Family Games

Our Family Fun Nights are memorable events.  We love playing family games and these evenings give us a chance to build memories together. I wanted to share some of our favourite family game night ideas. Family game night creates lasting memories because they foster a sense of belonging. In the busy hubbub of life, it is so nice to have tech-free, face to face time with your kids. Quality time can be created right at home.

Creating a family game night tradition won’t be something you’ll regret. The years you have with your kids at home go by in a flash. Laughing together strengthens the bonds.

If you were to invite your kids to an evening of talking with their parents and tell them there were no phones allowed, you wouldn’t likely get a very positive response. But once you start regular a family game night, your kids will be asking you when the next one is!

Ideas For The Best Family Game Night

1. Minute To Win It Games

One of our most memorable Family Fun Nights was our original Minute to Win It party.  We played Face the Cookie, Stack Attack, Movin’ on Up, Junk in the Trunk, Suck it Up, Penny Hose, Keep it Up, and Yank Me.

There was a lot of laughter. I challenge anyone to play the Junk in the Trunk Game with a straight face!

We had so much fun on our first Minute to Win it game night that we decided to create another one.  That time, we chose a Dollar Store Minute to Win It theme.   We played Puddle Jumper, Chocolate Unicorn, Ponginator, Hanky Panky, Ball Drop, Breakfast Scramble, and Elephant March.

These family game ideas are funny and everyone can play. The supplies were so inexpensive and didn’t take long to set up. It was another memorable evening.

Click here for all our awesome Minute To Win It Games:

• Minute To Win It Games Printable
• Christmas Minute To Win It Games
• Dollar Store Minute To Win It Games

2.  The Flour Game

We also get a kick out of The Flour Game. This hilarious game requires only two items and one of them is probably already in your kitchen. This one is just plain old good clean fun. Well, clean may not be the best way to describe it! The messy faces are worth it though.

It’s a great time for all ages. If you’ve never tried it, this is a good one to start with. It’s easy to set up. The rules are easy to understand. And a face full of flour is universally funny!

3.  What’s In The Bag Game

Another classic game at our house is What’s In The Bag Game.  For this one, you only need one item. In this game, the kids often have the advantage. That’s a good equalizer. On other family game nights when the older ones may have an easier time with whatever the activity is, this game evens those odds.

Our neighbour taught us this game. We have played it at everything from just a Sunday afternoon at home to my daughter’s Sweet 16 with over 25 people. It is always a hit.

4.  20 Questions Game

I love this personalized version of the game 20 questions from Teach Mama. It gives a Headbands type of spin to it and allows you to use pictures of people you know or are familiar with. It would be easy to create themed versions of this game such as a Disney theme or famous families theme.

5.  Lego Game Night Ideas

Invite your family members to a Lego Build Challenge Minute to Win It Style. The ideas are easy. Chances are, you’ve got some lego pieces hanging around the house. Why not put them to good use?!

6. Nerf Gun Family Game Night

My kids would go crazy over this Nerf Target Prize Game from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls! You could mix it up by changing up the prizes.

7.  Twister

How about making your own holiday themed twister game? You can find everything you need at Pint-Sized Treasures to make a Valentine’s Conversation Hearts Twister, a Snowman Twister, or a Pumpkin Twister for Thanksgiving, Hallowe’en or Fall.

8.  Board Games For Family Game Night

Family game night ideas don’t have to be complicated. You can create lasting memories sitting around the kitchen table with a bowl of popcorn and a board game or puzzle.

I love how our family has a culture of playing board games together. Sunday afternoons, you can usually find us sitting at the table playing Settlers of Catan, Splendor, Sequence, Ticket to Ride, card games, or some of our other favourites.

Family Board Games:

Watch Ya Mouth Family EditionHasbro Pie FaceGoogly Eyes GameQwirkleKer PlunkBlokusJenga Classic GameTroubleHedBanz5 Second RuleSimonUNO Card GameDutch BlitzSuspend Family GameApples to Apples

9. Fun for the Whole Family

Done is better than perfect! Instead of waiting for the perfect time and circumstance, plan something simple that both the younger kids and older kids can enjoy. Here are some simple ideas that can be thrown together at the last minute.

• Scavenger Hunts (Our kids’ favourite is the Put Away Scavenger Hunt. I like it too because it only uses household items so there’s no extra cost, it’s easy, and has no clean-up!)
• Bingo
• Christmas Movie Bingo
•  Charades (instructions and free printable charade cards)
• Make an easy treasure hunt with clues. Have the first person read a clue and all work together to find the prize so that everyone is a winner.

