Unique Family Game Night Ideas
July 12, 2019 | by savannah traywick
A great way to incorporate intentional time together is to have a family game night! Taking your pick from new and classic games and adding in some yummy snacks, makes for lots of laughs. What could be better?
A family's life is often like a revolving door, where people are constantly coming and going. There are colliding schedules and interactions on the fly, but even through the craziness of life, it is important to spend quality time together as a family, and to take intentional time to relax. Let's talk family game night ideas to add into rotation.
For families with younger kiddos:
Family games that kids can use their hands with often help to keep them entertained and engaged. This can be playing games like: Charades, Jenga, Connect 4, and Pictionary.
These are simple classic games that will get the whole family involved and are fun to play without many rules. To add a fun twist, play on specific teams to help support younger kiddos, and create some good competition. A good example of teams could be girls vs. boys, or mom and dad vs. the kiddos.
For families with older kiddos:
For a family with older kids, games to add a bit of a challenge could be: Apples to Apples, UNO, and other card games, Telephone, Minute to Win It Games, Twister, a Nerf gun war, or a water fight.
It can be just as hard to wrangle older kids into family time, as it is little kids. But with the promise of yummy snacks, the possibility of prizes, or just the satisfaction of a Nerf gun war may be all you need to pull everyone together!
For games like UNO, Apples to Apples, or Telephone the rules are fun and simple. But with games like Twister, Minute to Win it games, a water fight, or the Nerf Gun War- this is where you can get creative and active!
Twister: Spice up Twister by playing outside on a hot day this summer with the sprinklers going, or add a bit of color by playing with washable paint on each circle.
Minute to Win it Games: These games are all about speed! A couple examples is the “Cookie Slide” where you place a cookie on two people's foreheads and race to see who can slide it down their face and eat it first! Another great game is to see who can stack 10 solo cups in a pyramid first. Or who can fill up a balloon, and then sit on it and pop it first. These games are guaranteed to make everyone laugh, and are a super fun way to incorporate kids of all ages.
Nerf Gun War: Imagine the looks on your kids faces when you tell them the whole family is having a Nerf gun war! This is so much fun because of the versatility. You can make teams, go solo, create prizes, and lay out bases or areas that are off limits. This is a game that is moldable and sure to make a great memory.
Water Fight: Like the Nerf gun war, this is also very adaptable. With the summer sun finally revealing itself, there are many days when jumping in a pool sounds amazing. The next best thing is a water fight with your family! For this game you could use water guns, a hose, or simple cups. Creating teams, bases and boundaries ups the fun factor; and the satisfaction from dumping cold water on a sibling’s head- is unlike any other.
Whether you are looking for something quiet and simple or active and loud all of these games can be molded to fit your family. Games like these can help make a habit of being together, because even though life is crazy-spending time together is the most important thing.
