Family Games

The Put Away Scavenger Hunt

Moms…you are going to love me after reading this! It’s so easy to do and costs nothing. No planning ahead required. The Put Away Scavenger Hunt is my go-to for turning grumpy days around. We have been doing put away scavenger hunts for at least a decade now and they never seem to get old. I usually just do them on an ordinary day with my own kids to change the mood, but I’ve also done them in place of an Easter Egg Hunt or as a birthday party game. It’s always a big hit.

Our family really enjoys scavenger hunts such as our photo scavenger hunt, sensory scavenger hunt, or Opposite Day scavenger hunt.

The Put Away Scavenger Hunt:

Supplies needed:

random items you already have around the house
a prize. This can be candy, a full Easter basket, party treat bags, or something like staying up an extra hour at bedtime or getting a free pass on chores.

How to play:

To set things up, choose one item you will give your child to start with. In this example, it will be the spatulas. Set this item aside.
In the place where this item should go, place another item that doesn’t belong there. (In this example, a fidget toy was in the drawer where the spatulas should be.)
Continue to do this with items around the house.
In the place where the last item should go, put the prize.
To play, hand your child (or children) the first item to put away.
When they discover something in that location that isn’t where it should be, have them put that away and so forth.
In the last location, they will discover their prize.

To give you an idea of how this works, I’ve taken pictures of a sample Put Away Scavenger Hunt to walk you through.

spatulas handed to child
spatulas get put away in the kitchen drawer
fidget toy where spatulas should be
fidget toy put away in its place
keys where fidget toy should be
key ring put back on its hook
dishcloth where keys should be
dishcloth put in its drawer
decorative “R” shouldn’t be there
in the place where the “R” belongs, an expanding ball sits
expanding ball put where it goes
toilet paper discovered there

toilet paper put back in its cupboard
shoes discovered there
shoes replaced near shoe rack
decorative sailboat sits on the floor
sailboat replaced on dresser
remote control shouldn’t be there
remote placed back in the living room and some treats are discovered in its bowl!

Put Away Scavenger Hunt Tips:

For older kids, place items in a way that has them running all over. I put an item upstairs and the next one downstairs and the next outside and the next on the main floor and then next in the garage. That way, it’s more challenging, lasts longer, and gets in some exercise for them.
If you’re hiding large prizes like treat bags for a birthday party or Easter baskets, the dryer is a great place. Just put dryer balls in the second-last place and when the kids go put them away, they will find their prize. The garage is another area we’ve used to end the game if it was a larger prize.
Add some humour. My kids think it’s hilarious if I put a pair of underwear in like a kitchen drawer or something. Be sure it’s clean underwear of course, but this always makes them roar with laughter!
Toothbrushes, books, kitchen utensils, photo frames, pencils, candles, and oven mitts all work great for this game.
This scavenger hunt is a fantastic teaching tool as it helps kids learn where things belong and how to put things where they go. Think of this as a skills development activity for chores!
Kids can also participate in setting this up for siblings which helps with critical thinking as they plan ahead to which item will go where.
Adult supervision should be used of course and your child’s age and abilities should be considered when you choose what to hide where.

Let me know how your family enjoy this.

If you’re looking for similar activities, you can download our free printable Outdoor Scavenger Hunt. Just enter your email address below.

You may also be interested in:

Outdoor Sensory Scavenger Hunt

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Christmas Movie Bingo

By Sharla Kostelyk

Watching sappy, predictable holiday movies has long been a part of our Christmas traditions. Last year, we discovered that watching is even more fun if paired with Christmas Movie Bingo!My girls and I like to curl up in our pyjamas or our matching Christmas movie watching shirts in front of the TV. Add in some holiday baking or popcorn and hot chocolate and you have the recipe for a relaxing afternoon.

Those Hallmark Christmas movies can be a wee bit addictive! Often, before we know it, the whole day has slipped by.

The reason it’s so much more fun to watch with your bingo cards in hand is it makes the predictability of the movies even funnier.

Hallmark Christmas Movie Bingo:

Supplies needed:

Christmas Movie Bingo Cards (download yours here)
marker, bingo daubers, or holiday stickers to cover the game squares

Directions:

Download and print out the bingo cards.
As you watch holiday movies, mark all the squares that apply.
The winner is either the first person to fill five in a row OR you can just keep watching movies until you’re able to fill in every square on the cards.

So print off those bingo cards, pop some popcorn, get a mug of hot cocoa, and get ready to binge watch this season’s best!

Last year, my girls and I filled out all the squares on our cards.

