Family reunions are a memorable time of family bonding and shared experiences. Cultivate an environment of hospitality and fun by planning a series of games that generations young and old will enjoy. Choose games that will be accessible to all ages and require little explanation on your part. Games that have stood the test of time and have been passed on through the years work well to span the gap.
Board Games
Popular games, such as chess or checkers, can entertain family members of all ages. Set these types of games out on the tables and have them available for guests as they are arriving or to play during lunch. Games will give everyone, especially long-lost cousins and distant relatives, an opportunity to share an activity while getting to each other. If you need a more structured activity to spur conversation, you can set up a board game tournament, with a list of winners. By the end of the reunion, you can announce the winners of each game. Alternatively, you can set up a round robin style effect where guests move from table to table, playing games and talking with relatives.
Action Games
Get everyone up and moving with active games that require strength, agility and skill. Tug of War is a popular games, pitting one group against another. With a long rope and a lot of participants, you can let nearly everyone participate without respect to individual skill or ability. Have a contest between all the men and all the women or set one side of the family against the other. For another challenge, set all the blood relatives against those who have married in. Hide and Seek, potato sack races and tagging games are fun for the kids, while the adults take a break.
Ice Breaker Games
Since the most important part of a family reunion is to build relationships, games that break down the barriers and help everyone know each other better are ideal. Put together a trivia game about family history. Break the family into teams, with members from all generations. Have a moderator ask questions to the teams and test everyone’s knowledge of one another and the family as a whole. To get everyone talking, you can create a spin on Bingo by filling squares with trivia about family members. Guests have to interview one another to find the person who fits the trivia. The winner will be the one who can make his way around the group the quickest.
Photo Credit
- family image by Pavel Losevsky from Fotolia.com
