Mother Daughter Banquet Games to Play

Seated games for pairs of two generations, girls of six included: press Pick 3 new games.

Mother Daughter Banquet Games to Play

  1. Find It on the Program1. Everyone has the printed program or menu in front of them. 2. The host gives a clue to one word printed on it: a word that rhymes with bee, the longest word on the page, a word with a double letter. 3. The first pair to stand and read the word out wins the round. 4. Eight clues. A pair that has won once lets another pair answer next time. Players: 10 to 200. Time: 5 min. Props: a printed program or menu each.
  2. Pasta Bracelet, One Holds, One Threads1. Each pair gets a piece of yarn and a cup of dry tube pasta. 2. One partner holds the yarn tight by both ends. The other threads the pasta on. 3. After one minute, swap jobs for a second minute. 4. Count the tubes. Tie the yarn off, and one of the two wears the bracelet home. Players: 2 to 60 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: yarn and a cup of dry tube pasta for each pair.
  3. Advice Going Both Ways1. Each younger guest writes one piece of advice for the older guests: how to make a new friend, how to have more fun at recess. 2. Each older guest writes one for the younger ones. 3. Fold the papers into two bowls. A reader draws from each bowl in turn. 4. The room claps for advice it plans to take. Nobody says who wrote what. Players: 4 to 100. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, pens and two bowls.

Next step Games for Mother's Day at home

How it works

These mother daughter banquet games to play are built for a pair of two generations at a dinner table. Any pair counts, an aunt or a family friend included, and a girl of six can join every game.

Read the full guide

Between the courses

1. While guests find their seats, play one game from How well do you know each other: most need only a card and a pen. 2. Between courses, run one of the Pair contests at the table. 3. After the meal, bring three generations together with Across the generations. 4. Close with one of the Whole-room games from the seats.

What to put on each table

Cards, pens and paper cover most games. Ribbon, paper napkins and a cup of dry tube pasta cover three more, and two use the printed program. Each game ends with its own list.

Tips
  • Seat pairs side by side, not across the table: half the games need a whisper.
  • Ask a helper at each table to write for the youngest girls.

Questions and answers

What games work when grandmothers are at the table too?

Everything in Across the generations. She Starts It, You Guess the Ending turns a grandmother's story into a guessing game, and What Was It For? lets the oldest guests show the youngest a thing from their own kitchen drawer.

What if a girl comes with an aunt or a friend?

She plays exactly as the others do. Every game is written for a pair, and none asks how the two are related. A guest who comes alone can be paired with the host.

Which games need no supplies at all?

Which of Us? Point on Three, Say It Together on Three and A Word Traced on Her Palm need only the two players. Choose No props under More filters in the All games menu for the full set.

How long does each game take?

Five to fifteen minutes, by our estimate. The quick ones fit between two courses, and each game ends with its own time.

More tools

Browse Acting and Drawing

All 32 games

How well do you know each other 8

  • Back to Back, Cards Up 1. Partners turn their chairs back to back, each with a pen and a stack of cards. 2. The host asks a question about one of the two: what does the younger one eat first on her plate? 3. Both write an answer without looking around. 4. On three, both hold their cards up over their shoulders. The table calls out whether they match. Five questions, a point a match. Players: 2 to 100 in pairs. Time: 10 min. Props: cards and a pen each.
  • Her First Minute Awake, in a Drawing 1. Each player has one minute to draw the first thing her partner does after waking. 2. No words or letters on the drawing. 3. Partners swap drawings and say what they think it shows. 4. The artist says whether that is right, and the partner says whether it is true. Both right scores two. Players: 2 to 100 in pairs. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil each.
  • How Much Does She Like It? One Finger to Five 1. The host names something: rainy days, broccoli, long car rides. 2. Each player decides how much her partner likes it, from one finger to five. 3. The partner decides the true answer about herself. 4. On three, both show fingers. The same number scores. Swap who is being guessed for the next one. Players: 2 to 100 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
Show all 32 games (29 more)

How well do you know each other, continued

  • One Word From Behind the Screen 1. Five older partners stand behind a screen or a held-up tablecloth. 2. In turn, each says the same word, such as goodnight, in her ordinary voice. 3. Their five younger partners listen from the tables and write down the order they think the voices came in. 4. The screen drops and the speakers call out their numbers. Then the younger five go behind the screen. Players: 10 to 100. Time: 10 min. Props: a screen or a tablecloth, paper and pens.
  • Say It Together on Three 1. The host names a kind of thing: a fruit, a color, a number from one to ten. 2. Partners look at each other and say nothing. 3. On three, both say one answer aloud at the same moment. 4. A match scores. Six rounds. Pairs often match more by the end than at the start. Players: 2 to 100 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Three Favorites, Sealed and Swapped 1. Each player folds a card in three and writes her own favorite color, snack and place to be. 2. On a second card she writes what she thinks her partner put. 3. Partners swap the guess cards and mark them against the real ones. 4. A pair with six out of six stands up. A helper writes for anyone who is still learning to spell. Players: 2 to 100 in pairs. Time: 10 min. Props: two cards and a pen each.
  • Which of Us? Point on Three 1. Partners sit facing each other. 2. The host reads a question: which of you gets up first, which of you sings in the car, which of you hides the last cookie? 3. On three, both point, at themselves or at their partner. 4. Two fingers pointing at the same person score a point. Ten questions, and the laughing is the prize. Players: 2 to 100 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Whose Handwriting Wrote the Line? 1. Every older partner at a table copies the same line onto a plain card: see you at breakfast. 2. Shuffle the table's cards and lay them face up in the middle. 3. Each younger partner puts a finger on the card she thinks her own partner wrote. 4. Turn the cards over to see the names on the back. Then the younger ones write and the older ones choose. Players: 4 to 100. Time: 10 min. Props: plain cards and pens.

