Whether you are in charge of planning a party for family, friends, co-workers or you church, here’s a fun printable with a twist. Instead of identifying candy bars by their name or wrapper you try and recognize your favorite bars by how they look on the inside. You can download a printable copy of the game below.
Answer Key
If you have a high school graduate that is looking forward to graduating and heading off to college you might want to plan a going away party. As part of the “Aloha” fun plan a fun “ Day in the Life” relay race.
Use your imagination and personalize challenges to your student’s situation. For instance, you might want to use the following challenges:
Doing Laundry Challenge
Have a couple of dish towels and clothespins that must be hung on the line before moving to the next challenge.
Garbage Challenge
Make several newspaper “balls” by squishing newspaper together. Place a garbage can several feet away. Before moving to the next challenge you must toss 3 newspaper balls into the garbage.
Gym Time Challenge
Pick up a couple of 5 lb. weights and run from point A to point B.
Grocery Carry Challenge
Put a few canned goods in a grocery bag- carry the bag from point A and point B.
Hot Tub Challenge
Use a low bucket with warm water- time ends when BOTH feet are in the “hot tub”.
The person with the fastest time receives a gift bag of apartment cleaning supplies.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
One of the most requested activities at our family reunions is a Cat Eye hike. You do a Cat Eye hike in the dark so it’s a perfect activity for a “camping” family reunion. We have also done cat eye hikes in apartment complexes and residential areas. We’ve done cat eye hikes with family reunions, girls camps and for kid parties. It’s a fun activity but does take some time and thoughtful strategy to set up.
This hike is best done when it is very dark. Cut cat’s-eye shapes (squares work fine too) from reflective tape, available in the Family Reunion Helper store. Another product you might want to consider is “Trail Tacks”. They are basically just thumb tacks with a reflective paint on the top. They are visible for up to 200 yards and are great for sticking into wooden fences etc. You will probably want to use a combination of the two products- tape and tacks. Just be considerate of others when you set up the hike- you don’t want to be shinning flashlights into peoples windows or causing damage with reflective tape or tacks.
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. We like to set up our hikes the night before the cat eye hike is scheduled.
When making the trail, place the eyes in such a manner that you can see only one more set of cat’s eyes from the location of one set. Hikers will shine their flashlights on the first set of eyes and then run to the second set of eyes where they will shine their flashlights around the area until they locate the next set of eyes. They will continue searching for eyes and following their path until they arrive back at camp.
If you have a large group, instead of a mass start, send groups of ten or so at a time. You can group hikers as children, teenagers and senior citizens. Every participant will need a flashlight- you will want to remind your family members to bring a flashlight on your reunion invitation.
If camping, have S’mores for hikers when they complete the hike.
If you’ve hosted a party, shower or other gathering you know how difficult it can be to pull yourself away from the festivities in order to prepare the refreshments. This simple game is the perfect solution!
Just give your guests a copy of the game below and a pencil. Tell them to solve the puzzle by answering the questions correctly. As they get to work on the puzzle you sneak into the kitchen to prepare the refreshments.
The simple solution to the puzzle is, “eats are on the way”. It doesn’t take much time to solve but it does distract for a few minutes and when they read the answer to the puzzle they’ll be content to wait until you return with the “eats”.
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.
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
I’m not writing this blog for you, I’m writing it for me. Every time I need to create an obstacle course I have to rethink every type of course we’ve done in the past. Next time I have to make an obstacle course I’m just going to search for this blog,hopefully you’ll get some good ideas too.
Kids love obstacle courses and they’re pretty easy to create just using the things you have around your house or party area.
The easiest way to create a course is to assign each person one obstacle or if it is for a family reunion, assign several families to each bring an obstacle. You can do this with little or no advance notice using just the things you have in the course area.
If you have a committee that is putting the course together spend some time brainstorming ideas for your course layout. If you will be at a campground you may be able to take advantage of a water hazard, large rocks and logs.
Eight to ten challenges is a good number for most people. Here’s some tried and true obstacles that have proved to be fun over the years.
Bales of straw or hay make a fun obstacle. Other jumping obstacles can be logs, laundry baskets or rolled up sleeping bags. Instead of jumping you can crawl under or over a row of chairs.
Lay a ladder on the ground and children run through the ladder making sure they step in the hole between each rung on the ladder.
Every obstacle course needs a tire challenge of some sort. When runners reach the tires, they have to run through them, placing one foot in each of the tires. The more tires you have the harder it becomes.
Everybody likes a good old rope swing and it’s a fun addition to any obstacle course. If you aren’t near a natural water hazard fill up a kiddy wading pool to provide an extra challenge. Several big knots tied in the rope’s end makes it easier to grab.
Using logs, 2x4s or wooden planks makes for a fun balancing portion of your course.
Throw beanbags into a bucket or basket. If you have access to a basketball hoop, require participants to make a basket before moving to the next challenge. If football is your sport of choice throw a ball through a goal post made of PVC pipe.
Purchase some old couch cushions from the thrift store, mattress or foam pad and set out for participants to run through. This challenge will really slow runners down- just be sure to tell them there is no jumping allowed.
And don’t forget cones (good for zig zagging) and hula hoops (good substitute for tires).
A stopwatch (or the stopwatch on your cellphone) is essential for keeping track of their course times. You can keep times individually or run your obstacle course as a team relay event.
Setting up an obstacle course is a wonderful way for adults and children to get some fun physical activity. Kids will do it as part of an organized activity but when the “official” activity is over they’ll continue to play and be entertained making their own kind of fun.