That’s an awful lot of TV watching (!), but we sometimes made ornaments or iced cookies while we watched. One year, we rolled croquettes during the shows and the cheesy romance films were a great distraction for a tedious task.

If you want to give prizes to the winner, you can choose holiday themed treats like candy canes or holiday baking. And instead of yelling out “Bingo”, you can choose a word more fitting to the theme like “Mistletoe”!

Sign up to receive your free Christmas Movie Bingo and you’ll also receive our email series 5 Secrets to Powerful Family Connection.

If you’re looking for other family holiday fun, you’ll want to check these out:

Christmas Minute to Win It Games

Christmas Printable Activities

Christmas Games for Kids

Opposite Day Ideas

By Sharla Kostelyk

Opposite Day or Backwards Day is a fun theme idea to do with your kids or in your school or classroom. I wanted to share with you ideas of activities, food, and even some hidden learning opportunities for your theme day.The official Opposite Day is January 25, but you can celebrate it just for fun any day you wish. Some people choose April 1st (April Fools Day) to celebrate.

My kids have loved our Backwards Days. In fact, sometimes when they were younger, if everyone was super grouchy, I would just declare it was Backwards Day and the mood immediately shifted.

There are so many silly things you can do. Even small changes like having spaghetti for breakfast and pancakes for supper is something kids find so fun.

Opposite Day Ideas:

Have supper for breakfast and breakfast for supper.
Wear your clothes inside out or backwards.
Wear your shoes on the opposite feet.
Put socks on your hands instead of your feet.
Wear pyjamas during the day and day clothes to bed.
Have an Opposite Day Scavenger Hunt.
Play Opposite Day Bingo.
Speak in opposites (“bad” for “good”, “yes” for “no”, etc.)
Eat dessert first.
Walk backwards.
Do everything with your non-dominant hand so lefties use their right hand and righties use their left hand.
Write your name backwards.
Draw upside down.
Try a role reversal where the teacher gets to be the student for awhile the parent gets to be the child once in awhile.
Sing song backwards.
Say the alphabet from Z to A.
Read a book backwards starting from the back to the front.
Hang pictures or artwork upside down.
Practise some mirror writing.
Call people by their last name first.
Any type of play backwards like backwards skipping, skating, or soccer.
Do an egg and spoon race or three-legged race but walking backwards.
Play backwards limbo (jump over the stick rather than going under).
Take pictures with the subject’s back to the camera.
Make upside down cupcakes with icing on the bottom.
Place an ice cream scoop on a plate and a cone on top of that to create an upside down ice cream cone.
Make sandwiches with the bread or bun on the inside.
Talk about antonyms.
Write a poem using antonyms.
Teach the kids palindromes.
Sleep with your head at the foot of the bed.

I hope your kids or students enjoy the silliness of this day as much as my kids always have!

Find other fun theme day ideas to use in your home or school.

Check out some other fun games and activities for kids:

Minute to Win It Games

The Flour Game

The Bag Game

Theme Day Ideas for Family Fun at Home

By Sharla Kostelyk

Is it just me or are the days starting to blend together?! Without school and appointments, it’s hard to know what day of the week it is. There was one day when I didn’t even realize that it was a weekend. These theme day ideas are a great way to break up the monotony and add it some fun.

The idea for this came because my kids were officially on Spring Break but with it snowing and cold outside and no option to go anywhere fun, I brought the fun to them with a family Beach Party. We even Zoomed with our neighbours who had a beach setup happening at their house too. The beach party gave us all something to look forward to as we prepared for it and then gave us memories to look back on. It certainly helped that Tuesday stand out from the other days that week!

Since I know that some of you are also trying to teach your kids at home right now, I’ve also included some learning or art activities into some of the theme day ideas.

One last thing to mention: Busy mamas, this is not meant to give you ONE MORE THING to do. Enlist your kids to do the planning and decorating. Ideally, this should give you less work because you won’t hear the cries of “I’m bored” as often. It can also give your kids something to look forward to when so many of their events are being cancelled. They can look and see that on Friday, it’s the family dance party and get excited for that.

Theme Day Ideas:

Backwards Day:

This is such an easy one to do. You don’t need to buy extra supplies or spend money and you can pull this off at the last minute. Here are just some of the things you can do:

supper for breakfast and breakfast for supper
dessert before the meal
wearing your clothes backwards
have kids learn about palindromes (words, phrases, or sentences that are spelled the same backwards and forwards – find lots here)
count backwards
say the alphabet backwards
sing a song backwards
call everyone by their name spelled backwards
read a book backwards
walk backwards

Beach Party:

Our beach party was so much fun! It was like bringing a bit of tropical vacation right to our living room. Making the decorations and food for it also gave the kids a fun project to work on for days beforehand.

