Human Piñata Chase

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Aunt Mo

This fun variation of the traditional piñata may very well become the highlight for the kids at your next family reunion or party.

One of the highlights of our 2016 reunion was the human piñata chase held for all the children. It’s an interesting and fun twist on the traditional piñata game.

To prepare the human piñatas hot glue onto the front and back of a t-shirt. You will need one shirt for every piñata. Use old or cheap shirts because they will be destroyed in the chase. Use small snack sized candies, fruit snacks and small cookie snacks with a full sized candy bar thrown in for good measure.

You can also glue money on the piñata shirts if you put it in a zip lock bag. Pencils and small toys can also be glued to the shirts.

To play, divide children into age groups. Ask for someone to be the piñatas. You may do 1 piñata at a time (1 piñata for each age group) or let all of your piñatas be chased at the same time but put a time limit for each age group. Give the human piñatas a head start then send the kids out to collect their treats. When they get close enough kids grab hold of the prize and pull it off. Some can be hard to pull off but that is just part of the fun.

Olympic Themed Family Reunion

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Aunt Mo

“OWN THE PODIUM!” An Olympic Inspired Family Reunion or Party

There are few times that the world comes together to celebrate, cheer and honor its people – the Olympics is one of those occasions. This global event has the power to unify the world and inspire peace for a moment in time. To celebrate this extraordinary event and its athletes in your own corner of the world, host an Olympic Family Reunion! Everyone can be a gold medal athlete at your Family Reunion Olympic Games. No training is required; all you need is the desire to have a good time. Enjoy classic Winter and Summer events plus amusing twists in “Silly Olympic”contests. This Olympic reunion includes more than 40 pages of tips, tricks and shortcuts for “Owning the Podium” at your next Olympic games.

Purchase this Olympic theme at
http://familyreunionhelper.com/products/products.php?ProductID=8

http://familyreunionhelper.com/products/products.php?ProductID=8

Nail It Game!

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Aunt Mo

I love finding a new game to share with my family and friends and the game I’m sharing today is a good one. Simple to put together and simple to play. This version of the “stump game” can be played by everyone and we call it “Nail It”.

Nail It Game Tools

To play you need a tree stump, as many nails as there are players, and one hammer. The nails we used are pictured below.

How to Play the Nail It Game

Everyone puts their nail into the stump just enough for it to stand nice and sturdy (in the order that you are standing in the circle). Each player then “claims” a nail by placing his or her finger on the nail to claim it as theirs. This will be his nail for the duration of the game. It is generally understood that people will claim the nail directly in front of them.

The first player taps the hammer two times on the stump and then takes a swing at any of the nails but their own. They either hit the nail or miss the nail- either way the hammer is then passed to the next person in the circle and they repeat.

Winning the Game

The goal is to hit everyone else’s nail until it is flush with the stump and to be the last nail standing. A player is eliminated from the game (and thereby takes no more turns) once any part of the head of his nail passes below the level of the surface of the stump (including bending over the edge of the stump without actually entering it). Use your fingernail to test if the nail is flush.

It is common for the winner of the game, should he choose to do so, to drive his own nail fully into the stump in a victory drive.

I have to say I was a surprised when, doing research for this blog, found that the “stump” game is actually a drinking game. So, as a disclaimer, let me say that we have played this game and never, at any time, have we had to have a can of beer in our hand to have fun playing it. It’s a great game for family members of most ages and abilities. Sometimes the most powerful hammer swingers are the worst players.

Nail It Game Tips:

*You may all stand or all sit to play
*Keep your face a safe distance from the stump so you don’t get hit in the head.
*Be careful reaching across the stump to hit a nail- you may hit your palm on a nail and it doesn’t feel very good.
*Choose good, sturdy nails- too small and some players can drive them in one swing.

