Games and Activities for Your Family Reunion

Getting-to-Know-You Games
1. Get Acquainted Card: Fill up the cards/chart with the name of the person whose characteristics match those on the
card. A name is allowed only to appear once. The first group to complete the chart is the winner.

Variation: You can have a team helping each other to finish one card.

Sample items on the card: Is six feet tall, is your cousin, has pierced ears, loves to drink milk, can drive a truck, born in the
month of December, collects stamps for a hobby, is under 15 years old, has long hair, can recite a nursery rhyme, is 140-
145 pounds, etc.

2. Family Hunt: Form several groups. Give each group a list of people/items that they need to "collect." The group who
completes the list first shall be the winner. By the way, make sure that the people they gather line up. When it's complete,
the group shouts FAMILY!

Sample List:

1. Get a child between ages 2-10 years old whose name begins with letter A.
2. Get a married couple who has been married for 20 years and more.
3. Get a person who is a graduate of a medical profession.
4. Get a person who is the eldest sibling in their family.
5. Get a person whose birthday falls in February.
6. Get a person who has a pet dog.
7. Get a person who is 5 feet tall.
8. Get a person who weighs between 100-120 pounds.
9. Get a person who is wearing a pink slippers.
10. Get a person who is wearing eyeglasses.
3. Animal Farm: Prepare rolled sheets of paper with different farm animals written on it. Examples: Frog, Pig, Duck,
Birds, Dog, Cat, Rooster, Cow, Sheep, Goat. Each one will have to get one paper. When the gamemaster says GO, you
will have to sound off the animal written on your paper (ex. meow for cat and moo for cow). Now go around the room to
look for the other animals the same as you. When you are finished, you have to get to know their names, ages,
occupations, and schools. The first group to finish is the winner.

Variation: You can also ask one representative per group to introduce his "animal" family.

4. Arrange the Family: Form the participants into groups. The game master will call out an instruction and the group that
can follow the instruction correctly gets a point. The group with the most points wins.

1. Arrange yourselves from the oldest to the youngest.

2. Arrange yourselves alphabetically.
3. Arrange yourselves from the heaviest weight to the lightest.
4. Arrange yourselves from the shortest to the tallest.
5. Arrange your birth month starting from January to December.
5. Guess the Voice: Call all the parents (just one parent will do) and their children. The parents will face the opposite
direction as the child group themselves at their back. The children will be given a phrase to say aloud. The parent will
have to identify the voice of their child. Example: The child will say "I am special!" (note: The game master will be the one
to direct who will call out first. This is done one by one.) When the mom or dad hears the voice of their child, they would
say "That's Mia!"

Be Smart, Be Creative Games

1. Designers on the Loose: Divide the participants into several groups. The group will choose one person to be the
"mannequin." The goal of the game is to design an outfit (Specify a style. For instance, an evening gown or a belly
dancing costume—let your imagination run!). Now here's the twist: design the outfit with materials such as
newspapers or manila paper or old magazines only; also supply them with odds and ends (your choice) like colored
papers, ribbons, etc... Make sure you assign judges and come up with a scoring system. Be sure to announce a
time limit or time frame (15-20 minutes will do) to finish their design. After, you can let them pose or do a ramp
modeling. The group with the highest points of course is the winner!

Options: You could also dress up a Santa, decorate a Christmas tree (yes using one of your relatives as the tree),
make a "girly-looking" girl into a tough looking one (we did this one for our teachers and we were laughing so hard
as they had to walk and pose like tough guys) or the other way around, design gowns for the men.

2. Lights, Camera...Action! Form two groups with equal number of participants, 6 or more per group. The
gamemaster will call out a scene (e.g. a bank robbery); and at his directive "ACTION!", the players will portray that
scene. At the count of ten, the gamemaster shouts "FREEZE!" The judges will now look at the scene and give the
group points for clarity, beauty, and ingenuity. (Tip: Persons can be used as props like a table or chair since no
props are allowed.)
Here are sample scenes which you can use:

1. Mother giving birth in the delivery room

2. Lovers in the park
3. An acrobat show
4. At a beauty parlor
5. A rock concert
6. Handicapped people in a marathon
7. Firemen to the rescue
8. Animals in the zoo
9. A wake (at the funeral)
10. Family watching a funny TV show in their home
3. Team Gift Wrapping: Break the players up into teams of two. Each pair of players must hold hands and not let
go. With their free hands, the teams must wrap up a box, put a ribbon around it, and tie a bow. The team that wraps
the package first wins. You could also give extra points if it's nicely done!

