Hobbies And Interests
Preschool Kids
Play "Five of a Kind" by calling out a letter of the alphabet and asking the players to think of five things beginning with that letter. Give them some clues, such as first names, animals and objects in the room. Play a memory game with pairs of illustrated cards. Make up 10 playing-sized cards in five sets of two with pictures that are easily identifiable, such as dogs, cats, umbrellas and rainbows. Shuffle the cards and lay them face-down on a table. Turn over one card at a time then replace it face-down. The object of the game is for the children to remember where each card is and match a card you reveal with a card that's face-down.
Elementary School Kids
Play bingo with sound effects. Use ordinary bingo cards but announce that anyone who gets a number has to make an animal sound. Assign an animal to each player or let the players choose their own animals. The first player to get bingo has to sing "Old McDonald." Play the classic game of 20 Questions. Have one player think of an object and decide whether it's an animal, a vegetable or a mineral. Let the rest of the kids try to guess the object. The child who guesses correctly then takes a turn thinking of a new object. Turn a group of kids into a beehive by holding a buzzing contest. The player who can buzz the longest without taking a breath wins.
Middle Schoolers
Choose several players to be "Angry Parrots." These players have to respond to any questions in a parrot voice without laughing. The other players are permitted to do whatever they want to make the "parrots" laugh. When a parrot cracks up, he's out, and a new player is chosen. Play "I Took a Trip" with one player as the traveler. The traveler says, "I took a trip. What did I take along?" The other players name one item each. The traveler then makes up another question, but the other players have to give the same answers they gave the first time. The traveler tries to think of questions that will be funny when paired with the answers. For example, if a player answered, "a suitcase" to the first question, the traveler might then ask, "What did I take pictures with?"
Teenagers
A simple game that's sure to make everyone laugh, "Ha Ha Ha" needs no equipment. The first player says, "Ha," very seriously. The second player says, "Ha ha," just as seriously. Play continues with each player adding a "Ha" without smiling or laughing. The first player to laugh is out. Play continues until only one person is left. The game of "Gossip" is a classic that's not only fun to play but teaches kids that it isn't wise to believe everything they hear. One player writes down a sentence. She then whispers it into the next player's ear. Each player continues to whisper the message to the next player until the last player has heard it. The last player says out loud what she thinks she heard, and the first player reads the message she wrote. Play "Ummm" by choosing one player to be "It," who is blindfolded. The other players sit in a circle around her. "It" walks to one person and says, "Ummm." The chosen player replies, "Ummm," in a disguised voice. "It" tries to guess the player's identity. If she fails, she chooses another player. If she guesses correctly, the other player is then "It." Players should try to disguise their laughter as well as their spoken words.