The Great Free Family Games Hunt

computerwoman

SAUSAGES
this is another game to get everyone laughing; just describing it gets children going! one person is the questioner. he asks each player a question in turn; whatever he asks, the answer must always be sausages. if the person questioned forgets to answer sausages or laughs then he changes places with the questioner and the game starts again.

computerwoman

PASS THE ORANGE
this pair of games suits all ages; seeing young and old engaged in them together makes them even more amusing.
divide into two teams, standing in rows.
the first person in each line tucks an orange under his chin and tries to pass it to the next in line in the same way without either of them using their hands.
the first team to get the orange to the end without dropping it wins the game.
if you drop the orange you have to start again from the beginning.

computerwoman

THE VICAR'S CAT
this is a victorian word game.
each player in turn has to find an adjective to describe the vicars cat
first adjectives starting with the letter A (the vicar's cat is agile/angry for example) and going on to Z
( the vicar's cat is zestful/zealous )
you can either ask every player to find an A adjective before going on to B or have the first person doing A the second B and so on

computerwoman

MURDER
this brain-teaser is great fun but can be quite scary; don't let it get out of hand, especially if some of the company are of a nervous turn of mind!
from a pack of cards take the same number of cards as there are players, one being a jack and another an ace.
deal the cards out; whoever draws the ace is the detective, whoever draws the jack is the murderer (only the detective identifies himself).
leaving the detective in the one lit room, the players move quietly around the dark house until the murderer chooses a victim.
coming from behind he touches the victim on the shoulder (round the neck for those with strong nerves) whereupon the victim has to wait 10 seconds before calling out and collapsing.
(the murderer uses this time to move well away)
all the other players have to stay where they are when the victim cries out.
the detective puts on the lights and questions them to find out who is the murderer by asking who was where, everyone but the murderer has to tell the truth when he thinks he has worked out who could have done the murder, the detective makes his accusation, if he correctly accuses the murderer, the villian must confess, if the detective accuses the wrong person, the murderer goes free.

computerwoman

FIZZ - BUZZ
a game for older children and adults, fizz-buzz needs quick thinking and is best when played fast.
count round in a circle, substituting fizz for the number 5 any number with 5 in it or divisible by 5 and buzz for the number 7 any number with 7 in it or divisible by 7.

computerwoman

DEFINITIONS
choose a question master and supply him with a good dictionary from which he picks out and reads the definition of a word.
the other players have to try and guess what word the definition fits.
alternatively, the question master can read out several definitions and then give one word (ie, a word that one of these definitions describes) and the players have to choose which definition applies to that word. the player who gets most definitions correct is the winner.
like most of these word games definitions can be pitched at a level to suit the ability and state of concentration of those taking part.
it's no fun if they are too easy but not everyone feels like Einstein after christmas dinner or a couple of glasses of wine.

computerwoman

WINNING AND LOSING
where there are winners, let them dip into a bran tub of prettily wrapped small gifts, (you can buy bran for this from pet shops) you may feel that good losers deserve something too!
write forfeits on to cards and let losing players of any game choose one, forfeits might include having to sing a song, dance a jig, spell a tricky word, kiss another guest, or answer riddles.

jamtart6

just wanted to bump the thread back up cos its a good'un

feijoa

"In the Manner of the Word" is a good game that requires no equipment at all. One person is sent out of the room while the rest think of an adverb. The person is then called back in and tries to discover the adverb by asking each of the others to perform various actions "in the manner of the word".
For instance, the chosen adverb might be "offensively". The person then asks someone to eat in the manner of the word, someone else to dance in the manner, walk, sing, speak......etc,etc, until the adverb is guessed. The game really is much funnier than this description makes it seem - and brings out acting talents which range from the inspired to the truly tasteless!

HopeElizzy

We used to play this when I was a child so forgive me if the instructions are a little sketchy.

You need a pack of playing cards - take out the same number of cards as you have people playing and these cards must include the ace of spades. The cards are then dealt out so every one has one - don't show anyone else your card. The person with the ace is the murderer - they then have to murder everyone else by winking at them. The other players may guess the identity of the murderer but if they're wrong they die. The aim is to kill everyone before you're found out.

We played this on Boxing Day at my Aunts house when there would be between 30-40 family members there about 30 years ago and it's one of my favourite memories. There were some spectacular death scenes:rotfl: and my grandad always used to cheat and wink at a few people when he wasn't it and then claim it was the light flickering on his specs!:D