Playing games with your family is a great way to strengthen relationships. Everyone is laughing and having fun spending time together. You don’t have to own a gaming console, board games, or even a deck of cards to still play games with your family. All you need are maybe some common household items and the will to be creative to have a ton of fun. In this article we’ll give you 10 examples of games to play with family without anything.
Meaning you don’t need any physical games, just your imagination.
Games to play with family without anything
You have a few items lying around your house that can easily be used for fun games. There’s nothing extra to buy, all you need is your imagination and a sense of fun.
1. Scavenger Hunt
Treasure or scavenger hunts are fun for all ages. You can easily make the clues as simple or difficult as needed. It also doesn’t matter what you hide around your home. You can use anything from a can of soup to a hairbrush.
It doesn’t matter what you hide, as long as the clues lead the treasure hunters to the next spot. Don’t forget to have a “treasure” hidden for the winner. Anything you want can be the treasure.
2. Charades
All you need is your imagination and some pieces of paper to play charades. The game is simple. Divide the family into two teams. Write down various actions for players to act out on the pieces of paper. The teams take turns drawing slips of paper. The person that draws is the one that has to act out whatever is written down. If their teammates can guess the action, the team gets a point.
You can also turn charades into a homemade game of Pictionary if you want to draw instead of pantomime.
3. 21 Questions
You don’t even need any household items to play 21 questions, just your imaginations. If you want to keep score, grab a pen and piece of paper. You can divide into teams or play individually, the rules are flexible. You can set them to best fit your family.
The game is easy to play. One person thinks of an object or even a specific individual or event. Other players then ask questions as they try and determine what the person is thinking of. The player that gets the answer right, within the allotted 21 questions gets a point for that round.
4. Dots and Boxes
It’s not only a fun game but it also mentally challenges players. You need at least two people but there can be as many as you want. You need a large piece of paper and a pen or marker. Using the pen, create a large grid of dots. The goal is for players to connect the dots in lines that form a square.
On a player’s turn, they use the pen to connect two dots. When someone connects a square, they initial it. The person with the most squares wins the game. How long the game takes, depends on the size of the grid and the number of players.
5. Marshmallow Catch
If you have cups and a bag of marshmallows at home, you have everything you need for the game. The rules are simple. Everyone separates into two teams. Each team has the same number of marshmallows, and the goal is to toss them into the cups.
The cups are placed between the teams. Each at an equal distance away. Players take turns trying to get the marshmallows into a cup. The team with the most successful tosses wins the game.
6. Spoon Race
You only need spoons and cotton balls to play the game. Mini marshmallows will also work. The goal is to place the round object on the spoon and keep it from rolling off as you complete the race. It sounds easy until you realize you’re holding the spoon in your mouth.
While keeping the spoon handle securely clenched between your teeth, and the ball from falling off, you have to complete the pre-designed racecourse. It can be as easy or challenging as you want. Adding at least one or two obstacles does make the game a little more exciting and fun.
7. Balloon Pop
If you have bags of party balloons laying around the house, you have almost everything you need for a fun game. Check your pantry and cupboards for any small treats you can slip inside the balloons.
After putting the treats in the balloons, inflate them. Each family member chooses a balloon, and the fun begins. The goal is to be the first person to pop the balloon. How the balloon is popped determines the winner. Everyone sits on their balloon and tries to pop it using their body weight. The first person to do so wins the balloon’s contents, along with a special prize.
8. Clothespin Pickup
You don’t have to use clothespins, chip holders and similar types of clips also work. Scatter coins, candy, and trinkets on the floor. You can use anything the clips can pick up. The object of the game is for players to pick up as many items as possible with their clip off of the floor. The person that collects the most objects wins the game.
9. Who Am I?
It’s a fun game to play, and you only need a note card or paper and a pen. Each player writes down the name of a famous person on their paper. Keeping the paper face down, the other players have 20 questions to guess which famous person you are.
The person who guesses the most correct answers wins the game.
10. Mail Call
Chances are you have plenty of chairs at home. It’s all you need to play the game. Arrange the chairs in a circle. You want to have one less than the number of players. One person stands in the center of the circle while the other players choose their chair,
The person in the center starts the game by announcing a mail call for everyone wearing blue, has kids, or has traveled to every state. Any player that the announcement applies to gets up and switches chairs with someone else that the mail call required them to stand up.
The game does come with a few rules. You can’t sit back down in the same chair or the one next to it. The goal of mail call is for the person in the center to a claim a chair, and the individual left standing gives the next mail call. The last person seated wins the game.
Conclusion
You can have hours of fun playing games with your family. You also don’t need to go out and buy anything. With this list of games to play with family without anything, you should have everything you need at home.
Whether it’s charades, a balloon pop, or a spoon race. The goal is to have fun and enjoy spending time with each other.
