• 63 games

Games to Play at a Family Reunion, Indoors or Outdoors

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Games to Play at a Family Reunion, Indoors or Outdoors

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  1. Teach Me Your Childhood Game1. Ask three or four older relatives to bring a game from their own childhood: jacks, marbles, a clapping rhyme, a card game or a string figure.2. Each one sets up at a table as the teacher.3. Children and cousins move to the next table every ten minutes.4. To finish, each table shows the reunion what it learned. Keep marbles and jacks on the table and away from children under three.Players: 8 to 40. Time: 40 min. Props: whatever each game needs.
  2. Bag Toss, Elder-and-Kid Doubles1. Set two boards 27 feet apart and mark a closer line for children and for anyone throwing from a chair.2. Each pair is one player over sixty and one under thirteen, and partners stand at opposite boards.3. The two sides alternate until each has thrown four bags. A bag on the board scores 1 and a bag through the hole scores 3.4. Cancel the two totals: only the difference counts, to the higher side.5. Play to 21, or to 11 while other pairs are waiting. Bag toss as the sport scores it, with pairs made across the widest age gap at the reunion. Nobody stands between the boards during a throw.Players: 4 to 32. Time: 30 min. Props: two boards and eight bags.
  3. One Recipe, Every Branch Bake-Off1. Months ahead, send every branch the same family recipe: the biscuits, the potato salad or the pie.2. Each branch brings its version with a number, an ingredient card and no name.3. Tasters vote with a dried bean in a cup for two titles: closest to the original, and boldest change.4. Whoever has known the original longest tells its story, and then the branches are revealed. Ingredient cards name nuts, eggs, dairy and wheat, and tasting is optional.Players: 12 to 100. Time: 25 min. Props: numbered dishes, ingredient cards, cups and dried beans.

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Icebreakers: names and faces 8

  • Birth Month Tables 1. For one meal, replace the branch signs with twelve month signs. 2. Everyone sits at the table for their birth month, and small months share a table. 3. Each table finds three things its members have in common besides the month, and one thing nobody shares. 4. Between courses, a speaker from each table reports. It is the one meal where cousins do not sit with their own households, so hold it early in the reunion. Players: 24 to 200. Time: 30 min. Props: twelve table signs.
  • Branch Roll Call With a Cheer 1. Before the first meal, give each branch five minutes to agree on a three-second cheer, wave or sound. 2. The host calls each branch by the name on its table sign, and the branch performs from its chairs. 3. Call "first reunion ever" and "drove more than a day" the same way, so that guests without a branch get a turn. 4. Every cheer gets applause and nobody keeps score. Players: 20 to 200. Time: 10 min. Props: a sign for each branch table.
  • Find-a-Relative Bingo Walk 1. Print a bingo card for everyone aged eight and up, with squares such as "has lived in three states" and "was at the very first reunion". 2. Players walk the room and ask; a relative who fits signs the square, and no name may appear twice on a card. 3. Seated relatives are the most wanted signatures, so players come to them. 4. The first row of five calls bingo, and play goes on until five cards have called. Human bingo with squares about this family. Children may ask with a grown-up beside them. Players: 15 to 200. Time: 20 min. Props: a printed card and a pen each.
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Icebreakers: names and faces, continued

  • Guess the Total Miles 1. Hang a large map by the door, and have every household add a dot on its hometown as it arrives. 2. Put a slip box under the map: guess the total miles all the households traveled to get here, one way. 3. Before dessert, a volunteer adds up the real distances with a map tool. 4. Read out the total, the closest guess and the farthest dot. Keep the dotted map for next time. Players: 10 to 200. Time: 10 min. Props: a wall map, dot stickers, slips and a box.
  • Match the Photo Halves 1. Before the day, print copies of old family snapshots, one for every two guests, and cut each copy in half. 2. Hand a half to everyone at the door, children included. 3. Find the person holding your other half, then work out together who or where the picture shows. 4. Pin the rejoined photo on a board with both first names under it. Cut copies, never originals. The board stays up all day as a gallery. Players: 12 to 120. Time: 15 min. Props: photo copies, scissors, a board and pins.
  • One From Every Branch Autograph Card 1. Give each branch its own color of name tag and print a card with one blank line per color. 2. Players fill every line with a first name and one fact from someone in that branch: a town, a job or a hobby. 3. Children under eight go round with an adult and collect a sticker in place of a fact. 4. Full cards go in a box, and the host reads three aloud at lunch. A signature hunt where the squares are branches, so nobody can finish by talking to their own table. Players: 20 to 200. Time: 20 min. Props: colored name tags, printed cards and pens.
  • Reunion Line-Ups, Miles and First Names 1. Call the whole reunion into one long line across the lawn or down the hall. 2. First order: miles traveled to get here, shortest to longest, and each person calls out a town down the line. 3. Second order: first names from A to Z. 4. Third order: reunions attended, with first-timers at the front for a round of applause. The birthday line-up, changed so that every order teaches the family something. Seated relatives hold their place from a chair, and nobody is lined up by age or height. Players: 15 to 200. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Three-Question Cousin Swap 1. Everyone pairs up with someone from another branch whom they barely know. 2. On the bell each pair trades the same three questions from a poster: where do you live, what do you do on a Saturday, and what is your first reunion memory. 3. After three minutes the bell rings and everyone finds a new partner. 4. Ring four bells, then ask volunteers to introduce one person they just met. Seated relatives stay put and partners come to them. Players: 12 to 100. Time: 15 min. Props: a bell and the three questions on a poster.

