Do you have tweens or teens? If so, you already know that it can be difficult to get to keep the lines of communications open. There's something about those middle school and high school years that find parents and kids alike struggling to be understood and heard. Rather than pressure them to talk to you, consider having a regular family game day.
There's nothing like a little friendly competition to bring people together. These games are sure to create lasting memories. And they are fun for the whole family! You can even use technology to connect with other family and friends to play! Let the FUN begin!
21 Questions
This is a great way to get to know each other on a deeper level. The key to this game is to not ask inappropriate or extremely personal questions. No one wants to be put on the spot. A good way to keep the mood light and friendly would be to have everyone come up with 5-10 questions each so that everyone knows what the possible questions could be. Put all the slips into a jar and draw them one at a time. Decide who will start and let the fun begin! Here are some sample questions:
- What is one thing that will always make you smile?
- If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
- What's your aesthetic?
- If you were going to be stranded on a deserted island, what is one thing you would take with you?
- What is your superpower?
- Who is one person you admire and why?
- What are you afraid of?
- Are you better at singing or drawing?
Home Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun activity for all ages. You can pair older kids with littles. And you can choose to do it all inside your home or include your yard to get everyone outdoors. Here are some suggestions to get you started. Depending on the number of participants you can split up into two teams or play as individuals. Encourage everyone to use their creativity and imagination when it comes to finding objects. A dog could literally be a pet dog or a stuffed animal. But it could also be torn out from a magazine or drawn. Kids are clever so you may want to exclude digital objects. Give everyone a bag or basket to gather their items. We like to use reusable shopping bags. Set a timer and let the fun begin!
- thread
- fish
- something crunchy
- a green object
- fruit
- it's chewable
- a ball
- you can ring it
- blue
- something musical
Charades
This is one of the oldies but goodies. Divide your group into two teams with a minimum team size being two people. Each team picks a person to go up to the front of the room and act out the word while the others try to guess what it is. The actor cannot speak. They can only mime clues to their teammates. Each team takes turns guessing a word that is drawn from a deck of cards. The winner is the team with the greatest amount of words solved. A simple deck of index cards and a pen will lead to hours of family time. Here are some sample words:
- rocket
- diamond
- Snapchat
- egg
- shoe polish
- sad
- volleyball
- nerd
- rainbow
- elephant
- TikTok
If you and your family have a favorite game that we haven't mentioned here, let us know at sandrao@macaronikid.com and we may feature you in an upcoming article!