4. Guess the Occupation Game: Form two groups. This is a combination of charades and message relay
("Telephone"). This time what we pass on is the action and not words. All participants start by facing the other end.
The gamemaster will prepare flashcards with different occupations. He will call the first people of each group to face
him. He flashes a card to them and when he gives the signal, the person will run to his teammate and pat their
shoulder. That person will turn and face him, and he will show him the action. This will go on until the last person in
line who will then run to the gamemaster to guess the occupation.

Remember: No mouthing of the word and no talking aloud while the game is going on. Also no spelling of the
occupation is allowed. Of course, the group with the most points wins.

Suggested Occupations (add your own): teacher, farmer, judge, architect, doctor, dressmaker, chef, gymnast,
fireman, politician, etc.

5. Math Fun: Divide the participants into two groups. The gamemaster will prepare math equations for them to
answer and flashcards numbering from 0 to 9. The ten participants of each team will hold one flashcard apiece. For
instance, the gamemaster will call out "1+7 -3 X 8 is equal to?" The people holding the flashcards 4 and 0 will run to
the front to show their answer. The group who gets the most correct answers wins the game.

Fun Activities
1. Team Groupings: Since a reunion is an opportune time to mingle, we made sure that families were mixed and
placed on different teams. The color coding helped as we asked everyone to wear their team color. This grouping
was also used during the games and activities, which contributed to the bonding of the group.
2. Team Cheer: Before the games started, we allotted a time where the teams met each other and composed a
cheer for the group. We then asked them to perform their cheer with matching actions.

3. Talent Show: This is a beautiful way for members of the clan to showcase their talents and shine. We witnessed
some dancing, singing, playing the piano, a bit of acting, and interpreting a song using gloved hands.

4. Exercise Sessions: Interested in early morning exercise? We also scheduled aerobics and walking and yoga
stretches by the beachfront as early as 6 am. Some also went swimming. It was a wonderful way to start the day as
one was able to breathe in the crisp morning air. The people who joined the morning exercises had a grand time
chatting too before the instructor arrived (hehe who turned out to be me.)

5. Theme Night: We also agreed to a night where everybody was all dressed up according to a specified theme.
Sample themes: Fairy Tale, Hawaiian, Indians, Pirates... use your imagination! We had a Hawaiian luau as we
crossed over to a little island by a little boat and walked back on foot because it was already low tide.

6. Outdoor Activities: Depending on the venue of your reunion (and if weather conditions permit) you could come
up with outdoor play, such as sports, water games, mountain climbing, rafting, or snorkeling. You could even have a
bonfire and exchange stories at night.
Honoring and Remembering
1. The Family Tree: We made sure we had a family tree with pictures pasted on a wall for everybody to see.

2. Sharing: Our great grand aunts/uncles were asked to share about their past. They talked about the members of
the family and shared things we didn't know. It was a good way to pass on the information to the younger
generation.
3. Prayer: We included a prayer time (since we are Catholics, a mass was also celebrated) where we thanked God
and prayed as one big family.

4. Introduction of Each Family: We also took the time to introduce each family to everyone. It was a perfect time
to take pictures.
5. Picture Taking/Video: Remembering is captured in the hearts, in our memories, and also in videos and photos.
So we made sure we had lots of those.
I know there are a thousand ideas for games and activities for reunions and other parties/events. The trick is to be
able to discern what activities would suit your group. Also choose a great game master(s). The ability to conduct a
great game plus the cooperation of everyone will ensure the success of your event.

Icebreaker Games
Icebreaker games are meant to get the family to let loose and open up to one another,
rather than everyone associating in cliques of people that they know most!

Telephone Game:

 What You’ll Need: Nothing required.

