Top 10 Old School Party Games
Game playing is a huge part of any fun party. Here's a list of the top ten games for those special occasions:
1.Treasure Hunt
The beauty of a treasure hunt is that it can be adapted to suit almost any age range, any number of players and any location. If you're organising a hunt for beginners, make the clues really simple; if you have more experienced people to entertain, make the clues really challenging but be on standby to help out. Keep everyone interested by hiding treats along the way and assist any teams or individuals that fall behind.
2.Mummy Game
This is a super fun game that is also highly entertaining for any family that might be watching. Group the people into teams of three and ask them to nominate a 'Mummy' (as in, Egyptian mummy). Now hand out a few rolls of toilet-roll to each team and give them a set amount of time to wrap up the nominated player into a 'Mummy'. Hilarity ensues!
3.Marshmallow Tower
Another team challenge that will go down well with people of any age. Hand out about 30 toothpicks and 20 marshmallows to each team and challenge them to build the tallest tower that they can in five minutes. Make sure they have a flat surface to work on and be on the look out for inter-team sabotage attempts!
4.What's The Time Mr Wolf
This is a good game for most people, although be aware that an overly scary wolf might cause tears!
Nominate someone to be 'Mr Wolf' and send him or her to the end of the room or the garden with his or her back to the rest of the group. Everyone else now calls out 'what's the time Mr Wolf?', to which Mr Wolf replies, '5 o'clock' or whatever time they choose. The players can then take that many steps forward. At some point, the Wolf replies to the question with 'Dinner Time!!', turns and tries to catch one of the players before they can race away to safety. If anyone is caught, they become the Wolf. If the players reach Mr Wolf before he or she cries 'Dinner Time', they must stay in the role.
5.Islands
A fun and fairly physical game - you'll have to be on the lookout for stray elbows or knees! Put a few sheets of newspaper on the floor (about one for every five people), and start playing the music. When it stops, the players must jump on an 'island' and the last to do so is out. As the number of players gets smaller, reduce the number of sheets or tear the existing ones in half. It's great fun, but, as we mentioned, can become very physical!
6.Pictionary
This is a good game to play if you're at all limited on space or want a bit of quiet time. Divide everyone into teams of about five and equip them with paper and pencils. Ahead of time, you need to write a list of words or phrases for the players to draw.
Start the game by sitting somewhere away from the players and then begin by calling in the first contestants from each team. Give them all the same challenge and send them back to their teams. They have to draw the word or phrase without talking and the person in the team that guesses it then returns to you to ask for the next challenge. The first team to reach the end of the list wins!
7.Flour Drop
This game needs a little preparation. Find a mid-sized bowl and pack it tightly with flour. Now tip the mould onto a plate and you should have a flour construction. Balance a sweet or a piece of chocolate on top.
Now gather the players and explain the rules: each player must slice a bit of the flour cake away, trying to leave the treat balanced on top. As the game progresses, the cake and the treat will become ever more precarious. The player that is responsible for the collapse of the tower must put their face in the flour to retrieve the treat.
Be warned: this game can get rather messy with flour ending up all over the place - it might be wise to play outside or with a few towels on the floor just in case!
8.Who Am I?
This is a great game to start off any party because it will get even the most nervous or shy players walking around and talking to everyone. The idea is simple: write names of people, animals or objects on different sheets of paper and stick them to the players' backs. Now they must work out what or who they are by asking their fellow players questions - no more than one in a row though!
You can make the game as challenging or as easy as you like by using simple objects or people and allowing impressions or multiple questions.
9.Pass The Parcel
This game has been around for centuries and for very good reason! Keep things interesting by including mini-presents under a few of the layers. If you're in charge of pressing pause on the music, make sure to time it right and let all the players have a go at unwrapping a few layers of paper. If you're entertaining a large group of people, consider having a few parcels making the rounds at the same time.
10.Sleeping Lions
Probably the best ever party game.... for the adults. Challenge the players to lie as still as possible - any that you catch moving are 'out'. If you think this game is a little too obvious a ploy, you could change the challenge to keeping still as a standing up statue, or in the position of a certain animal or character.
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