10 Fun Family Night Game Ideas for Everyone!
Family nights are a great way to bond, laugh, and create memories that last a lifetime. Whether you're looking to unplug from screens or just need some new ways to spice up your evenings together, here are some fun family night game ideas that are sure to keep everyone entertained.
1. Board Game Bonanza
Board games are a classic family activity. There’s a game for everyone, whether you’re into strategy, wordplay, or just having a good laugh. Some family favourites include:
- Monopoly: Build your empire and compete to see who can outsmart the rest.
- Clue: A fun mystery-solving game where players work out who committed the crime, with what weapon, and where.
- Scrabble: Test your vocabulary skills in this word-building game, or switch things up with a themed version.
- Catan: A strategy game where players trade and build settlements on a fictional island. Perfect for older kids!
2. Charades
A timeless game that gets everyone involved! Split into teams, take turns acting out different phrases, movies, or animals, and see who can guess them first. The more exaggerated the better—get ready for lots of giggles.
3. Pictionary
Drawing and guessing in a race against time makes Pictionary an exciting choice. You’ll need to be quick with your sketching and fast with your guesses. You can play with a traditional set or use apps to generate random words.
4. Treasure Hunt
Create a scavenger or treasure hunt around the house or yard. Give everyone clues or riddles that lead them from one location to the next, with a hidden treasure waiting at the end. You can tailor the difficulty depending on the ages of the players, and it’s great for kids of all ages!
5. Indoor Bowling
Set up a makeshift bowling alley using plastic bottles as pins and a soft ball. Take turns rolling and see who can knock down the most pins. You can even add fun challenges, like rolling with your non-dominant hand or blindfolded.
6. Minute to Win It
This game involves completing a task in 60 seconds. You can use household items for the challenges, such as stacking cups, balancing a biscuit on your forehead, or moving a ping pong ball from one bowl to another using only a spoon. The pressure is on to complete each task before time runs out!
7. Truth or Dare
If your family loves a bit of fun and silliness, try playing a family-friendly version of Truth or Dare. Mix in creative dares like “Sing the ABCs with a funny accent” or “Do a dance for 30 seconds!” It’s sure to create plenty of laughs.
8. Family Bingo
Create bingo cards with family-specific activities, such as “Eat your dinner with no hands,” “Do a silly dance,” or “Say a joke.” When a player completes an activity, they mark it off their card. The first to get a full row or column wins a prize.
9. Guess the Song
Play a few seconds of a song, and everyone has to guess the title or artist. You can play songs from different genres or decades to make it more challenging and fun for everyone, regardless of age.
10. DIY Obstacle Course
Set up a course in your living room or backyard using cushions, chairs, and other household items. Time each person as they race through, navigating obstacles, jumping over cushions, or crawling under tables. It's a fun way to burn off some energy and get active!
Your Ultimate school holidays activity list
1. Get creative with Minions
What is it?
Kids go bananas for Minions (pun intended) and these school holidays they can express their fandom making a Minions movie using stop-motion animation techniques. Over 2 days, kids create their own Minions clay characters and design their own film set. The magic begins when they see their characters come to life by taking multiple images of objects and stitching them together to look like they’re moving! - It’s incredibly fun!
Why go?
If they watch their favourite animated movies on repeat, they’ll love creating Minions clay figurines and developing their own story, taking lots of still frames and stitching them together to create their very first movie!
Ages: 5-7
2. Become a DJ
What is it?
Children will take their first steps into the exciting world of mixing music to create their own DJ set.
Why go?
Kids will love mixing their favourite pop tunes using beat matching and transitions on real DJ decks. Plus, they will design their own DJ brand, develop branded merch, and even perform a DJ set to their friends!
Ages: 8-13
3. Pilot a drone
What is it?
Kids learn to pilot a drone using coding to design a flight path and watch in wonder as the drone takes flight!
Why go?
If your kid shows an interest in drones, they can learn more than just the basics of flying. Kids get a taste of cutting-edge technology and learn about coding, problem-solving, engineering, design, and more. They’ll learn about drone tech and safety, movie making, and discover how drones have a positive social impact when used to fight bushfires, rescue koalas, spot sharks on the coast and loads more!
Ages: 9-13
4. Become a YouTuber
What is it?
While they may not end up with YouTube stardom, we’re sure kids will have a new lens on screen time. They will be equipped with the skills to start producing and directing their own ideas instead of simply watching other people's! Plus, they’ll gain confidence ‘performing’ in front of audiences and on set and importantly, learn about staying safe online.
Why go?
Taking a YouTube fixation and turning it into something incredibly productive where kids will learn planning, storytelling, filming and video editing to become the star in their very own YouTube-style videos.
Ages: 8-13
5. Produce a LEGO movie
What is it?
Turn hours of playing with LEGO characters into an even more creative pursuit, by teaching kids to create their own LEGO Movie.
Why go?
They can use their favourite LEGO characters and sets, come up with a fun storyline and use stop-motion techniques to produce a short animation film. It will transform the way they play at home and offer endless hours of creativity for the rest of the holidays.
Ages: 7-12
6. Code a game
What is it?
Kids can design their own arcade-style video games (like Super Mario Bros), jam-packed with cool characters like zombies and unicorns, and awesome gaming features such as invisibility cloaks and shrinking potions. They’ll learn drag and drop code and logic to connect all the design elements together and bring their games to life!
Why go?
Kids are spending countless hours on Roblox and Minecraft these days. Get them to spark their creative side instead, by producing their own original games, using a combination of creative level design, storytelling and problem-solving to bring their creations to life. It’s so much fun, they won’t realise they are actually learning some very important coding and tech skills for their future.
Ages: 7-12
7. Develop a Website
What is it?
For kids with some proficiency in coding, they’ll create their own website from scratch about an animal, movie, sporting team or their favourite topic.
Why go?
With 1.93 billion websites on the world wide web, developers are in higher demand than ever before. It’s a great head start to gain fundamental web building skills and your kids will have so much fun in the process.