Instead of pulling a game out of the cupboard that you have played a million times try making up your own family game. It could be a board game, card game, or a thinking game. Oftentimes making up the game can be just as fun as playing it. So gather around the table or in the family room and get creative!
Here are some ideas to help get your imagination started.
Travel Game
Make up your own travel game. Choose a starting and ending destination. Then get a real map, download, or draw your own, and draw squares connecting your beginning and final destination. You might want to draw a few alternate paths or detours along the way. You can write in different instructions in some of the squares for example: “go back 2 spaces” or “jump ahead 1 space.”
For a twist you could color some of the squares and have different colored cards. If a person lands on that color they have to draw a card and follow the instructions like” “road construction lose a turn” or “speed limit 75 move ahead 2 spaces.”
Decide on what you will use as game pieces: borrow pieces from Sorry, Life, or Monopoly or use buttons. Then choose dice, a spinner, or numbered cards to move each player forward.
Pictionary
Instead of using regular pictionary cards make up your own. My family has a set of scripture pictionary cards featuring items found in the scriptures.
Trivia
Make up a trivia game featuring members of your family, extended family, and friends. You could include a description and then people have to guess who it is. Have people guess favorite things like food, color, sports, etc. of different people. You might have to do some calling or emailing to find all of your information. But this is a great way to learn about the people you care about most.
Photo Memory
Make a matching game using photographs of people in your family or things around your house. If your family can read you could write the word on one card and then put the picture on the other.
So next time you plan a family game night try making up your own family game.
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