10. Play Family Trivia.

Invent your own questions about your family and family culture. Examples would be things like:

• When is grandma’s birthday?
• Where did we go on our last vacation?
• Where did your parents meet?
• What was your mom’s maiden name?
• What does our last name mean?

Then have the first person to draw a question answer. If they don’t know the answer, allow the next person to take a guess.

Track points on a sheet of paper. You can even offer bonus points for funny or creative answers.

What is one of your family’s favourite games to play?

Looking for more ideas for family fun or resources to help you connect with your child? Join our free Parenting Wins email series. 

Our neighbour Christie introduced our family to the Bag Game years ago and it is always a hit on family game night.  This easy game requires exactly one item and can be played anywhere. It can be played with large groups or small groups and with people of all ages.  It seriously does not get simpler or better than The Bag Game!

We have played the Bag Game both outside and inside. We once played it with an empty cereal box because we didn’t have a paper bag to use. It is a great boredom buster on a snow day and an even better ice breaker at group events or a game for youth.

As long as you have a paper bag, this game costs nothing and couldn’t be simpler to set up. We always save paper bags now from stores or take-out at restaurants just for this purpose.

Our family loves this activity. There is always much hilarity that ensues as everyone stands around watching the person whose turn it is. There is laughter and cheering. Sometimes, there are some attempts to distract the person, especially when it comes to siblings!

How to Play The Paper Bag Game

Materials needed:

• paper bag or cereal box

Instructions:

1. Place an empty paper bag on the floor.
2. Standing on one foot, each player must take a turn to retrieve the bag using only their mouth.
3. Once the bag is successfully retrieved, that player tears off the piece of the bag that their mouth touched.
4. In this way, the bag slowly gets lower and lower to the ground.
5. Once a player’s raised foot touches the ground or one of their hands touches the ground, they are eliminated from the game.
6. The last person remaining in the game is the winner.

You will want to play this in a fairly large area so that everyone has room to manoeuvre. We have found that everyone develops a bit of their own style in this game. Some put their other leg way up high and use it as a counterbalance. Some crouch low to the ground with their whole body while others bend their upper half down. One of our sons places one foot on top of the other before crouching down.

The Bag Game Variations

For younger children or those with mobility issues, you can play the game exactly the same way but allow both feet to be touching the ground.

You can choose to have some players be allowed this exception while others play with the traditional rules of the game.

Another variation is to allow each player three strikes per turn or per game wherein their raised foot or one of their hands can touch the ground twice without that player being eliminated.

We have a large family and we enjoy finding family games that we can all do together.  This one has quickly become a favourite.

You’ll notice from the blurry pictures that this is an active game with a lot of movement. There can be some pretty funny contortions, particularly when the bag gets down really low. There have been times in our competitive family when all that was left of the bag was a single piece of paper laying flat on the ground and our son managed to retrieve it!

The Bag Game is an easy activity for large groups with a variety of ages and abilities. It can be played at youth groups, camp, family reunions, Christmas parties, birthday parties, retirement celebrations, or in a classroom.

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

Click here for more fun family games:

Dollar Store Minute to Win It Games

The Flour Game

Minute to Win It Games

Our Minute to Win It Family Fun Night was so memorable that I planned another one. This time, I chose to use items from the dollar store to keep within a tight budget. I spent less than $15 for all the supplies.

For the decorations, I used our printable Minute to Win It kit which has full instructions for all of the games as well as all the games we played in our original Minute to Win It family fun night.

The supplies I bought from the dollar store:

• 2 boxes of Kleenex
• 1 pack of plastic cups
• 1 pack of ping pong balls
• 2 pairs of panty hose
• 1 box of chocolate cookies
• cereal box
• 1 pack of tennis balls

Minute to Win It Games:

Puddle Jumper.

Supplies needed:

• 3 plastic cups (the Red Solo ones work well)
• ping pong ball
• water

To set up for this game, fill three cups with water and line them up, setting a ping pong ball into the first one. The goal of this game is to blow the ping pong ball from one water-filled cup to the next.

Chocolate Unicorn.

Supplied needed:

• chocolate cookies or Oreo cookies

All that’s needed for this game are chocolate cookies. Each player gets 10 cookies with the goal of stacking them on their forehead. The resulting stack must remain in place for 3 seconds.

Ponginator.