Photos, places and heirlooms 8

  • Draw the Old House From Memory 1. Choose a house, farm or street that many relatives knew. 2. Everyone who remembers it draws the floor plan or the front view from memory in five minutes; children draw from an adult's description. 3. Hang the drawings side by side, with a real photo in the middle if one exists. 4. Walk the wall together while each artist points out one detail: the squeaky stair, the cellar door. No votes. The drawings go into the reunion album. Players: 6 to 60. Time: 20 min. Props: paper, pencils and tape.
  • Family Landmarks Photo Hunt, a Generation in Every Shot 1. List eight to ten spots inside the park or a short walk away that matter to the family or to the day: the oldest tree, the pavilion sign, the front step of the old house. 2. Form teams of four to six from at least two branches, each with an adult, a child and one camera. 3. Photograph the whole team at every spot, with a different generation in front each time. 4. Be back within 30 minutes; a late team loses a point a minute. 5. Show the photos at dinner. A photo hunt where the list is the family's own map. On foot only, inside a boundary agreed before the start, and no team crosses a road without its adult. Players: 8 to 60. Time: 40 min. Props: a printed list and one camera per team.
  • Guess the Baby Photo, One Board a Branch 1. Ask each branch to send baby photos ahead, one for every person who wants to play, and print copies. 2. Pin each branch's photos on its own board with numbers, beside a list of that branch's first names. 3. Players write a number next to each name on an answer slip; a child and an adult may share a slip. 4. At dinner, reveal one board at a time by asking the owner of each photo to wave. The family page's baby photo game, split by branch: 80 photos become boards of ten, and the name list lets newcomers and children play. Players: 15 to 150. Time: 25 min. Props: copies of baby photos, boards, number labels, answer slips and pens.
  • Heirloom Guess Whose 1. Ask each branch to bring one everyday object with a family story: a rolling pin, a toolbox, a quilt, a fishing lure. 2. Lay the objects on a table with number cards and no names. 3. Tables guess which branch brought each one and what it was used for. 4. Each owner tells the object's story in one minute. Nothing fragile, and nobody handles an object unless its owner says so. Players: 10 to 80. Time: 25 min. Props: the objects, number cards and answer slips.
  • Mystery Photo Table 1. Relatives bring copies of old photos that nobody has managed to label, and lay them on one table with a blank card beside each. 2. All day, anyone who knows a face, a place, a car or a year writes it on the card with their first name. 3. Before dinner the host holds up the five cards with the most writing and asks the room to fill the gaps. 4. Each owner takes the card home with the photo. Put chairs, good light and two magnifying glasses at the table, because the oldest relatives are the experts here. Players: 10 to 200. Time: 20 min. Props: copies of unlabeled photos, cards, pens and two magnifying glasses.
  • Slideshow Freeze Quiz 1. Build a slideshow of past reunions and mark ten slides as quiz slides. 2. Let it run during dinner. 3. When a quiz slide comes up, the host freezes it and asks one question: which year, whose back yard, who is behind the camera. 4. Tables call out, and the first right answer earns that table a point. 5. After the tenth question, let the show run to the end without stops. Players: 15 to 150. Time: 30 min. Props: a projector or TV and a slideshow of family photos.
  • Where Was This Taken 1. Collect ten to fifteen photos of places in the family's story: a porch, a main street, a school, a lake. 2. Show them one at a time as large numbered prints or on a screen. 3. Branch tables write down the place for each number. 4. After each answer, whoever has known the place longest says one sentence about it. 5. Score one point a place and a bonus point for the right decade. Players: 10 to 100. Time: 20 min. Props: numbered prints or a screen, answer sheets and pens.
  • Whose Handwriting Is This 1. Before the day, ask ten willing relatives of all ages to copy the same sentence onto a card, such as the first line of a family recipe. 2. Number the cards and pin them up beside a list of the ten first names. 3. Players match numbers to names on a slip. 4. Reveal by having each writer sign under their own card. Keep the cards in the reunion album. Players: 10 to 100. Time: 15 min. Props: cards, pens, a board and answer slips.

