our own Mafia “funny” money. It featured portraits of the Godfather and Godmother.

Family photos with a Mafia twist were snapped as family members entered the “speakeasy” and sat down to a delicious Italian dinner and murder mystery theater.

A picture of the “Family” was taken in our black Mafia shirts.

Look for the all the “Mafia” reunion fun at family reunion helper- Aunt MO will soon be posting everything you need to have your own Mafia themed family reunion so your family can learn how to put “Family First” too.

Aunt MO

More Fun Family Reunion Ideas

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Aunt Mo

We’ve done ten fun family reunion ideas now here are a few “bonus” ideas.

Family Reunion Idea #11- Make a Family Crest

Create a family crest or family logo. Brainstorm together what your family means and how that can be represented on paper. In European tradition, a coat of arms, which includes a crest, is a symbolic way of identifying a group of people. There is a wonderful site that makes designing your family crest easy and it’s free. After designing your family crest, enter your email address and then print it out and make your own family crest shirts and other reunion gear. http://www.makeyourcoatofarms.com/index.asp

Family Reunion Idea #12. Hillbilly Dinner

Host a Host a “Hillbilly” dinner at your family reunion. Decorate with gunny sacks, old tires, aluminum cans and a clothesline with long johns and flannel shirts strung between trees or hanging on a prominent wall. Be sure and use plenty of duct tape when decorating your reunion site. Use old newspapers or burlap for your tablecloths.

A hillbilly theme is a great theme idea if you will be cooking hot dogs over a fire or tin foil dinners. Be sure and serve homemade root beer in pint jars (I like the jars with handles but they’re kind of hard to find.) and serve your food on pie tins you get from your local thrift store.

Get your family involved with a pig calling contest and use individual pies (Like Hostess pies) for a pie eating contest.

Family Reunion Idea #13- Make a Human Family Tree

Take a family tree picture. Arrange your family just like their names would appear on a genealogical chart of the family tree. Take a picture from the young end first, then have everyone turn around and get a picture of the group from the oldest end.

Family Reunion Idea #14- “Who’s Who” Photo Game

Ask Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents or invite everyone to send photocopies of baby pictures of each family member. This is easy to do now that everything s digital. Mount and number each picture on a large poster board. Give each player a piece of paper numbered to match the number of pictures. Each player writes baby’s names that match the numbers. It’s so funny to see who the children at your family reunion think the pictures are of. They have a difficult time imagining Uncle Ben or Aunt Lisa as a baby.

Family Reunion Idea #15- Have a video scavenger hunt.

This activity will only work if you have access to video cameras and a way to watch the completed videos. A projection system is the best for a large family group. Be sure you have at least one adult with each group. It is probably best to ask adults to bring their video camera and do the filming of the group.

THE RULES:
You have (specify time) to complete as many items on the list as possible.
You must return to ____ by the designated time for your tape to be valid.
Teams must limit the filming of each item to 20 seconds or shorter.
All team players except cameraperson must appear in each video segment.
Stay in the specified region for the hunt.
Wear your seat belt whenever the car is moving.
Cell phones cannot be used to complete tasks.

The following list of tasks is a list used at an activity I attended. This is the list they gave us. I’m not a big fan of embarrassing people so some of the tasks made me feel uncomfortable. You can use this list but I highly recommend adapting it to your location and family group.

THE TASKS: (Each task is worth 5 points)

Sing Happy Birthday Song (you may have to sing fast to get it recorded in 20 seconds)
Find a runner. Have your team jog with him or her.
Video of everyone searching on the floor for a contact lens.
Pump someone else’s gas and wash their windshield
Someone ordering a cheeseburger without any cheese.
Doing a cartwheel inside 7-11.
Team riding an automated kiddie ride in front of store.
Go to a restaurant and stand in front of it singing the restaurant’s theme song.
Do a good deed for someone you do not know.
Your group standing by a movie poster rated PG or less.
Someone doing a stupid human trick.
Organize apples at grocery store.
Form human pyramid in front of a famous landmark in the community.
Everyone wearing king hats from Burger King.
Get your whole group into a tree and have them sing “In the Leafy Tree Tops”.
Have a stranger tell you a joke.