Giant Yardzee Game For Your Reunion or Outdoor Party

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Aunt Mo

I’ve never gotten too excited about all the “giant” yard games you find on the internet but a couple of weeks ago I actually saw a giant Yahtzee game. I got to touch it, roll the dice and count up my score and I thought, “Hey this would be fun for our next family reunion!” (I think that about a lot of things)

Giant Yardzee is pretty simple to make. You’ll need 5 dice cut from 4″x”4″ fence posts. Cut each cube to 3.5 inches to make a perfect cube.Sand as necessary and paint in bright colors. To make dots use a circle template to paint them on or use stickers or circles cut with a 1 inch hole punch.

This is a very cute bucket to store Yardzee score cards and markers in but a 5 gallon bucket is more practical as it will also hold your dice.

Print off giant sized Yahtzee score cards- there are many free ones on the internet- here’s one resource.http://www.memory-improvement-tips.com/support-files/yahtzee-score-sheet-large.pdf

Playing using normal Yahtzee rules.

Did you know- A single “dice” is called a die and multiples are called dice. The round dots on a die are called pips!

M & M or Skittle Ice Breaker Game

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Aunt Mo

Getting to Know You Game

Take a bag of M&M’s or Skittles candy and tell everyone to grab a handful…or specify a number (I prefer this if you have a large group so it doesn’t take so long- I suggest each family member take 4 or 5 candies) You might also choose to split up in smaller groups such as children under 12, 12 and over, young adults etc. if you have a larger group such as a family reunion.

Assign a different meaning to each color, blue= family, green=hobbies, yellow=animals, brown= work or school etc. Participants must tell one thing about themselves for how many candies they have in their hands using the colors as their guide. They may also eat them as they share their information. (“Blue…I have two sisters.”, then eats the candy. “Yellow…I have a dog named Kodi.”, and eats the candy etc.) If you have two or more of the same color you have to tell one thing per candy regardless the color.

This is a good ice breaker because you can play it as soon as your party is supposed to start and those that come a little late can participate when they arrive.

A slight variation to the game is have participates tell things that make them, happy, sad, angry, excited or afraid.

Create a Cities and Towns Game

Posted on April 24, 2016 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

The Ultimate Guide to Treasure Hunts and Scavenger Hunts

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Aunt Mo

Scavenger hunts can be a fun addition to any family reunion or party. We’ve included several fun scavenger ideas in this blog that can easily be personalized to your own situation. Scavenger hunts aren’t just for kids though- teenagers and young adults love scavenger hunts too.

Video Scavenger Hunt

Divide everyone into 2 or more teams. Give each team a list of video-taping scenarios such as those in the list below. Be sure each team has a way to take videos and that phones or cameras are completely charged. Most importantly, set a time limit, so that you don’t have dead time waiting for everyone to return.

Once you’ve gathered your teams, your clues and your video equipment, each team takes off in their cars or on foot and attempts to complete all of the tasks on their list. The first team to complete all tasks on the list is the winner.

Provide popcorn or other treats as you watch the videos. Consider giving prizes for the most creative videos and best actors.

Puzzle Treasure Hunt

Take a picture of where the treasure will be hidden. Cut up the picture of the location into several pieces. (The older the participants the more pieces)

Hide the pieces in a designated area. Players search for the pieces then try to assemble the puzzle to get the prize or treasure.

Sandbox Treasure Hunt

Sandbox treasure hunts are tried and true hunts. Hide pennies, nickels and quarters in sand or saw dust. Be sure and keep the sawdust and sand contained in a #10 tub, children’s pool or on a sheet of plastic.

Who’s Got the Key? Treasure Hunt

Gather as many spare keys that you can find. You will need a lot of keys so ask family members to bring their keys also. You can purchase large lots of key blanks on eBay for under $10.00. Hardware stores that make keys usually keep a bucket of reject keys that they are often happy to get rid. Buy a lock and key. Put the lock on a treasure chest or box of some sort with a hidden treasure in it. Hide all of the keys including the key that will open the lock. Everyone searches for a key, when they find a key they try it in the lock- if it doesn’t work they search for another key until someone finds the correct key and opens the treasure.