If it’s warm out where you are, you could have this in your backyard instead. Here are some ideas for having your own beach party:

decorate with beach towels, paper fish (we taped ours to blue recycle bags to make it look like water), sand pails and sand toys, tropical confetti, sunglasses
bring in beach chairs or loungers
food ideas: goldfish crackers, cupcakes with blue icing and brown sugar (sand) with a tiny umbrella, umbrellas in drinks, picnic food such as sandwiches, chips, candy fish, clear cups filled with blue jello and a gummy shark “swimming” in it, fruit skewers, sand dollar cookies, watermelon slices
dress in bathing suits, shorts, sundresses, t-shirts, flip-flops
play music like the Beach Boys and dance on the “beach”
read books like The Rainbow Fish
have a Limbo competition
set out a station for fish crafts or put out beach theme colouring pages with markers or crayons
paint seashells
read lounging out on your beach chair or towel
toss around a beach ball

Minute to Win It Theme:

Our family loves, loves Minute to Win It games. They are easy and inexpensive to set up, great for all ages, and best of all, hilarious! Here are some of our best Minute to Win It Games:

Camping at Home:

set out a tent or tents in your living room or backyard (we like to put ours on the trampoline because it raises it up and makes it less cold)
sleep in sleeping bags
make S’mores (if you have a backyard fire pit, use that, if not, you can make s’mores in the microwave)
Ghost Hands are super fun (albeit messy) if you have a fire pit
play Minute to Win It Camping Games
sing campfire songs
paint camping story stones
food ideas: hot dogs, s’mores cookies, chips, walking tacos, mini camping cereals for breakfast
print off this camping printable pack that has camping theme learning activities for kids
star gaze together as you learn about constellations
play card games or board games
go bird watching in the backyard

Drive in Movie in the Living Room:

This is so fun if you have little ones.

Decorate a large box as a car. You’ll need one per child. Let your child use their imaginations. You can use paper plates for wheels and the steering wheel and paint details or add them in Sharpie.
food ideas: popcorn, juice boxes or pop, chips, raw veggies, movie snacks
Set the “cars” up in front of the TV and watch a movie.

Christmas:

Pull out the tree, turn on the outside lights, and start baking! Since it kind of feels like those weeks around Christmas anyway, you might as well embrace it!

set out a holiday puzzle for everyone to work on
wrap things you already own to gift each other
play Christmas music
pull out your Hallmark Christmas movies shirt and start watching those Christmas movies!
sing carols
play Christmas Minute to Win It Games
make Christmas crafts
read Christmas books
play Christmas games
print off Christmas activities for the kids to do
wear your ugly Christmas sweaters
food ideas: Christmas baking, traditional Christmas foods

Family Talent Show:

Hosting a talent night in your home is great because for days before, it gives the kids something to practise. Set the stage in the living room or backyard and cheer on each family member as they perform. Here are some ideas for talents to be performed:

a skit or short play
reciting a memorized monologue or poem
playing a song by tapping on water glasses
playing the spoons
magic tricks
displaying art
singing
lip syncing
dancing
gymnastics
juggling
comedy act
martial arts
playing an instrument
showcasing a new skill such as knitting, whittling, or macrame
hand clapping routine
yo-yo
jump rope routine
hula hoop
baton twirling

Fun Food Ideas:

We’ve been doing these fun food nights mostly for our Survivor nights. I pick a different one each week.

Build your own nachos bar – pie plates for everyone, different kinds of tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and all the toppings: sliced black olives, jalapeños, tomatoes, onions, red peppers, taco meat or shredded chicken, beans, sour cream, salsas, and guacamole
Make your own pita pizzas
Sundae bar
Decorate your own cookies or cupcakes
Appetizer night
Popcorn bar
Pasta bar
Breakfast for supper
Fondu night

Other Fun Theme Day Ideas:

pyjama day
crazy hair day
Rainbow party
formal day
Dr. Seuss party
sensory play all day
celebrity lookalike day
dress up
twins day (dress to match someone else in the house)
Lego building challenge
baking or cake decorating challenge
family dance party
family fun night (hilarious!)
backyard or living room picnic
50s day
60s day
70s day
80s day
90s day
moustache day
backyard Olympics
math game marathon
role reversal day (kids and parents swap clothes and roles)
kitchen restaurant (kids make menus and cook for parents)
Zombie day
un-birthday party (cake, decorations, singing, streamers for no one’s birthday)
fort building competition
kitchen science experiments

These fun family theme day ideas can help you make the most of this time you have together. You can build memories and infuse some laughter into these weeks and focus on building family connection.

