You can only spend so much time sitting around and chatting at a family reunion, even if you love hanging out with your relatives. When the kids are out playing on the lawn and the younger adults are doing their thing, it's time to break out some family reunion games for older adults. From album-making to trivia, you can enjoy yourself and your family in a low key way that everyone will love.
Family Story Olympics
You know how judges hold up cards with scores on them? Well, make some of those cards and have everyone rate your family stories. Take turns telling your favorites - either from your own life or ones you've heard from other family members. Then let the audience rate the story and keep score. The person with the highest score is the winner (even though really, everyone is the winner here because family stories are awesome).
Guess Who Is in the Picture
Get out your family pictures and look for ones that are hard to identify. You know those group shots where you know some people but maybe not everyone? Make a photocopy of the picture and number the people on the copy. Then give everyone a sheet of paper and a pencil. The person who can correctly identify the most people in the picture is the winner.
Family Recipe Cook-Off
We've all got those great family recipes that get passed down from generation to generation. Let everyone know you're having a cook-off at the reunion so they can bring their favorite recipe. Lay them out on a buffet table without names and then have the whole family sample everything and pick their favorites. You can have different categories like "Kids' Favorite," "Most Nostalgic," "Favorite Comfort Food," and others.
Family History Trivia
Before the reunion, take some time to look up major events in your family history. Think dates people immigrated or got married, that sort of thing. These can be recent, such as the date of your parents' wedding, or they can be things from centuries ago. Then write up a list of the dates and do a trivia game. You can ask when the event happened or do a reverse version where you ask what happened on that date.
Race to Complete a Family Photo Puzzle
Have a few favorite family photos made into puzzles and then work in teams to complete them. The team that finishes their puzzle first wins. Old family photos work well for this, since the black and white tones can be a little more challenging. All the puzzles should be similar in their level of difficulty and number of pieces.
Name All the Babies
Scan as many family baby photos as you can in the weeks leading up to the reunion, and have them all printed up. Attach all the baby pictures to a piece of posterboard and number them. Then see who can correctly identify the most babies in the family. Ideally, the babies will all be about the same age to make it extra tricky.
Cost of Living Game
Anyone who heads to the grocery store knows that the cost of living has gone up, but it's amazing when you compare what ordinary things cost when you were a kid to what they cost now. You can find a great list with prices of things like houses, cars, bread, and other ordinary items at The People History. Then have everyone guest the costs for a certain year. The person who is closest wins. This can be a great last-minute family reunion game too.
Best Advice for Teenagers (or Anyone) Contest
In some ways, it's totally different being a teenager today, but in others, it's really not. One of the best family reunion games for seniors is rating your best life lessons and advice. If you've been around the sun a few times, you've gained some wisdom about just being a human in this world. Have a contest where you write or share your best advice for being happy. Then vote to see who has the advice that feels the most useful (or even the funniest).
Use Family Reunion Games for Older Adults to Strengthen Your Bond
No matter what game you choose to play, getting together and sharing this family time really matters. Planning a family reunion is a lot of work, but it's worth the time to strengthen your bond.