Pair contests at the table 8

  • A Word Traced on Her Palm 1. One partner closes her eyes and holds out a hand, palm up. 2. The other traces a word of three letters on the palm with one finger, a letter at a time. 3. The first partner says the word. She may ask for one letter again. 4. Swap after each word. Count the words each pair reads in two minutes. For new readers, trace a single letter or a shape. Players: 2 to 60 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Compliment Volley, Thirty Seconds 1. Partners face each other. A helper starts a thirty-second timer. 2. They take turns saying one true, kind thing about the other, back and forth. 3. No repeats, and no pause longer than three seconds. 4. The table counts how many crossed the net. Most pairs want a second try. Players: 2 to 60 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: a timer.
  • Copy My Fold, Then Add One 1. Each partner lays a paper napkin flat on the table. 2. The older partner makes one fold. The younger copies it on her own napkin, then adds a fold of her own for the older one to copy. 3. Go back and forth for eight folds, with no words. 4. Hold the two napkins up side by side. A pair with twins takes a bow, and every pair says what its napkin has turned into. Players: 2 to 60 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: a paper napkin each.
  • Copy the Place Setting From Memory 1. The host lays one place setting in an odd way: fork upside down, spoon on the plate, napkin in the cup. 2. Pairs look for twenty seconds. Then it is covered with a cloth. 3. Each pair arranges one of its own settings to match, talking it over quietly. 4. Uncover the model. A point for each piece in the right place. Players: 2 to 100 in pairs. Time: 10 min. Props: a place setting and a cloth.
  • Draw Her Favorite Thing From Three Clues 1. One partner thinks of a favorite thing she owns and gives three clues about it without naming it. 2. The other draws what she thinks it is, in one minute. 3. The drawing is held up, and the thing is named. 4. Swap. The table gives a cheer for any drawing that could be told apart from a potato. Players: 2 to 100 in pairs. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and pencils.
  • Draw the Same House Without Looking 1. Partners sit side by side with a menu standing between their papers. 2. The host names something to draw: a house, a cat, a birthday cake. 3. Both draw it for one minute without a word or a look. 4. Take the menu away. The table decides which pair's two drawings look most alike. Players: 2 to 100 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: paper and a pencil each.
  • One Hand Each: Tie the Ribbon Bow 1. Each pair gets a length of ribbon and a rolled napkin. 2. Each partner puts one hand behind her back. 3. With the two hands left, one from each, they tie the ribbon around the napkin in a bow. 4. The first pair to hold up a bow that stays tied wins. Shoelaces work for a rematch. Players: 2 to 60 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: a length of ribbon and a napkin for each pair.
  • Pasta Bracelet, One Holds, One Threads 1. Each pair gets a piece of yarn and a cup of dry tube pasta. 2. One partner holds the yarn tight by both ends. The other threads the pasta on. 3. After one minute, swap jobs for a second minute. 4. Count the tubes. Tie the yarn off, and one of the two wears the bracelet home. Players: 2 to 60 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: yarn and a cup of dry tube pasta for each pair.