Nature Scavenger Hunt

This is a great idea for the younger children in your family. Gather 12 random things from your yard, reunion site or party location. Take pictures of the items and print on cardstock. Glue to the top of an egg carton and send them out to find the items. The egg carton provides the perfect place to store the items they find.

A more complicated version of a nature scavenger hunt is pictured below. The drawing next to each item make the hunt a little easier. This type of hunt could be used for an entire day can be a way to entertain kids when they aren’t excited about other activities that might be planned.

Digital Camera Treasure Hunt- idea 1

This is such a fun idea for a family reunion. You’ll need one digital camera or phone with camera for each team. Give each team a list of things to take pictures of. If you want to put a family history spin on this hunt, challenge teams to find:

Someone who served in a war
Oldest relative at the reunion
Youngest relative at the reunion
Relative that has won a trophy
Someone that had a rotary dial phone
Relative who came the farthest distance to the reunion
Someone who has lived out of the country
The couple that has been married the longest

You get the idea- it’s fun to really make teams talk to their older relatives to find out the information. Be sure and take a team picture with each relative.

Digital Camera Treasure Hunt- idea 2

Cousin Bobbie planned a digital camera hunt as part of our Thanksgiving fun a few years ago. We had to find as many things on our list as possible, take a picture of them and return back to the meeting area and determine the winner. We had to find things like a scarecrow, pumpkin, cat, turkey and Christmas lights.

“I Spy” Scavenger Hunt for Weddings and Receptions

Provide a list of “I Spy” photo opportunities and a disposable camera on each table. As guest eat their refreshments they can look for the list and snap a picture. These photos will give the bride and groom a different perspective of the wedding festivities. A printable list such as the one below is available on Etsy.

Scavenger Hunt Clues Using Pictures

Take a picture of the location of a hidden clue but only take a portion of the picture. In the example below you can see that just a portion of the word is shown. You could do part of a clock, drinking fountain, corner of tent, a car wheel with interesting rims etc. When the hunters figure out what the clue is a picture of they run to that location to get their next picture clue and so on until they find the treasure. This does take some advance planning but makes for fun hunt for even the very young that may not be good readers.

Secret Codes Hunt

Writing secret codes is another way to generate clues. Using numbers in place of letters is an easy way to create the code (1=a, 2=b, etc.), but using a backwards letter code can make things a little extra challenging. Decipher the clue to find out where to look for their next clue.

Urban Race Scavenger Hunt

As a Youth Council advisor for our town, I had the fun opportunity to participate in a Great Urban Race at Utah State University. The teenagers learned a lot about the university by unscrambling clues and completing challenges to complete the race. The kids loved it and I couldn’t help but think what a fun activity it could be for a family reunion, especially if you held your reunion in a town that your family had ties to.

Urban Race is the team race that’s part photo hunt and part trivia. Teams must solve clues to find checkpoints throughout the city. To move on they must take photos or perform certain tasks to earn points such as collecting:

A restaurant napkin
A get a take-out menu from a Chinese restaurant
A disposable toilet seat cover
A stranger’s autograph
A coupon
A copy of the front page of the local newspaper
A change of address card from the post-office

The fun part of an urban race is that the use of cellphones is okay. Teams may call family members left back at the reunion site to get help with difficult trivia. Everyone gets a chance to participate in the fun.

Riddle Clues

Image result for riddle me scavenger

The most difficult part of a treasure or scavenger hunt for me is making up the clues, it’s also time consuming. I found a website that can help with that- it’s called “Riddle Me”. They have over Over 10,000 Riddles on 1,200 objects and can target different age groups and types of gatherings. Their program also lets you be in control over the time of the activity, because it lets you decide how many clues to print in a scavenger hunt.