Stories, sayings and recipes 12

  • Dessert Table Guess the Baker 1. Every baker sets a dessert on the table with a number and a full ingredient card, and no name. 2. Guests taste what they like and write down which relative they think made each one. 3. Reveal baker by baker, and each baker says where the recipe came from. 4. Score one point a match, and the high score takes a bow. The ingredient cards name nuts, eggs, dairy and wheat in large letters, and nobody is pressed to taste. Players: 10 to 100. Time: 20 min. Props: number cards, ingredient cards, answer slips and pens.
  • Family Dictionary of Made-Up Words 1. Each branch writes down a word or phrase that only its household uses, with the real meaning. 2. The host reads one word aloud, and every other branch invents a meaning on a slip. 3. The host reads all the meanings, the real one included, and branches vote. 4. Score a point for a right guess and a point for each vote your invention draws. 5. Write every word into a family dictionary. The dictionary bluffing game with words that no dictionary holds. Players: 8 to 60. Time: 25 min. Props: slips, pens and a notebook.
  • Family Legend or Tall Tale 1. Each branch prepares three short stories from the family's past: two that happened and one invented. 2. One speaker tells all three with a straight face. 3. The other branches confer and vote by a show of hands. 4. The branch reveals the invention, and an older relative adds what really happened in the true ones. 5. Score a point for every branch fooled. Two truths and a lie, told by a branch about the family. Kind stories only. Players: 10 to 80. Time: 25 min. Props: none.
  • Finish the Family Saying 1. Before the day, collect the sayings the family is known for: a grandparent's goodbye line, the warning about the screen door. 2. The host reads the first half of one. 3. Branch tables call out the ending. 4. The person who says it most, or heard it most, delivers the real ending. 5. Take new sayings from the floor and add them to the list. Players: 8 to 100. Time: 15 min. Props: a list of family sayings.
  • Kid Reporters Interview the Elders 1. Give each child aged seven and up a clipboard with five questions: what did you play at my age, what was your first job, what did your kitchen smell like. 2. Each reporter sits for ten minutes with an older relative who has agreed to be interviewed. 3. Reporters write or draw the answers, and an adult helps the younger ones. 4. At dinner each reporter reads out one answer they liked. 5. Collect the sheets for the reunion album. Notes stay on paper unless the older relative asks to be recorded. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 30 min. Props: clipboards, question sheets and pencils.
  • Name the Dish From Its Ingredients 1. Collect eight to ten recipes the family is known for, with each cook's consent. 2. The host reads a recipe's ingredients one at a time, starting with the least telling. 3. Tables guess the dish and the cook; an early guess scores more, and a wrong guess locks the table out of that dish. 4. The cook stands and says when the dish is served. Players: 8 to 100. Time: 15 min. Props: recipes on cards.
  • One Recipe, Every Branch Bake-Off 1. Months ahead, send every branch the same family recipe: the biscuits, the potato salad or the pie. 2. Each branch brings its version with a number, an ingredient card and no name. 3. Tasters vote with a dried bean in a cup for two titles: closest to the original, and boldest change. 4. Whoever has known the original longest tells its story, and then the branches are revealed. Ingredient cards name nuts, eggs, dairy and wheat, and tasting is optional. Players: 12 to 100. Time: 25 min. Props: numbered dishes, ingredient cards, cups and dried beans.
  • Recipe Story Cards 1. Leave blank recipe cards and pens on a table all day. 2. Each person writes one dish they cook, or draws one they love, and adds a sentence: who made it first or when it is served. 3. At dinner the host reads five cards without the name, and the room guesses the writer. 4. Collect every card for a reunion cookbook to copy and send round. Players: 10 to 150. Time: 20 min. Props: recipe cards and pens.
  • Story Circle, One Prompt a Round 1. Set chairs in circles of eight to ten, with every generation in each circle. 2. The host reads one prompt, such as "a time you got lost" or "a meal you still remember". 3. Go round the circle: each person tells a story of a minute or less, or says pass. 4. After three prompts, each circle picks one story to retell to the whole reunion, if its teller agrees. Players: 8 to 60. Time: 25 min. Props: a list of prompts.
  • Teach Me Your Childhood Game 1. Ask three or four older relatives to bring a game from their own childhood: jacks, marbles, a clapping rhyme, a card game or a string figure. 2. Each one sets up at a table as the teacher. 3. Children and cousins move to the next table every ten minutes. 4. To finish, each table shows the reunion what it learned. Keep marbles and jacks on the table and away from children under three. Players: 8 to 40. Time: 40 min. Props: whatever each game needs.
  • What Year Was That 1. Write twelve family events on cards: the first reunion, the big snow, the summer the barn was painted, each long move. 2. Read one card, and tables write down a year. 3. The closest table takes a point, and an exact year takes two. 4. After each answer ask who was there, and let one person tell it. Keep to moves, houses, trips and firsts. Players: 10 to 100. Time: 20 min. Props: event cards, answer sheets and pens.
  • Which Relative, Three Clues 1. At check-in, willing relatives fill in a card with three facts about themselves, hardest first: a first job, a hidden talent, a hometown. 2. The host reads clue one, and a table that guesses right scores three. 3. Clue two scores two and clue three scores one. 4. The relative waves or stands, and adds one sentence about the hardest clue. Guess the guest with clues written by the guests themselves, so nobody is described by anyone else. Players: 15 to 150. Time: 20 min. Props: cards, pens and a box.