Across the generations 8

  • Advice Going Both Ways 1. Each younger guest writes one piece of advice for the older guests: how to make a new friend, how to have more fun at recess. 2. Each older guest writes one for the younger ones. 3. Fold the papers into two bowls. A reader draws from each bowl in turn. 4. The room claps for advice it plans to take. Nobody says who wrote what. Players: 4 to 100. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, pens and two bowls.
  • Five Things She Passed, Drawn as a Map 1. The older partner thinks of her way to school as a girl and names five things she passed: a bridge, a bakery, a barking dog. 2. The younger partner draws the five in order along one line on a card, as a map. 3. Swap. The younger partner names five things on her way to school now, or to anywhere she goes most days, and the older one draws. 4. Lay the two maps side by side. Each pair tells the table one thing that is on both, or the thing most unlike. Players: 2 to 100 in pairs. Time: 10 min. Props: two cards and a pencil for each pair.
  • Hands Inside Hands 1. Each pair or family group traces the largest hand on a sheet of paper. 2. The next largest hand is traced inside it, and so on down to the smallest. 3. Collect the sheets with no names on them and pin them up. 4. Tables guess which sheet belongs to which group. Each group takes its sheet home. Players: 2 to 60. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and pencils.
  • She Starts It, You Guess the Ending 1. The oldest guest at the table begins a true story from when she was a girl and stops at the moment something is about to happen. 2. Each younger guest says what she thinks happened next. 3. The teller gives the real ending. 4. Whoever came closest chooses the next teller, who must be older than she is. Players: 3 to 12 at a table. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Swap a Playground Rhyme 1. At each table, the oldest guest teaches a clapping or jump-rope rhyme from her childhood to the youngest. 2. Then the youngest teaches the oldest one that is said at school now. 3. Three minutes each way. 4. Volunteers perform both for the room. Tables listen for any rhyme that has lasted from one generation to the next. Players: 4 to 100. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • What Does That Saying Mean? 1. An older guest says an expression she heard as a girl and still uses. 2. The younger guests at the table guess what it means. 3. Then a younger guest says a word her friends use now, and the older guests guess. 4. Each table chooses its best saying from each side to share with the room. Players: 4 to 100. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • What Was It For? 1. Ask the older guests beforehand to bring one small tool or household thing that younger guests may never have used. 2. Pass the first one around a table. The youngest guesses first what it was for. 3. Everyone younger than its owner may guess once. 4. The owner then shows how it was used. Go on to the next thing. Players: 4 to 60. Time: 15 min. Props: old household things brought by guests.
  • When I Was Little, Then Who Said It? 1. Go around the table. Each guest says one true sentence that starts, when I was little. 2. Nobody writes anything down. 3. The host of the table then repeats four of the sentences in a new order. 4. The table says who told each one. The youngest guests are usually the best at it. Players: 4 to 12 at a table. Time: 10 min. Props: none.

Whole-room games from the seats 8

  • The Daughters Give the Orders 1. Simon Says, with the youngest in charge. A girl from the head table gives orders to the whole room from the microphone. 2. Guests obey only when the order begins, the daughters say. 3. Orders stay at the table: touch your nose, wave your napkin, shake hands with a neighbor. 4. Anyone caught out holds her napkin on her head until the next round. A new girl leads every five orders. Players: 10 to 200. Time: 5 min. Props: a microphone.
  • Echo the Head Table's Rhythm 1. A pair at the head table claps a short rhythm together. 2. The whole room claps it back. 3. The rhythm gets one beat longer each time. 4. When the room loses it, the lead passes to a pair at the next table. Players: 10 to 200. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Find It on the Program 1. Everyone has the printed program or menu in front of them. 2. The host gives a clue to one word printed on it: a word that rhymes with bee, the longest word on the page, a word with a double letter. 3. The first pair to stand and read the word out wins the round. 4. Eight clues. A pair that has won once lets another pair answer next time. Players: 10 to 200. Time: 5 min. Props: a printed program or menu each.
  • Napkin or Program: Did You Two Match? 1. The host reads a choice: beach or mountains, pancakes or waffles, early or late. 2. Each guest decides without a word. Napkin up means the first, program up means the second. 3. On three, everyone holds one up. 4. Pairs who match give each other a high five. The host asks one unmatched pair to explain themselves. Players: 10 to 200. Time: 5 min. Props: a napkin and a program each.
  • One Thing We Do Together, Said Together 1. Each pair has one minute to agree on one thing they like doing together, in four words or fewer. 2. Go around the room, table by table. 3. Each pair stands and says its words in one voice. 4. The room answers each pair with one clap. It runs quickly and nobody is left out. Players: 4 to 200 in pairs. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Stand Together If It Is True of Both 1. The host reads a statement: you have both been on a boat, you both like olives, you both woke before seven today. 2. A pair stands only if it is true of the two of them. 3. Partners have to check with each other first, in a whisper. 4. Ten statements. The last is one that is true of every pair in the room: you both came to the banquet. Players: 10 to 200. Time: 5 min. Props: a list of ten statements.
  • Story With a Sound for Each Table 1. Give each table a word and a sound: kitchen gets a clatter of spoons, car gets a horn, phone gets a ring, shoes get stamping feet. 2. The host tells a short made-up story of getting ready for the banquet, using each word many times. 3. Each table makes its sound whenever its word is heard. 4. On the word banquet, every table makes its sound at once. Players: 12 to 200. Time: 5 min. Props: a story the host has written.
  • Table Poem, a Line From Every Pair 1. The host gives every table the same first line: tonight we sat down side by side. 2. Each pair at the table adds one line of its own. 3. The table chooses a reader. 4. Poems are read to the room in turn, and the host keeps the pages for the banquet scrapbook. Players: 8 to 200. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and a pen for each table.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions for a mother daughter banquet or tea where guests sit at tables in pairs of two generations. The wording is ours, and the player counts and times are our estimates. Any pair counts: a mother and daughter, an aunt and niece, a grandmother, a family friend. No game asks how two people are related, how old anyone is, or anything about family beyond the two at the table. Every game was written so that a girl of six can play with help from her partner. No facts are stated, so there is nothing to look up. Licence: own work