As the nights are closing in, and there is very little time when the children come home from school before it gets dark, afternoon playground visits and playing footie on the field have to be reduced to the weekend, so you need to find other activities to keep the children amused and ensure the family have fun, without breaking the bank and without someone stomping off in a huff (it’s quite tricky when teenagers are involved!), so here are some top suggestions for a Family Games Night for Big Families
1. A Full Scale Family Board Game Battle
You know the type I mean, maybe a game of Monopoly or Game Of Life, when anyone can win and it could go on for a very long time! If it looks like the game will not be finishing anywhere near bedtime, ensure it is situated somewhere that it can be left to continue on another night, not only does it ensure that you will repeat the games night, but it means nobody can accuse you of cheating! (unless someone helps themselves to the bank whilst no-one is looking or the family pet jumps on it!)
Check out Fun Family Games To Buy As A Gift
2. Quick Fire Rounds Games Frenzy
If you want the games night to end that evening, choose between approx 5 games that are quick quick to finish and will always give you a winner, such as Uno or Pictureka, the winner from each game will be awarded points and at the end of the evening the winner is the one with the most points awarded from the entire evening, that means every new game all players are playing to win, and it also means younger players can team up with parents or older siblings, so it is all inclusive.
3. Online Gaming Tournament
In our house all of the older children have their own games consoles, its great because it means even if the oldest child is away at uni, she can still join in with an online gaming night, some of our favourites include Overwatch and Overcooked, and whilst these games are taking place , why not make it a little more interesting with a go on Celeblotto, with so many different choices, I am sure there will be a suitable lottery for all the adults to place a small bet and see if they can become victorious. (sorry kids this part is only for the grown ups).
4. Family Quiz Night
This one will take a little bit of preparation before hand, either grab a quiz book, a packet of quiz cards or spend a little time on the internet finding a list of suitable questions, maybe have different categories and easier questions depending on the age of the participants, one person will need to be the quizmaster and you could have teams with a mix of children and adults to make it fair, each correct answer gets a point and the wining team are the ones with the most points at the end.
And Finally….
5. Time To get Messy!
All of the other suggestions are quite sedate and will be fun and pleasant, but will they me memorable! If you have a Messy Games Night, you can guarantee the kids will be talking about it for months..
If you have access to games such as Pie Fie and Wet head, these are perfect for this type of tournament, but if not you can create your own, with the help of some squirty cream, a bowl of custard and a water pistol! Just ensure there are plenty of towels at the ready, you can basically incorporate any type of activity and the loser gets a pie in the face or squirted with water, if it’s one thing that kids love its seeing their grown ups get wet or dirty!
So, there we have it, top five suggestions for a Family Games Night for Big families, which one will you choose ?
This is a collaborative post.