When the time is over, teams return to the starting point, your family reunion site. Dock teams 1 point for each minute they are late. To view the scavenger hunt videos pop the tape into the player. Choose two or three judges from your family to keep track of each teams’ score and award prizes to the top teams.

Family Reunion Theme Ideas

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Aunt Mo

A family reunion doesn’t have to have a theme to be successful but creating a theme for a family reunion is a great way to interest people and make them more likely to attend. A reunion invitation that invites you to a “Prehistoric” reunion for Brontosaurs burgers is more interesting than an invitation that invites you to a family reunion at “the park”. It also makes things more fun when it comes to being imaginative with food, games, activities, invitations and just about every other aspect of the reunion.

In addition, a good themed reunion will help to break the ice, especially for those family members who have not met before or who do not know each other really well.

Ask family members for their theme ideas. Our best family reunion themes have come from Aunt Lynn and her family. When they suggested a “Caveman” theme I was kind of worried about what we would do but our reunion planning committee brainstormed and incorporated dinosaur and prehistoric ideas for a super fun reunion.

The location that you choose to have your reunion might influence the theme you choose for your reunion. A campground with lots of trees and foliage makes for a great “jungle” theme and a lake or swimming pool is a wonderful “beach” reunion theme.

If you will be spending a day at an amusement park you might what to choose your reunion theme around one or the popular rides. Plan your reunion around a “color”, a decade such as the Roaring twenties, 50’s Sock Hop, 70’s Disco, 80’s New wave, 90’s Grunge, or even “The Future” theme.

The size of your family may also influence your reunion theme. For an “All-sport” reunion you may need a lot of people for softball, Human Foosball and football games.

Don’t be afraid to repeat a family reunion theme that was successful in the past. All you have to do is update the old ideas and refine the details. Our western reunion is so popular we’ve done it several times and it just keeps getting better and better.

Below are just a few family reunion themes that you may want to consider for your next family event.

All- Sport or Olympic Themed Reunion

Get away from a boring sit around and just visit family reunion and jump into some action packed fun with an All-sport or Olympic themed family reunion.

Activities- Soccer, volleyball, “whiffle” ball, Whacky miniature golf. Hold a cheerleader camp for the girls in your family and a sports camp for the boys. Go bowling or hold a family 5K. Give a family reunion MVP award. For fun variations of these favorite sports- whiffle ball, soccer, bowling, swimming and volleyball plus lots of great ideas for your sports themed reunion check out www.familyreunionhelper.com.

Food- Smoothies, “Breakfast of Champions” or “Long Jump” lunch hoagies.

Wear– favorite team jerseys and t-shirt. Make a family t-shirt fashioned after a sports jersey.

Decorations: Pom, poms, pennants, sports balls, sports posters.

Family History or Family Heritage Reunion

If your family reunion is held near where the family originated, then schedule a trip to the old family homestead, church or cemetery. You can use this as an opportunity to share family memories, or go a step further and recruit the clan to clean up the ancestral cemetery plots or research the family in old church records. Hold your reunion at the family home if available or in the town where one of your ancestors were born, raised, married or buried. You can find more Family History ideas for your family reunion at www.familyreunionhelper.com.

Food – Use an ancestor’s home country as theme for your meals. Use recipes from that county and set tables with a centerpiece of memorabilia and a picture of your ancestor. If your people come from Italy, serve a spaghetti dinner, from Mexico, serve tacos, enchiladas or tamales.

Activities – Play “classic” games at your reunion such as “3-legged race, gunny sack race, Annie I Over. Create a huge wall chart of your family so everyone can see how they are related. Take “old-time” photos and have everyone dress up. Make a family “time capsule”.

Dress – In the ethnic costume of your ancestors.

Decorations – Display historical memorabilia from your family and ancestors.

Hawaiian Luau

Grandma will love passing out multi-colored leis (along with a kiss on the cheek) as people arrive at this family reunion.