Looking for more ideas for family fun or resources to help you connect with your child? Join our free 5 Days to Better Family Connection email series.

You may also be interested in reading:

The Ultimate List of Family Game Night Ideas

The Complete Slime Making Guide

The Best Board Games for Large Groups

By Sharla Kostelyk

Our family is a board game family. Let me tell you, we know a thing or two about board games for large groups because with 7 kids and two adults, we can’t just pick the regular 4-6 players games! We also love to have friends and family over to play games. Sometimes, there are more than 50 of us!

Family game nights are a great way to form connection, build memories, strengthen relationships, reinforce learning concepts in a fun way, and spend screen free time.

We’ve tried a lot of games over the years. I’ve compiled a list of some of our favourites for large groups (more than 10) and another list for games we like for between 4 and 10 players.

The Best Board Games for Large Groups:

Taboo – I have been playing this game since I was a teenager. We especially like to play a guys vs. girls version of this. So much fun! The object of the game is to have your team guess the word you’re describing except that there are certain buzz words you’re not allowed to say. It’s done in speed rounds which only adds to the fun.

What’s Yours Like? – We’ve had a lot of laughs with this game. When you play with adults only, the answers can quickly take on double meanings which gets pretty funny. You can also play it with kids or groups of kids and adults though. You just need to keep your answers PG for that!

Mafia – While not exactly a board game, I’m saying it still counts because it involves a deck of cards. This game is a favourite of ours for playing out by the campfire. We’ve played with as many as 45 people before. It’s fun for all!

Heads-Up – While there is a board game version of this popular game, I suggest that you get the mobile app version. If one person in your group downloads it to their phone, you can all use that phone for hours of fun. This is another one that we’ve played in our living room with a large gathering. We usually play boys against the girls.

Charades – This is the ultimate game for a large group when you don’t have any board games handy. Just use a pen and slips of paper to create your own version. Have everyone write down ideas to make it extra fun.

Pictionary (or the new high tech Pictionary Air) – The nice thing about this classic is that the worse your art skills, the funnier it is! Fun for all ages.

What Do You Meme – This game brings the relatively new popularity of memes into the board game world and can be played with up to 20 people.

Blurt – Funny game that can be played with up to 12 players.

Taboo Board Game What’s Yours Like? Party Edition Mafia Cards Heads Up Party Game Speed Charades Pictionary Pictionary Air WHAT DO YOU MEME?

The Best Board Games for 4-10 players:

Pit – 3-8 players – This game is an awesome ice breaker! One thing it isn’t though is quiet as people shout out their bids. It’s kind of a commodities trading market gone wild.

Codenames – 2-8+ players – I find that this is a great ice breaker. If you’ve got people who are just getting to know each other, this is the one to start with. You’ll all be comfortable with each other in no time.

The Resistance – 5-10 players – This can be a team game so it’s quite interactive which we like.

Sequence – 2-12 players – One of our sons gave us this for Christmas one year and it soon became a family favourite. It’s easy to learn and appeals to a wide audience from kids to grandparents.

Five Crowns – 2-7 players – I chose this game at the store because of its small size as I wanted to pack it along on a camping trip. It turned out to be a great purchase and has been played often since. This award winner is a rummy style card game with a twist.

Apples to Apples – 4-10 players – There are many variations of this popular word game. It’s a nice one for playing with multiple ages.

Wizard – 3-6 players

Pit Game Czech Games Codenames The Resistance Sequence Five Crowns Card Game Apples to Apples Party in a Box Wizard Card Game

Looking for more awesome ideas for family fun or resources to help you connect with your child? Join our free 5 Days to Better Family Connection email series.

If you’re looking for large group games that are more interactive, then check out some of our Minute to Win It challenges:

Minute to Win It Family Fun Night

Dollar Store Minute to Win It

Thanksgiving Minute to Win It Games

Christmas Minute to Win It Games

Minute to Win It Games for Camping

Christmas Games for Kids

By Sharla Kostelyk

These fun Christmas games for kids can be played at in the classroom, at holiday parties, or at home with family. They are simple to set up and provide hours of possibilities. We like to add activities to all our holiday events. Laughing together as a family is a wonderful way to create memories.

