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 More common today is an everyone gap. In this era
of mobile electronic devices and social media in-person
relationships have devolved.
How many times have you looked around your gatherings and seen
everyone, or nearly everyone, checking their social media; LOL'ing
posts of friends or sending text messages to people not in the room.
Meanwhile, the opportunity to get to know family is slipping away
minute by minute and hour by hour.
You can reverse that trend starting this year with fun interactions
that give everyone a chance to know more about each other and your
family history.
First, try checking devices at the door as guests arrive. You will
undoubtedly be met with some opposition on this request, and if the
opposition becomes too intense, then ask your guests to silence
their phones and spend less time on them during the day.
If they can't give it up, then ask that they powered down their
devices for dinner. After the meal, ask everyone to keep their
devices powered down so you can have some fun together.
It might seem archaic, but drawing from the Victorian era provides
some useful direction. Those who chose to host a dinner party before
electronic entertainment stole the show engaged guests in parlor
games to keep everyone happy and interacting.
To clear up the grumps in cell phone withdrawal, you might start
with this game. It involves no conversation, just laughing.
The laughing game
(copied from 14 Parlor Games to Bring Back This Holiday Season)
The rules of the Laughing Game are straightforward. One player
begins by saying the word “ha” with a straight face. The second
player continues saying “ha ha,” followed by “ha ha ha” and so forth
in a circle. The object is to keeping going as long as possible
without cracking up. If a player breaks so much as a smile, he’s out
of the game.
By the time this game is over, hopefully all your guests will be
smiling.
The next game is also one that was popular in the days of old.
Never have I ever
For this version, give everyone 10 pennies (or 15 or 20 if you have
more than 10 guests). The first person says, “Never have I ever”
then mentions something they have never done. This could be fly in
an airplane, gone ice skating, rode a horse, just whatever the fact
may be. Those who have done that particular activity must forfeit a
penny to the pile.
As the host or hostess, you have the opportunity to draw out a story
from the pennies thrown in. For example if someone says “Never have
I ever had a tattoo,” and grandma throws in a penny (she has a
tattoo! Who knew?) stop the train and say “Whoa! Grandma! Tell us
about your tattoo!” Let grandma tell her story and give the others a
chance to ask questions. When the topic is exhausted move on to the
next one. Remember to ask leading questions that cannot be answered
with a simple “yes” or “no.”
When one person runs out of pennies, the game is over. Have everyone
count their pennies and the one who has the most left wins a prize
for being an innocent and the one who ran out first gets a prize for
being a little too experienced.
Another fun game to play is Fact or Fiction.
Fact or Fiction
Give every member a card with a number on it. Then have pieces of
paper enough to go around the room with no extras left over. On half
the papers write “FACT” and on the other half write “FICTION.” Fold
each paper once and put them in a bowl to pass around the room. Tell
guests to draw a single piece of paper but keep it concealed from
everyone else.
Then explain that you will draw a number from a second bowl. When
the number is drawn, the corresponding person must tell a story
about themselves. If they drew the word “FACT” it must be a true
story. If they drew the word “FICTION” it must be false.
The other guests then must decide if the story is fact or fiction.
Let them ask questions to try to ferret out the correct conclusion.
If the story is FACT, you may even ask the teller to expand a little
more on the facts. This is a fun way for guests to get to know more
about one another without feeling like they are participating in an
inquisition.
Games such as these can be a lot of fun, but there are many other
activities that can pull families together.
Get out the puzzles
Clear that dining room table and set out a couple of puzzles, one
suitable for younger kids and one suitable for the adults. Word of
caution, don’t go with the large number counts and the tiny puzzle
pieces. You want everyone to be able to see the pieces and sometimes
older eyes are not as good as the younger ones. Also, unless your
guests are staying the weekend, you want to lay out a puzzle that
can be put together in a reasonable amount of time.
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Share photos
When you reach out to family inviting them to come to your home for
the day ask that they bring some favorite photos. The photos can be
opportunities for conversation. For example if Uncle Joe and Aunt
Millie like to camp and fish they might bring pictures from a trip
they took. Give them the opportunity to explain what their pictures
are about.
Take a family photo
Bring everyone together and take a nice picture to commemorate the
day. Then, take a second picture with everyone making goofy faces.
Make sure that you have information you need to send everyone
copies, either electronically or a printed version.
Get the kiddos involved
All of these games can be done with a wide variety of age groups. In
some cases, it may be good to partner young children with older ones
or adults. But be sure to let the small ones have their opportunity
to play.
In addition, play a game that the kids are the stars. For example,
play a pantomime game where the children act out a scene from a
favorite movie, song, or activity. The only rule, they may not
speak. They have to act it out without words like charades. Let them
act out the scene while the adults try to guess what they are doing.
For the last parlor game of the day and as a reward for their
willingness to give up their devices for the day, play the final
game of this modified version of “Forfeits.”
Forfeits
(modified from 14 Parlor Games to Bring Back This Holiday Season)
Using the numbered cards you used earlier and the bowl of numbers
that went with them, give every person a number. Everyone must (if
they haven’t already) forfeit their cell phones to a table nearby.
Draw a number from the bowl, and the person holding the number then
has the opportunity to get their phone back by performing a task of
your choice.
For the younger ones, a physical activity might work best, such as
do 50 or 100 jumping jacks, or pretend you are swimming in the
ocean. For the older ones choose a task that is a little more sedate
such as “Sing your favorite Christmas Carol,” or “Tell us how you
met your spouse.”
Don’t forget the traditional activities
If there is snow on the ground, send the youngsters outside to build
snowmen. When they are done, everyone can go outside and admire
their work.
If you live in a community, ask your guests to go out for a short
round of caroling, perhaps just around your block or further if all
are willing and the weather isn’t too cold.
While the activities listed here are only suggestions intended to
open a door. You might consider going out of doors together, or
interactive exercise activities such as a walk or shooting some
hoops, whatever fits your family.
Games and activities introduce fun to your family gatherings.
Research for other ideas at the library, online or make up your own.
The day will be more interesting and memorable for all when the
conversations heat up!
14 Parlor Games to Bring Back This Holiday Season
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