Food – Pig roast, anything pineapple

Activities – Tinikling- Tinikling means "bamboo dance" in English. Hula hoops, bubbles and Frisbees, volleyball, swimming, Limbo and of course, hula dancing. Make Hawaiian leis from paper flowers and don’t forget to spend some time in the pool at your Hawaiian reunion.

Dress – Hawaiian shirts, Bermuda shorts and grass skirts.

Decorations – Hawaiian travel posters, flowers, straw skirt table.

Sun, Sand and Surf Reunion Theme

It’s summertime and the perfect time for a Sun, Sand & Surf family reunion. Merge your beach reunion ideas with your Hawaiian reunion ideas for double the fun.

Invitations: Consider sending “Message in a Bottle” invitations to encourage family members to attend your family reunion or write out your reunion invitation on a beach ball with a permanent marker.

Activities: Sand candles and castles, sand art, volleyball variations and swimming pool games. Aquatic Obstacle Course: Use sprinklers, Slip-N-Slides, baby pools, limbo sticks and hula hoops to create an obstacle course for wet and wild reunion fun!

Food: Sub sandwiches, fruit trays, shish kabobs, fruit kabobs, gold fish crackers.

Decorations are easy for a beach themed family reunion. Use beach umbrellas, Beach towels, Beach balls, Paper party lanterns, Paper Palm trees and party lights on a string. Don’t forget to use pink flamingos in your decorating and be sure to include music from the Beach Boys to round out your reunion theme.

Wedding Anniversary or Significant Birthday Reunion Theme
Planning a family reunion around an important wedding anniversary or milestone birthday makes for an easy but important family reunion.

Invitation – Put two photos of the honored couple on the invitation: their original wedding photo and a current photo.

Food – Finger foods and a “wedding” cake.

Activities- “When You Were My Age” A Celebration of Life’s Memorable Moments. This is such a fun program, fashioned after a Bill Cosby Show episode and was called, "When Mom Was my Age." We have done variations of the program for 70th and 80th birthdays and 50th wedding anniversaries. Each time we do "When You Were My Age" everyone is a good sport and excited to be a part of the celebration. Everyone has a part on the program and an opportunity to highlight world events and significant family happenings throughout the life of your loved one. Download the “When You Were My Age” from Family Reunion Helper or write a "This Is Your Life" program for your reunion celebration.

Decorations – Photos and other various memorabilia of the couple’s life together.

Three Ring Circus and Carnival

Begin your reunion with a circus parade and invite everyone to dress in fun costumes and march around your reunion site.

Food –Circus food- corn dogs, cotton candy and popcorn

Activities – As your family arrives, have then guess how many circus animal cookies are in a jar. The person who guesses closest to the actual number wins the jar full of circus animal cookies. Have a carnival. Assign 6- 10 family members a carnival booth. Children earn prizes at each booth. Face painting, fishing booth, fortune teller, Plinko, Dart Throw etc. Consider renting a bounce house for the little ones in your family. For more ideas check out the family reunion “circus” theme at www.familyreunionhelpercom/

Decorations – Balloons, tents and circus animal cutouts.

Whatever your family reunion theme you can count on Family Reunion Helper for step by step, proven family reunion help that really works, not just "ideas", but actual planning advice, schedules, activities, games, recipes and templates to make your next reunion memorable.

Ten Ideas for Your Family Reunion- part 2

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Aunt Mo

Family Reunion Idea #6- Right/Left Game

A Right/Left game is an activity everyone at your family reunion can participate in. We always ask each family member to bring a “white elephant” gift (wrapped or unwrapped) to the family reunion or party. I always bring a few extra gifts in case someone forgets.

How to Play: Form a circle, each time you hear the word right, pass the candy, prize, grab to the person on your right. When you hear the word left, pass to the person on your left. When you finish this story everyone opens the gift they are LEFT with. HINT: Be sure and read with lots of expression and pauses- the children in your family will have fun anticipating RIGHT or LEFT. Writing a Right/Left story is pretty easy but you can find a fun family reunion Right/Left story here.