Supplies needed:

• empty egg carton
• ping pong balls

For this game, you will need an empty egg carton and ping pong balls. The goal is to bounce ping pong balls so that 8 of them land in the egg carton within one minute.

Hanky Panky.

Supplies needed:

• one tissue box for each player participating

This was hilarious to watch! It is more fun as a head-to-head challenge. Each person must sit with one hand behind their back. They must empty all the tissues out of the Kleenex box using only one hand as quickly as they can (if head to head) or within one minute.

Ball Drop.

Supplies needed:

• 3 ping pong balls
• plastic cup
• chair to stand on

Land three ping pong balls in a single cup while standing on a chair. The trick is to not have the balls bounce out or knock the cup over.

Breakfast Scramble.

Supplies needed:

• cereal box cut into pieces

To set up for this game, you will need to cut the front of a cereal box into pieces. Depending on the size of the cereal box and the age of the people participating in your Minute to Win It challenge, you can either cut the box in 8 or 16 pieces. The goal of the game is to reassemble the puzzle within a minute.

Elephant March.

Supplies needed:

• pantyhose
• one or two tennis balls
• 8 plastic cups

To prepare for this game, put a tennis ball in the end of a pair of panty hose or put a tennis ball in each leg of a pair of panty hose. Set 8 cups up on the floor to create a walkway. To play, the player must put the panty hose on their head and knock over all the cups by swinging their head from side to side. This is a pretty funny one!

A note to all the moms out there: maybe you saw this and it just made you feel guilty because it’s one more thing you aren’t doing with your kids. I see you because often, I am you. I don’t want to have the parties or plan crafts or activities to do with the kids unless I have everything I need and can do it nearly perfectly. So years go by while I have the intention of planning a certain activity with my kids and it just doesn’t happen because I’m not organized enough.

This particular Minute to Win It night is a prime example. After our last one was such a success with the kids, I wrote out a plan for this one, every game written out. And my plan sat there for more than a year. One time, I even got a list for the dollar store written out, but then I realized I didn’t have time to bake and decorate a cake and make special food, so again, it didn’t happen. My kids got older, a full year older as my plan got dusty and my guilt grew.

The other day, I decided that we were going to do this but not perfectly. I wasn’t going to wait until my adult kids could get time off work and join us. I wasn’t going to plan any special food or decorate a cake. We were just going to have fun together and build memories.

Your kids get one childhood. You don’t have to make it magical, but you can make it memorable.

Sign up for a free copy of our Minute to Win It Build Edition challenge cards. These are fun, easy games to play as a family or group. All you need is the printed cards and building blocks such as LEGO.

You can read more about our printable Minute to Win It party kit here. The supplies you purchased at the dollar store for these Dollar Store Minute to Win It games can be used to recreate almost all of the games from our Family Fun Night Minute to Win It Challenge.

The Flour Game is also tons of fun for the family!

For the holidays, try the Minute to Win It Christmas Edition games. So much fun!

The Flour Game is so much fun. It’s perfect for gatherings with a variety of different ages because it can be played by anyone from a preschooler up to great-grandparents. This makes it a great option for family reunions or Christmas or Thanksgiving get togethers. It would also be great for a youth group event.

Another great thing about this game is that it takes very little prep and very few supplies. It can be played pretty much anywhere including outdoors so you could even play this when your family is camping.

Materials needed:

• bowl
• plate
• knife
• flour
• LifeSavers or other small hard candies

Fill a bowl full of flour and pack it down. Continue to add flour until the bowl is full to the top and level it off. Place a plate over the bowl and carefully tip it upside-down and lift the bowl off, creating a mound of flour on the plate. Set a LifeSaver on top of the mound of flour.

Each player takes a turn cutting the flour trying not to allow the LifeSaver to fall. Players continue to take turns cutting the flour until the candy falls. The person that cuts the flour which causes the LifeSaver to fall has to then retrieve it with his mouth.

It’s impossible to retrieve the candy without getting a face full of flour making this part quite funny! It’s also funny to see the attempts to retrieve the candy with minimum flour-face-coverage.

We played The Flour Game during our Just for Laughs Family Fun Night. Mackenzie was the first the end up fishing out the LifeSaver with his mouth. He did well retrieving it and only managed to get flour on his nose, mouth and chin but the others that followed after him weren’t so lucky! Unfortunately, I didn’t get pictures of that because I was laughing too hard and too engrossed in the game.

Just for Laughs Family Fun Night

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 might also be interested in these activities: 

The Bag Game

Minute to Win It Family Fun Night