There’s nothing better than quality family time. And whether it’s a large family reunion, your annual Christmas Eve party, or an otherwise ordinary Sunday at home with the kids, there are always new ways you can make the day even more special.
Of course, there are times when being all together with the family introduces more chaos than we bargain for. But with a little pre-planning and some fun games to play with family that you know everyone will love, you can avoid the disorder and chaos—well, maybe a little—and just focus on having a great time.
In this article, we’re going to share some games to play at a Christmas party, a birthday party, or just on an average day for ‘normal’ home family game ideas. Take a look at your new list of fun family games to play at home:
1. Treasure hunt
The first activity on our list of fun games to play with family is none other than the classic treasure hunt. This is a great activity to encourage a little teamwork and collaboration to search for different objects around your home or garden with your family. And there are so many ways to do this activity!
Get creative when you divide the teams. For example, if you decide to play this game at a family reunion, you can make each individual family a team. Have a themed treasure hunt to make the holidays even more festive, like a Christmas bauble or elf hunt or Halloween candy treasure hunt.
Appoint one person in the family to hide the items, create clues for each item, and let the games begin! Depending on how old the kids are, you can also make a family game simpler by just hiding one object in a room and telling your kids to go find it. The choice is yours.
2. Musical Bumps
Anyone who’s a fan of home family games will love this game! As fun as musical chairs may be, it can get a bit tricky when playing with little kids. Not to mention, you also need to make sure you have enough chairs, depending on how many family members are playing. If you’re short on chairs or you’re playing with a toddler who can’t get up on a chair as easily as the adults, no worries! This is Musical Bumps...
Musical Bumps is one of the easiest fun family games to play at home. It’s basically the same concept as musical chairs, minus the chairs. In this activity, the players walk around in a circle and when the music stops, they need to sit down on their bottom as fast as they can.
This is a super fun game to play with family, especially with young children. Plus, if you put on some Mariah Carey, it can just be one of many games to play at a Christmas party!
3. Make a family game out of toilet roll
You can make a family game with something as simple and basic as toilet paper – we promise it’s fun! This is a great game if you want to do a theme based on your family’s different interests. For example, you can pretend to be doctors bandaging a patient or zombies wrapping up a mummy. You can even challenge your kids to make a snowman out of toilet paper—talk about a great option for games to play at a Christmas party!
Tip: Make sure your toilet paper is both durable enough not to rip easily and soft enough to feel lovely and smooth on the skin, like Cushelle
And when you’re done with the toilet paper, go ahead and recycle the cardboard tubes into a fun craft. It’s really amazing how much fun you can have with different parts of a toilet roll.
Before you recycle them, keep those toilet roll tubes from the previous game to have a balancing contest, where each family member has to try to build the tallest tower out of cardboard tubes. No blowing down other towers allowed! You can then feel free to recycle the tubes into a fun toilet roll tube craft!
4. Pass the Costume
We all know the classic party game pass the parcel. So why not use that as inspiration your one of your fun party games for family – minus the pain of having to wrap 30 layers. Pass a bag of dress up clothes around and when the music stops, the person who still has the bag in their hands has to pick out an item at random and put it on. Cue the laughter when mum pulls out the homemade unicorn hat!
This is a wonderful game to play with adults and kids alike! You can even ask your kids to help pick out the clothing items to get them even more involved and excited about who’s going to pick which item.
This is a great game to play for Halloween to get people dressing up as different characters and costumes. Check out our DIY Halloween costume ideas for kids. And remember to take some good pictures of everyone dressed up once the game is finished.
5. Duck, Duck, Goose
Some games to play with family at home can also be a great physical activity, too, like Duck, Duck, Goose. This is a perfect activity for large family gatherings or for an outdoor game.
For those of you who need a refresher on the rules, everyone sits down in a circle while one family member walks around the outside of the circle, tapping each person on the head as they say “duck.” When they finally name someone “goose,” that person has to get up and chase the other person around the circle. If the person who tapped them makes it all the way around the circle and sits in their place before they’re tagged, then they’re safe and the person who was tapped is now the tapper.
So there you have it: Five games to play with family at home for any occasion. These fun family game ideas prove that the sillier and more creative you get, the better. And while no one likes a mess, remember that the more tidying up you must do afterwards usually indicates a fantastic time. Because yes, there is such a thing as “good” chaos!
Make clean-up time a fun activity, by having the losing team clean up, or practice teamwork by encouraging everyone to pitch in. There’s always an opportunity to turn an ordinary task into some fun party games for family.