Branch against branch 11

  • Branch Flag Parade 1. Give each branch a plain pillowcase or a poster board, markers and 30 minutes. 2. The flag must show the branch's town, a food and one thing only that branch would understand. 3. Parade the flags round the room or the pavilion, with the youngest members carrying. 4. Each branch explains its flag in 30 seconds. 5. Hang the flags behind the group photo. There is no winner. Players: 10 to 150. Time: 45 min. Props: pillowcases or poster boards and markers.
  • The Family Card Game, Taught in Pairs 1. Pick the card game this family has always played, and ask whoever has known the house rules longest to read them aloud. 2. Pair every newcomer or child with a relative who knows the game, and each pair plays one hand between them. 3. Play short rounds at tables of four pairs, and the top pair at each table moves up a table. 4. After four rounds, the pair at the top table signs the record book. Nothing is played for except a line in the record book. Players: 8 to 40. Time: 45 min. Props: a deck of cards per table.
  • Family Place Name Spelling Bee 1. List the hard-to-spell names in the family's story: towns, streets, lakes, a village overseas. 2. Tables of mixed ages get one name at a time and confer for 20 seconds. 3. The youngest writer at the table writes the answer in large letters and holds it up. 4. Score one point for each right spelling, and whoever has been there says where the place is. Players: 8 to 60. Time: 20 min. Props: a word list, paper and markers.
  • Family Story Charades by Branch 1. Each branch writes five family moments on slips: the canoe that tipped, the year the turkey hit the floor. 2. Branches swap bowls. 3. An actor draws a slip and acts it in silence for one minute while their own branch guesses. 4. If time runs out, the branch that wrote it tells the story. 5. Rotate so every generation acts, and seated players guess. Charades where the slips are this family's stories, so guessers need the longest memories in the room. Nobody has to act. Players: 10 to 60. Time: 25 min. Props: slips, pens, bowls and a timer.
  • Family Trivia, a Round From Every Branch 1. Ahead of the day, each branch sends in five questions about itself: pets, houses, cars, jobs and trips. 2. The host shuffles them into rounds of ten. 3. Tables answer on paper, and a branch sits out its own questions. 4. Every answer comes with a one-line story from the branch that wrote it. 5. Swap sheets to mark. The family history quiz with a round written by each branch, so no one household knows it all. Keep questions to places, pets, jobs and trips, never to who is related to whom. Players: 12 to 120. Time: 30 min. Props: question sheets, answer sheets and pens.
  • Guess the Branch Headlines 1. Each branch writes three newspaper headlines about its year: a new puppy, a move, a first bicycle, a garden prize. 2. The host reads them out in a news anchor's voice, without the branch name. 3. Tables write down which branch made each headline. 4. Each branch stands to claim its headlines and answers one question from the floor. Keep headlines to pets, moves, school, trips and hobbies. Players: 10 to 80. Time: 20 min. Props: slips, pens and answer sheets.
  • Reunion Survey Showdown 1. Two weeks ahead, send the family five survey questions, such as "name a dish that is always at the reunion" and "name something we always forget to pack". 2. Count the replies and build a board of the top five answers for each question. 3. Two branches face off, and each answer found scores the number of relatives who gave it. 4. Three misses pass the board to the other branch to steal. 5. Bring two new branches up for each board. The survey game with real answers from your own family. Players: 12 to 80. Time: 30 min. Props: survey boards and a scoreboard.
  • Sign the Guest Book Relay 1. Give each table a clipboard with a numbered sheet and one pen. 2. On go, the clipboard passes down the table, and each person writes a first name, a town and one word for the day so far. 3. The first table with a full, readable sheet wins, and the host reads out the one-word answers. 4. Bind the sheets as this year's guest book. Adults write for small children, and a table waits for its slowest writer without comment. Players: 8 to 100. Time: 10 min. Props: a clipboard, a sheet and a pen per table.
  • Table Card Pass Relay 1. Each table sits in a row with a deck of cards at one end and an empty plate at the other. 2. On go, pass one card at a time from hand to hand down the table, and the last person stacks them on the plate. 3. When the deck is stacked, the whole table calls its branch name. 4. Second heat: use the hand you do not write with. 5. Third heat: eyes closed. Nobody leaves a chair, so every generation is on the team. Players: 8 to 80. Time: 10 min. Props: one deck of cards and a plate per table.
  • Then-and-Now Quiz, Generations Trade Questions 1. The over-sixties write ten questions about daily life when they were ten: how a party line worked, what a rotary dial was for. 2. The under-twenties write ten about daily life now: what a playlist is, how a group chat works. 3. Each group answers the other's questions as a team. 4. The writers mark the answers and explain them. 5. Everyone in between keeps score. Players: 10 to 80. Time: 25 min. Props: paper and pens.
  • Three-Minute Branch Talent Show 1. At the start of the day, announce that every branch has three minutes on stage after dinner. 2. Anything counts that puts three or more people and two generations on stage: a song, a skit, a recipe demonstration, a card trick. 3. An emcee keeps time with a bell. 4. The audience votes by applause for titles such as most rehearsed and least rehearsed. Nobody is pushed on stage, and a branch may pass. Players: 15 to 150. Time: 40 min. Props: a bell and a cleared space.

