Summer is primetime for family reunions. However, gathering multiple generations in the same place at the same time is only half the battle. Navigating the choppy waters of family dysfunction is where you really have to concentrate your efforts in order to make a summer get-together a raging success.
The key to keeping everyone happy, especially when you are dealing with a wide range of ages, is to have as many distractions as possible. Games and entertainment can be the gateway to fun and frivolity at a family reunion. Try to find games that will appeal to the young and young at heart, and then aim to combine the two groups to facilitate bonding.
Some simple games that can bring grandparents, twenty-somethings, and tweens together include:
Have You Ever?: To play this game, create a circle with chairs. You’ll need one less chair than there are players. The person without a chair stands in the middle of the circle and asks a question that begins with “Have you ever”. For example, “Have you ever eaten a bag of chips in a single sitting?” All of the players who answered “yes” to the question must get up and find a new seat that is at least three seats away from the one they were sitting in. Players that respond “no” remain in their seats. In addition, the person in the middle who asked the question must also sit down on one of the empty chairs. The player who is left without a seat is sent to the middle to ask the next question.
Guess Who?: This game requires planning. A few weeks prior to the family reunion request that your guests bring a photo of themselves as a baby. Once you get all of the pictures, attach them to a large poster board with a number beside each image. When it’s time to play the game, hand out a sheet of paper to each guest and have him/her guess the name of each person in the individual photos. Players write their guesses on the paper and the one with the highest number of correct answers wins the game.
Tournament-style games: Guests of all ages enjoy a little friendly competition. Consider teaming young and old family members together to compete in classic games, such as dominoes, checkers, or traditional card games, like rummy. The winners of each game then meet in a match against each other until a final winner is decided. Depending on the number of players, you could design a loser bracket in which those who have lost a game can continue playing as well.
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