Easy Christmas party games for kids make great ice breakers. Everyone can focus on the fun and before long, laughter ensues and new friendships are made.

Christmas Games for Kids:

By far our family’s favourite are the Christmas Minute to Win It games. They are hilarious to play and so easy and inexpensive to set up. Great for all ages!

The printable Christmas Who Am I? Game at Childhood 101 is kind of like a holiday version of the popular game Hedbanz.

I’m a huge fan of the cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies. So huge in fact that I just ordered myself this shirt to wear this cheesy-movie-watching season! If you’re also a fan, you’re gonna love the Hallmark Christmas Movies Scavenger Hunt at Organized 31. And y’all? These scavenger hunt cards are funny. If you’ve seen a lot of the movies, you know there’s a formula and some common themes which is what makes these cards so clever.

Silliness will abound with these Christmas Movies Emoji Game printable pages from Play Party Plan.

Roll a Santa with help from the printable game at Kiddy Charts.

The whole family can participate in Christmas Charades with the printable cards from Teach Beside Me. It’s a great game if you have a group with a variety of ages.

Get cards to play Christmas Charades at Childhood 101.

Snowman Twister is an adorable activity for kids. It’s easy to set up and tons of fun. This would be really cute for a children’s party.

Sunny Day Family shares a fun Christmas Music Bingo for families with three variations.

The Christmas Bingo sets from Rock Your Homeschool are so cute and kids can use jingle bells as their marker.

You can find another version of Christmas Bingo on Sunshine and Hurricanes.

Holiday entertainment doesn’t have to be expensive. You can find a free printable North Pole MixUp Christmas Game to play at Line Upon Line Learning.

If you’re looking for a holiday classroom activity, try Fun Learning for Kids’ Gingerbread Board Game. It can be edited for math or literacy centers.

This idea for a Gift Tag Memory Game from Play, Teach, Repeat is so simple to set up.

The Magnet Bell Christmas Game on Teach Beside Me combines learning with fun.

Christmas Tin Can Bowling is a familiar activity with a holiday spin from Red Ted Art.

Play Christmas Tree I-Spy Ornament with the printable from Joy in the Works.

Pin the Reindeer Nose is demonstrated on Red Ted Art.

If you’re looking for something to play one-on-one with your child, this Christmas Matching Memory Game from Simple Everyday Mom is perfect.

Set up a simple Gingerbread Scavenger Hunt.

Christmas Board Games:

The Santa Claus Game Christmas Scavenger Hunt Game Christmas Trivia Pin The Nose on The Snowman Christmas Activity Tis The Season Christmas Trivia Game Spot It! Holiday Christmas-opoly Santa’s Sleigh Ride

Printable Holiday Activities:

Keep kids occupied while you’re busy baking or wrapping with these free printable Christmas activities. You’ll find games, countdown calendars, learning activities, and colouring sheets.

Christmas Wonderland Roll and Cover Game – Simple Fun for Kids

Christmas Doodles I Spy Game – And Next Comes L

Printable Christmas Games Coloring Workbook – Darcy and Brian

Christmas Kindness Countdown Chain – Coffee and Carpool

Rudolph Word Search – Baby Budgeting

Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt – Empowered Single Moms

Roll and Colour Christmas Game – Picklebums

Printable Elf Jokes – Artsy Fartsy Mama

Snowglobe Activity Sheets for Kids – Crafts on Sea

Roll a Santa Numeracy Game – Kiddy Charts

Christmas Acts of Kindness – Learn in Color

The Best Wish List for Kids – Pint-Sized Treasures

Free Printable Advent Calendar Activities – Real Life at Home

Printable Christmas Mazes for Kids – 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Christmas Word Scramble – Crayons and Cravings

Free Printable Christmas Coloring Sheets – Sarah Titus

Printable Grinch Countdown to Christmas – Three Little Ferns

Free Christmas Rhymes – 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Find and Colour Christmas Doodle – Your Therapy Source

Christmas Addition and Subtraction Cards – Living Life and Learning

Spin and Cover Christmas Math – 3 Dinosaurs

Christmas Language Arts Pack – Real Life at Home

Christmas Ornament Sorting – PreKinders

Elf Paper Puppet – Red Ted Art

Christmas Coding STEAM Activity – J Daniel 4’s Mom

Free Christmas Playdough Mats – 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Printable Cards – For Modern Kids

Looking for more ideas for family fun or resources to help you connect with your child? Join our free 5 Days to Better Family Connection email series.

Be sure to check out:

You can also find 26 Christmas Party Games for adults and children.