Picnic races and relays 8

  • Caterpillar Line Race 1. Each branch lines up in single file behind the start, mixed ages, hands on the shoulders in front. 2. On go, the person at the back walks to the front and joins on; then the new back person goes. 3. The line creeps forward one body at a time toward a finish 15 paces away. 4. Walking only, so grandparents count and so does a toddler on a hip. 5. The first whole line across wins. Flat ground, and no running to the front. Players: 12 to 100. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Egg-and-Spoon Relay, a Generation a Leg 1. Each branch fields four legs: a child, a teenager, an adult and a grandparent. Small branches borrow. 2. Use wooden or hard-boiled eggs and tablespoons, with one hand on the spoon and the other behind the back. 3. Each leg is ten paces, and the grandparent's leg may be walked. 4. A dropped egg goes back on the spoon where it fell before the racer moves on. Other houses send the racer back to the start, so say which rule you play. 5. Hand over the spoon and egg at the line, and the first branch home wins. Grass only, with two arm lengths between lanes. Players: 8 to 80. Time: 15 min. Props: wooden or hard-boiled eggs, tablespoons and line markers.
  • Generation-Gap Water Balloon Toss 1. Pair two generations wherever you can: a child with a grandparent, a teen with an adult from another branch. 2. Two lines face each other one step apart, partners opposite. 3. Everyone tosses underarm on the host's call; a pair that catches steps back one pace, and a burst puts the pair out. 4. The last dry pair wins. 5. Every player picks up ten scraps of balloon before the next game. The toss line with pairs made across generations. A partner may catch from a lawn chair. Ask about latex allergies first, and use soaked sponges if anyone has one. Players: 10 to 100. Time: 10 min. Props: a filled water balloon per pair, spares and a trash bag.
  • Sack Race, Three Start Lines 1. Mark one finish line and three start lines: 10 paces out for under-eights, 15 for older kids and 20 for teens and adults. 2. Racers stand in a sack or an old pillowcase and hold it at the waist. 3. All three lines start on one whistle, so a five-year-old can beat a teenager. 4. Hop to the finish; a racer who falls gets up and carries on from the same spot. 5. Run heats of eight and a final. The sack race with a head start by age in place of separate heats. Grass only, shoes on. Players: 8 to 100. Time: 15 min. Props: sacks or old pillowcases and line markers.
  • Set the Picnic Table Relay 1. Give each branch a bare stretch of picnic table, and 15 paces away a basket of unbreakable plates, cups, napkins and spoons, one of each per member. 2. One member at a time walks or runs to the basket, brings back a single item and sets it down. 3. Every place must match: napkin on the left, spoon on the right, cup at the top. 4. When the last place is set, the whole branch sits down and raises its cups. 5. A judge checks the settings, and each mistake adds five seconds. Spoons only, no knives or forks, and a clear lane for each branch. Players: 8 to 60. Time: 10 min. Props: unbreakable plates, cups, napkins and spoons, and a basket per team.
  • Three-Legged Race, Cousins From Two Branches 1. Partners must come from two different branches and be close in height. 2. Stand side by side and tie the inside legs together above the ankle with a soft scarf. 3. Give every pair a minute to practice the call: outside foot, then tied foot. 4. Race 20 paces on grass in heats of six pairs. 5. A pair that falls stops, stands up together and carries on. The picnic classic, changed so that every pair crosses a branch line. Grass only. Players: 12 to 80. Time: 15 min. Props: soft scarves and two line markers.
  • Tug of War, Branch Against Branch 1. Lay a purpose-made tug rope on grass, with tape at its center over a ground line and a cone two paces to each side. 2. Branches field up to eight pullers a side, matched by number and age: a kids' pull, a teen and adult pull, then an all-ages pull. Small branches join forces. 3. Hands only: nobody wraps the rope around a hand, wrist or waist. 4. Pull on the whistle until the tape passes a cone. On the long whistle, both sides stop and lower the rope together. 5. Swap ends and pull again; two wins out of three takes the match. The classic with sides drawn by branch, eight to a side at most as in the formal sport. Players: 16 to 100. Time: 20 min. Props: a tug rope, tape, two cones and a whistle.
  • Watermelon Roll Relay 1. Give each team a small round watermelon and mark a turning cone ten paces out on grass. 2. One racer at a time rolls the melon to the cone and back with their hands, never with a foot. 3. Stop the melon dead at the line before the next racer takes over. 4. A melon that splits ends that team's race, so gentle rollers win. 5. Wash the melons, slice them and serve them to all the teams. Grass only, and an adult does the slicing. Players: 8 to 40. Time: 10 min. Props: a small watermelon per team and cones.