 How to Play: Depending on the size of your group, have people divide up into
smaller groups 4-8. Have everyone stand or sit in a line. The first person whispers a
fact about themselves to the person next to them, who then whispers it to the next
person and so on. This is the fun part! As the message moves along the line, it’s
easy for someone to get it mixed up! For instance, “My favorite food is pancakes”
might be misheard as “My favorite food is pound cakes”. The last person says the
messages out-loud. Did everyone pass along the right message? Continue the fun by
letting the last person move to the front and start a new round until everyone has
shared a fact about themselves! You get to learn about everyone and have a good
laugh! Everybody wins!

Jump In, Jump Out:

 What You’ll Need: Enough space for everyone to stand in a circle.

 How to Play: It’s simple: Everyone stands in a large circle, starting with one person
going clockwise, the group chants “Jump in! [clap] Jump out! [clap] Introduce
Yourself! [clap]” (Repeat) [First person moves to middle] “My name is ____, and I’m a
(career/hobby), and I like (interest)!” “wooo!” [Next person moves to middle while
other person returns to circle].

Never Have I Ever:

 What You’ll Need: 10 candies per person.

 How to Play: Everyone starts with 10 candies and one person starts by saying
“Never have I ever…” Anyone who has done that thing puts a candy in the middle
and the cycle continues. The first player out wins all the candy!

Trust Fall:

 What You’ll Need: A blindfold and a trustworthy family.

  How to Play: Each person stands up on a chair or table, gets blindfolded, then falls
backwards into the group. Move to the next person until everyone’s gone.

Team-Building Table-Building:

 What You’ll Need: Several stacks of newspapers, 1 roll of duct tape per 2 people. 1
heavy book.
 How to Play: Separate the group into teams of 2. Each team is given a stack of
newspaper and a roll of duct tape. Teams are given 15 minutes to construct a table
that’s at least 1 foot high, that’s strong enough to hold up the book. The team with the
strongest table wins!

Two Truths, One Lie:

 What You’ll Need: Paper and pens, enough for everyone.

 How to Play: Each person will write two truths and one lie about themselves. One by
one, each person reads off their two truths and a lie in random order, and everyone
must try to guess which one is the lie!

Leapfrog:

 What You’ll Need: Whistle, but nothing else, not even your dignity.
 How to Play: Separate the group into two even teams, each forming a single file line.
The first person begins in a crouching position, on hands and knees. When the
whistle blows, the second person in line ‘leaps’ over the first and assume the same
crouching position. One at a time, each person ‘leaps’ to the front of the time until the
first person is now last in line. It is now their turn to leap over everyone. First line to
make it back to starting positions wins!

Fact BINGO:

 What You’ll Need: Blank Bingo cards, pens or pencils.

 How to Play: Everyone gets a few minutes to fill out their own Bingo card with things
in the boxes such as “dislikes tuna,” “plays video games,” “saw Star Wars VII”, etc.
Then they’ll race to find people who fit the descriptions until they get five in a row and
call BINGO!

Line Up:

 What You’ll Need: A list of commands you’ve come up with ahead of time.
Examples: “Line up from youngest to oldest”, “Line up from shortest hair to longest
hair,” “Line up from least states traveled to most states traveled to,” “Line up from
shortest name to longest name,” “Line up from least pets to most pets.”
 How to Play: Select 1 person to be the “Caller”, then separate everyone else into
teams of 5 to 6 people. The Caller will then command the teams to line up. Teams
race to work out their lines and shout when done.

Silly Portraits:

 What You’ll Need: Paper plates, crayons.

 How to Play: In this game, everyone will place a paper plate on their head and
attempt to blindly draw either themselves, or pair people together and ask them to
draw each other! Best sketch wins!
Simon Says:

 What You’ll Need: Nothing Required.

 How to Play: What kid doesn’t love this fun and easy game? Someone is selected
as the first Simon. Simon gives players commands to follow, such as “Simon says to
wave your left hand,” or Simon says to spin around in a circle.” If the command
doesn’t start with the phrase, “Simon says,” players should not follow the command.
Those who do are out of the game. Last player standing wins!