Dumb Crambo

• Divide into 2 teams.

• Have 1 team leave the room while the remaining team picks a word like "cake" and, a word that rhymes with it to give the other team as a clue.

• When the 1st team comes back in they are told that the secret word rhymes with "lake".

• The 1st team must now act out what they think is the secret word.

• If they are wrong, the 2nd team hisses loudly. (I imagine you could do something other than hiss!)

• The 1st team must keep on trying until they get the right word.

• Now the team trades places.

Charades

Twenty Questions

Word Games

I Have a Basket

• Form a circle.

• The first player starts the game saying "I have a basket."

• The next person says, "What's inside?.

•  The first person must name something that starts with the letter A.

• The next person has to name something that starts with a B. And so on. The letter Q and Z can be interesting!

Cupid's Leaving

Similar to "I have a basket".

• Players agree on a letter, for example, D.

• First player says, "Cupid's Leaving", and the next player says, "How?.

• The first player has to think of a word that starts with D and ends in "ing" to describe how Cupid is Leaving. Maybe, "driving".

• The next player says, "Cupid is leaving" and the 3rd player says "How?". The second player may say "dancing".

• The game continues until no one can come up with a word. The a new letter may be chosen.

Taboo

• Players decide on a letter of the alphabet that will be forbidden in the game.

• One person is chosen to be IT and all the other players ask her questions that might force her to use the forbidden letter in her one word answer.

• Questioning goes on until IT is forced to use the letter.

To make it more difficult, you can make IT answer in sentence form without using the forbidden letter.

Holiday Games

Bag and Stick

"Pinatas" for American children of the late 1800s. Hang a paper bag filled with treats from the ceiling. Blindfold 'em, spin 'em and give 'em a stick. Each person gets so many tries. Add some fun by decorating the bag.

 

The Cobweb Game

Popular at Christmas parties.

• A handmade spider is hung from the ceiling.

• Long pieces of string or ribbon are attached to the spider, one for each player.

• The strings are wound around the room in a tangled web. Under furniture, through doors...be imaginative.

• The player follows their string until they reach the end....and their Christmas present.

Outdoor Games

Graces

A game for 2 players. Each player has a stick. Using their sticks, the players toss a hoop to one another. This game was meant to teach children to move gracefully.

Silly Parlor Games

The cudgel game

A popular game for boys in the late 1800s.

• The 2 players aregiven rolled-up newspapers. The players lie on their stomachs, head to head, holding each other by the left hand.

• One player says, "are you ready?

• When the other player says yes, the first player tries to whack him with his newspaper. He most likely misses since he is blind folded.

• It's now the 2ndplayer's turn.

The book says there wasn't any point to thegame, but it was fun to play and watch.

Pinch, No smiling

• Player sit in a circle.

• One by one, each player turns to someone next to her and pinches her nose.

• The first player to smile or laugh has to give up something.

• After everyone in the circle has been pinched, the losers must"pay" to get their "stuff" back. The "winners" of the gamedecide on what the "losers" must do to earn their "stuff" back. Maybe doing an animal impression, hopping around the room on one foot...

Be careful to not unduly embarrass anyone!

 

These games were taken from a book called "Games from Long Ago" by Bobbie Kalman. The book is full of games and their relevance in the late 1800's.