Lawn games at an easy pace 8

  • All-Day Lawn Game Ladder 1. Write each branch's name on a clothespin and clip the pins down a ribbon in drawn order. 2. A branch may challenge the one directly above it at any lawn game that is set out: bag toss, bocce, ring toss or croquet. 3. The challenged branch picks the game, and each side sends two players from two generations. 4. If the challenger wins, the two pins swap places. 5. Read the ribbon out at dinner, from the top down. The time given is for one challenge. Players: 8 to 100. Time: 15 min. Props: a ribbon, clothespins, a marker and the lawn games you own.
  • Bag Toss, Elder-and-Kid Doubles 1. Set two boards 27 feet apart and mark a closer line for children and for anyone throwing from a chair. 2. Each pair is one player over sixty and one under thirteen, and partners stand at opposite boards. 3. The two sides alternate until each has thrown four bags. A bag on the board scores 1 and a bag through the hole scores 3. 4. Cancel the two totals: only the difference counts, to the higher side. 5. Play to 21, or to 11 while other pairs are waiting. Bag toss as the sport scores it, with pairs made across the widest age gap at the reunion. Nobody stands between the boards during a throw. Players: 4 to 32. Time: 30 min. Props: two boards and eight bags.
  • Bocce on the Grass, Grandparents Captain 1. Each side has four balls, and a grandparent captains each team of two to four and calls every shot. 2. One side rolls out the small target ball and bowls first, then the other side bowls once. 3. From then on, the side that is not closest bowls until it takes the lead or runs out of balls. 4. When all eight balls are played, the closest side scores a point for each ball nearer than the other side's closest. 5. Play to 7. Underarm only, and a player may bowl from a chair at the line. Spectators stand behind the bowlers. Players: 4 to 24. Time: 30 min. Props: a bocce set.
  • Home Run Derby With Three Fences 1. Mark three arcs with cones or rope: near for under-eights, middle for older kids and anyone who asks, far for teens and adults. 2. An adult pitches underarm from close in, with a plastic bat and hollow plastic balls only. 3. Each batter gets ten pitches, and a ball that lands past the batter's own arc is a home run. 4. Fielders of every age spread out beyond the arcs and send the balls back. 5. The top three at each arc bat again in a final. Only the batter holds a bat, and everyone waiting stands behind a line ten paces back. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 40 min. Props: a plastic bat, hollow plastic balls and cones or rope.
  • How Many Cousins in the Rope 1. Two adults turn a long rope slowly on grass. 2. One jumper starts, and after every two turns another runs in. 3. Count how many are jumping when the rope stops, and write the record on a poster for other groups to beat. 4. Hold a wiggle round as well: the rope snakes along the ground and players step over it, so toddlers and non-jumpers get a count of their own. Flat shoes, grass only, and the turners stop the moment anyone trips. Players: 5 to 30. Time: 15 min. Props: a long rope and a poster.
  • Lawn Chair Goalkeepers 1. Set two goals of cones four paces wide and ten paces apart, with a lawn chair in each goal mouth. 2. A grandparent sits in each chair as goalkeeper, with a foam pool noodle to bat the ball away. 3. Children under ten play three a side, and may only roll or push a beach ball along the ground with their hands. 4. The first side to five goals wins, and keepers swap out whenever they like. A beach ball only, never a hard ball, and no kicking near the chairs. In a hall, use folding chairs on a clear floor. Players: 8 to 16. Time: 15 min. Props: a beach ball, two lawn chairs, two foam pool noodles and four cones.
  • Morning Walk With Nature Bingo 1. Before breakfast or after lunch, offer a 20-minute walk on a flat loop at the pace of the slowest walker. 2. Pairs of one adult and one child share a bingo card of things to spot: a feather, a bird on a wire, three kinds of leaf. 3. Spot it and mark the square; leave the thing where it is. 4. A pair with a row of five goes to the front of the lunch line. Stay on the path, and every child walks with an adult. Players: 4 to 60. Time: 25 min. Props: printed bingo cards and pencils.