Family Reunion Idea #7- Bloomers Game!!

I have to include this game for your family reunion in this list because it makes me laugh. This is a very scary game for boys ages 10- 14. (There is nothing scarier to a boy of this age than women’s underwear) This game is good game for any family reunion but is especially fitting for a family “heritage” reunion theme.

Everyone should sit in a circle. Ask if they know what old fashioned bloomers are. Explain that in the olden days they used to call women’s underwear “bloomers”.

Hold up a box that is neatly wrapped. (In advance, you should have wrapped the box in at least ten different layers of wrapping paper.) Tell your family that inside the box are a pair of bloomers.

Everyone will pass the box around the circle while music is being played. When the music stops the person holding the box must open the box and model the bloomers for everyone to see.

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Be careful how you word your instructions because inside the box is not a pair of old fashion women’s bloomers but a pair (two) bloomers from the garden. The look of relief on the person’s face when he finds out it’s just “flowers” he is modeling and not “underwear” is a joy to see.

Family Reunion Idea #8- Tell a Scary Story

If you will be camping or sleeping over at your family reunion plan a few scary stories to share. I have found it best to assign out scary stories in advance of your reunion so that scary story tellers can be well prepared. There are lots of scary story resources on the web- just give your story tellers advance notice so that they can do the research and find the best ones.

I have a favorite scary story that Uncle Steven has shared at many family reunions, girls camps and scout camps. Family members that have heard the story at previous family reunions are always excited for him to share the story with reunion “newbies”.

I didn’t write the story but like all the best scary stories it has been passed down through generations of story tellers. The story is called “White Eyes” and requires some advance preparation.

Besides practicing the telling of this tale you will need to take a ping-pong ball and cut it in half. Color a small dark dot on each half with a permanent marker. These will be your "white eyes". Keep them concealed in a closed hand. When the time is right, pop them on over each eye.

You can find a free copy of the story here.

I’ve heard a lot of scary stories when I’ve been camping but this is the only story that made me scream- I hope you scream too.

Family Reunion Idea #9- “Are You Older Than Dirt?” Game

It’s important to provide a wide variety of games and activities at your family reunion. You will want to have lots or physical games but will also want to consider “Pencil and Paper” games that are not able to participate in the more active games. One of my favorite “Pencil and Paper” games is the “Older Than Dirt” game. In this game participants answer twenty questions about life styles throughout the years. For example, question number one says-

1. In the 1940′s, where were automobile headlight high beam switches located?

a. On the floor shift knob

b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch

c. Next to the horn

You can find the entire free test, “When You Were My Age” at

http://familyreunionhelper.com/blog/2010/06/older-than-dirt-game-for-your-family-reunion/

Family Reunion Idea #10-Pipe Chimes

Make a set or two of musical pipe chimes. Making music with pipe chimes is an easy and inexpensive way to have fun with your family. My Mom saw pipe chimes more than thirty years ago and our family has been making music with conduit pipes ever since.

Pipe chimes are easy to make and don’t require the use of expensive tools. Cut pipes to exact measurements and create your own set of musical pipe chimes. It’s so easy you might want to make two sets for use at your larger family reunions.

As long as you can read numbers, you can play pipe chimes. They are numbered 0 to 20; they also each have their note name on them, so you can play a song that you know the melody to.

You can find easy to follow instructions and thirteen fun chimes songs here.

10 Fun Family Reunion Ideas- part 1

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Aunt Mo

I’m not going to say these are my “Top Ten” family reunion ideas but if I made a “Top Ten list these ideas would certainly be in the running. However, if I had to choose my number one favorite family reunion idea it just might be #1 in this list- the Cat-Eye Hike!

Family Reunion Idea #1- CAT-EYE HIKE

This is a hike that is best done when it is very dark. Cut cat’s-eye shapes from reflective tape, available at bike stores or RV stores. It is best to set up your hike the night before guiding groups on the hike. Put cat eyes on markers or apply cat eyes to index cards and then use the cards to mark the trail. You can find more information about Cat-Eye Hikes in the “Caveman” family reunion theme in the family reunion helper store.

