Children's Games About Families

Adapting Traditional Games

• Children learn by observation and imitation. When they play games that engage them in conversation about their favorite family members, they pay tribute to that person and develop a sense of belonging.

  Parents and teachers can adapt traditional games to teaching about family structure. The old standard Statues game, in which one person takes another by the hand and spins him around, with the second person "freezing" in a certain position, works well. Players can become frozen portraits of a favorite grandpa, aunt or cousin and have other players guess the identity of the statue.

  A game of Capture the Flag can teach about families. Team members from different family groups can create their own family flags, complete with surnames, symbols and colors to designate individual family branches.

Connect with Ancestors

• Children love balloons. Games that enable them to connect with deceased grandparents and older ancestors help teach them more about these absent family members. Try combining balloon fun with learning new information about departed loved ones by writing notes to individual ancestors or relatives. Children can introduce themselves to a great-grandparent, recount an interesting family story or ask questions about that individual.

  After all the slips are finished, children can insert the notes into balloons, fill the balloons with helium and release them into the air as a way of "mailing" the notes to their relatives.

Family Tree Games

• Parents can turn family gatherings into game-playing events with a little planning. Scavenger hunts where players seek answers to a list of questions prepared ahead of time can teach them about members of their family. Include questions such as "Where was Grandpa born?" "Where did Aunt Ruth and Uncle Ray go when they eloped?" and "What color was Mother's wedding dress?" to elicit anecdotes as well as answers.

  Individual team members can write down their answers on colored leaves and add to a large family tree on poster board or a real-life tree designated to display the information-bearing leaves.

Family Olympics

• Families can come up with their own versions of Olympics-type games with more experienced players sharing their expertise with younger generations. An uncle might give archery lessons to teenaged nieces and nephews. Dad might dust off his football or baseball bat and glove and challenge other family members to join in. Even Grandma and Grandpa can show the younger ones how they danced in their day.