  • Reunion Kickball, Everyone Kicks 1. Lay out a diamond with four bases and split the reunion into two teams, with every branch on both. 2. The pitcher rolls a rubber playground ball along the ground, and the kicker kicks it and runs the bases. 3. A caught kick, a tag with the ball or the ball reaching a forced base first is an out. 4. Reunion rules: everyone on the list kicks once before the sides change, whatever the outs; any kicker may name a runner; pitchers roll slowly to under-eights. 5. Play four innings. Kickball with a batting order that gets every age a kick. Never throw the ball at a runner. Players: 12 to 50. Time: 45 min. Props: a rubber playground ball and four bases.

Whole-reunion finales and keepsakes 8

  • A Verse From Every Branch 1. Pick a traditional tune the whole family knows. 2. Each branch writes one new verse about its year or its journey here. 3. After dinner the branches sing their verses in turn, and everyone joins in on the chorus. 4. Copy the verses into the reunion album. A branch that would rather not sing may read its verse aloud. Players: 10 to 150. Time: 30 min. Props: paper and pens.
  • Design Next Year's Reunion Shirt 1. Give each branch a sheet with a blank shirt outline, markers and 20 minutes. 2. The design must carry the family name, next year's place or date, and one drawing by a child. 3. Pin the designs up, and everyone votes with one sticker dot, not for their own branch. 4. The winning design goes on next year's shirts or invitation. Players: 10 to 100. Time: 30 min. Props: shirt outline sheets, markers and sticker dots.
  • Restage the Old Reunion Photo 1. Find the oldest group photo of the reunion, or of one branch, and print it large. 2. Put everyone who is in the old photo in the same spot and the same pose, and let stand-ins fill the places of anyone who could not come. 3. Match the details: who holds a baby, who squints, who looks the wrong way. 4. Take the new photo from the same distance. 5. Print the two side by side for next time. Players: 10 to 100. Time: 20 min. Props: a large print of the old photo and a camera.
  • Reunion Record Book Awards 1. Keep a notebook of reunion records that have nothing to do with age or looks: farthest traveled, most reunions attended, earliest arrival, longest bag toss winning streak, most desserts carried in. 2. During the day a record keeper collects claims. 3. At dinner, read out each record, last time's holder and this year's. 4. The new holders sign the book. Players: 15 to 200. Time: 15 min. Props: a notebook and a pen.
  • Reunion Time Capsule, Opened Next Time 1. Everyone fills in a card: a first name, a favorite song right now, one thing they hope to have done by the next reunion and one guess about that reunion's weather. 2. Children draw a self-portrait on the back. 3. Seal the cards in a box with today's group photo and the list of who came. 4. One branch takes the box home and brings it back, and opening it is the first game of the next reunion. The prediction cards teens write at a birthday, with the whole family as the subject. Keep guesses to travel, weather, hobbies and sports. Players: 10 to 200. Time: 20 min. Props: cards, pens, a box and tape.
  • Signature Tablecloth 1. Spread a plain cotton tablecloth on one table with fabric markers, and leave it out all day. 2. Everyone signs a first name and the year, and children trace a hand. 3. Each branch writes its town along one edge. 4. At dinner the host holds up the cloth and asks three questions: whose is the smallest hand, which town is farthest, whose signature can nobody read. 5. Bring the cloth back every reunion and sign in a new color. Players: 10 to 200. Time: 15 min. Props: a cotton tablecloth and fabric markers.
  • Spell the Family Name With People 1. A photographer stands on a porch, a balcony or a rise above the lawn. 2. Give each branch one letter of the surname, or of the word REUNION when the family has several surnames. 3. Each branch forms its letter standing up, with seated relatives as the foot of a stroke. 4. Photograph each letter, then the whole word, then everyone waving. The photographer uses stairs or a slope, never a ladder or a roof. The picture makes next year's invitation. Players: 20 to 200. Time: 20 min. Props: a camera and a high spot.
  • Today at the Reunion Quiz 1. A quizmaster spends the day noting small things: who arrived first, the color of the biggest cooler, which branch won the tug of war, how many pies reached the table. 2. After dinner, tables answer ten questions about the day itself. 3. No family history is needed, so first-time guests and children play on level terms. 4. Swap sheets to mark. Players: 10 to 150. Time: 15 min. Props: a notebook, answer sheets and pens.