Family Reunion Idea #2- BEADS!

Oh how I love beads- pony bead to be exact. When used as rewards they are great motivators. We have used beads as rewards at “Boot Camp” and “Beach” themed family reunions. Award beads when family members complete certain tasks or activities.

Family Reunion Idea 3- “A GAME OF CLUE”

Murder Mystery Game for Your Family Reunion. This is a family friendly murder mystery game that has been simplified so that it will work for most ages at your family reunion. If you want to make it more difficult you will need to make adjustments to the clues. It is very important to have a practice with your cast before you present the game. (We practiced for about an hour and went through the scenes three times working out all the details) I sent the cast a copy of the script about a month before our family reunion and asked them to get their own costumes and props. I did not tell them who committed the crime until the practice. Most of our actors used their scripts and did not memorize their parts.

This murder mystery game includes the script, score cards, character name tags and lots of pictures for costume ideas and is available as free download at http://familyreunionhelper.com/a_game_of_clue.php

Family Reunion Idea #4- WHEEL OF DOOM

For a girls camp my daughter attended, she was asked to create a “Wheel of Doom”. The idea was that the girls would spin the wheel to determine what kind of utensil they would eat with for dinner. The girls had so much fun with the wheel that we decided to use it at our family reunion. We used it several times and the family loves it every time!

Our Wheel of Doom is made out of piece of particle board. You can easily change the wheel to fit whatever your family reunion theme is. We printed off pictures that go along with each category and taped them to the wheel. You can even repaint the wheel for each reunion theme. For instance we painted the board in different camouflage colors for the Boot Camp family reunion and we painted it with glitter paint for the Medieval family reunion. As you can see, our wheel is not too fancy but it’s given us some fun and SUSPENFUL moments at our family reunions. It’s fun to watch the children as they anxiously wait to see where the arrow will land.

You can read more about the “Wheel of Doom” on Aunt Mo’s blog at http://familyreunionhelper.com/blog/2010/03/wheel-of-doom/

Family Reunion Idea #5- HERITAGE COLORING BOOK

Make a family heritage coloring book about the life of one of your ancestors. If you’re an artist then this is probably going to be a fun and easy project for you but if you have little artistic ability then this can be quite a challenge. To make my Heritage Coloring books I searched through old coloring books, magazines and of course the web to find “pioneerish” looking pictures and adapted my story to the pictures. Although a Heritage coloring book is a lot of work it is a wonderful way to share the story of your ancestor’s life’s with the younger ones in your family. You can find more information about about Heritage coloring books and resources for making one in the “Heritage” family reunion theme by clicking here.

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Category Archives: Family Reunion Ideas

Music For Your Family Reunion Slide Show or Video

Background Music is Important

Family Reunion Slide Show Music

Use a Projector for a Life Sized Slide Show

Taking Family Reunion Photos

Becoming our Family Reunion Photographer

Take Photos at the Beginning of Your Reunion

Get the Light Right

Choose a Spot Free of Distractions

Try Something New

Small Family Groups

Family Photo Boards and Frames

My Favorite Family Reunion Photo Tip

Use Digital Camera

Mafia Family Reunion

More Fun Family Reunion Ideas

Family Reunion Idea #11- Make a Family Crest

Family Reunion Idea #12. Hillbilly Dinner

Family Reunion Idea #13- Make a Human Family Tree

Family Reunion Idea #14- “Who’s Who” Photo Game

Family Reunion Idea #15- Have a video scavenger hunt.

The following list of tasks is a list used at an activity I attended. This is the list they gave us. I’m not a big fan of embarrassing people so some of the tasks made me feel uncomfortable. You can use this list but I highly recommend adapting it to your location and family group.

THE TASKS: (Each task is worth 5 points)

Family Reunion Theme Ideas

Ten Ideas for Your Family Reunion- part 2

10 Fun Family Reunion Ideas- part 1

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