Happy Hunting- Aunt MO

Free Party Game Resource

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Aunt Mo

Friday night is pizza and game night at my house. We have our favorite games and we have our favorite pizza but some nights we’re in the mood to try something new. I know where to find new pizza combinations and now I know where to find new game ideas.

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.

Fox and Geese- a Snow Game

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Aunt Mo

When I was a young girl I loved playing “Fox and Geese” with my brothers in the snow. Mostly, I liked making the paths and geese nests because when it came right down to playing the game, I wasn’t a fast runner and was usually the fox for the majority of the game.

My husband likes to play “Fox and Geese” too so when we had a couple years ago when we had a snow party for my family we were excited to share this game of tag with my nieces and nephews.

How To Play Fox and Geese

The game of Fox and Geese is played in the snow where the players clear paths in the snow. As I have learned, in the “olden days”, the paths were made in the shape of a spoked wheel, but most of the fun for us has been to make our creative paths with special safety zone “nests” scattered throughout the paths.

Make Fox and Goose Trails

It’s best to play Fox and Geese when there is fresh snow on the ground or at least snow that no v one has been walking on. To make paths or trails, walk through the snow packing it down until it makes a clearing defined trail. Make several goose nests that are safety zones for the geese to get away from the fox. These are just a circle of packed down snow big enough for one person to stand in a time. You don’t want too many goose nests or it will be difficult for the fox to catch a goose.

How to Play Fox and Geese

Choose one person to be the fox. The fox tries to tag the rest of the players, who are the geese. All the players must stay within the boundaries of the paths. Whoever is tagged by the fox then becomes the fox and has to chase the geese. Only one goose can be in a nest at a time. If you have a big group playing you may have more than one fox.

A “No Snow” Alternative

An alternative to playing in the snow is to mark four squares on the playground, each 10 feet across. Every player stands on one of the lines forming the square. A signal is given, and the person who is “it” has 10 seconds to touch as many players as he/she can. Players who are tagged sit down in the marked area. All players must stay on the lines while being chased.

Fox and Geese Board Game

Another Fox and Geese Variation that I have recently become aware of is a “Fox and Geese” board game. It’s an old-time game using marbles. Fox chases Geese. Geese try to hem Fox in. If you’re from the country, you understand the strategy. Then game is available here and in the family reunion helper store.

Plastic Wrap Ball Party Game

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Aunt Mo

What could be more fun than a huge ball of plastic wrap with lots of prizes layered throughout the ball? My sister in law has done this for her kids for years, but it wasn’t until just recently, when we played this game at a family Christmas party that I remembered how much fun it was.

Here is how it works!

The first person with the ball starts unwrapping it while the person on their right rolls a pair of dice, trying to roll doubles.

Once doubles are rolled, the ball is passed to the next player and the sequence begins again.

The person with the ball doesn’t stop unwrapping it until the person to their right rolls doubles. This makes for some fun suspense in the game!

As the player unwrap the prizes they put them in their own pile- everyone keeps the prizes they unwrap.

How To Make a Plastic Wrap Ball

Pre-Stretch Wrap

To make the ball gather 50- 100 prizes. Small packages of candy work well, especially M&M’s and Skittles. You can also use erasers, hair barrettes and ribbons, Hot Wheel cars and other small prizes. At our Christmas party we had two plastic wrap balls, a girl ball and a boy ball and the prizes in it were items our boys and girls typically enjoy.

To start the ball, use a 2- 3 inch rubber ball such as a bouncy ball. You can also use a good sized bell or rattle that will make noise as kids get closer to the center of the ball.

Place a piece of candy or prize on the ball and wrap it up with the plastic.

Every few layers, use tape to seal up the recently wrapped layer as this will make the game a little more challenging.

Continued this process (adding prizes and wrapping with plastic wrap until it is the size of a soccer ball (minimum) or basketball (maximum).

I’ve heard this game called the saran–wrap-ball game, the tape ball game and money ball (this version uses only money). But whatever you call it it all comes down to a fun party game that everyone can participate in.