How this list was compiled: Written for the relative who plans a reunion of 20 to 100 people, in our own words. A branch means the household group a guest arrived with, and no game asks how anyone is related or touches marriages, money or health. Nothing involves alcohol, betting or an eating contest, and both tasting games ask for an ingredient card on every dish. Ages, player ranges, minutes and safety lines are our judgment, not medical advice. Traditional rules were checked on 2026-09-20 against English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ followed by the name): Tug_of_war, Egg-and-spoon_race, Sack_race, Three-legged_race, Cornhole, Kickball, Bocce. Licence: own work

How it works

Games to play at a family reunion have to suit 20 to 100 relatives, from toddlers to great-grandparents, some meeting for the first time. These 63 use what only a reunion has: photos, recipes, stories and branches to cheer for.

Read the full guide

Pick the place first

Where sits under the main button. Works indoors keeps 48 games and Works outdoors keeps 60; 45 fit both, so a printed list survives a change in the weather. Print puts the games on screen on paper with their steps, players, time and props.

Seated, funny or for keeps

More filters holds Energy, Players and Mood. Seated, suits older adults keeps 31 games played from a chair, which double as party games for family reunion dinners. Played for laughs with Works outdoors leaves 22 funny outdoor family reunion games, such as Watermelon Roll Relay. Leaves a keepsake keeps 16.

  • Give each branch a name tag color at the door: 23 games use branches as teams.
  • Bring copies of old photos, never the originals. Match the Photo Halves cuts them in two.
  • Find-a-Relative Bingo Walk and Bag Toss, Elder-and-Kid Doubles each bring a link to their cards or score keeper.

Questions and answers

What games work for all ages at a family reunion?

Games that pair the generations and do not pit them against each other. Egg-and-Spoon Relay, a Generation a Leg puts a child, a teenager, an adult and a grandparent on one team. Sack Race, Three Start Lines starts under-eights ten paces closer to the finish.

Which games can grandparents play without standing?

Thirty-one, all played from a chair, with nothing to pick up from the floor and nobody timed alone. Among family reunion games for older adults, Mystery Photo Table and Finish the Family Saying make the oldest relatives the experts.

Which indoor games suit family reunions on a wet day?

Most of them: 45 of the 63 work in both places. Swap the races for family reunion games for indoors, such as Table Card Pass Relay, Slideshow Freeze Quiz and Reunion Survey Showdown.

How do you split teams at a family reunion?

By branch, meaning the household group each guest arrived with, and guests choose their own. Small branches join forces. Three-Legged Race, Cousins From Two Branches and Bag Toss, Elder-and-Kid Doubles mix the branches on purpose, so cousins meet.

Are there family reunion trivia games?

Four quizzes, and your family writes the questions. In Family Trivia, a Round From Every Branch each branch sends in five about itself. Then-and-Now Quiz, Generations Trade Questions sets grandparents against teenagers, and Today at the Reunion Quiz needs no family history at all.

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