Hobbies And Interests
Traditional Games with a Valentine's Twist
Sometimes traditional games just can't be improved on. If you're organizing a party for young children, you might want to use games that they're familiar with. Even older youth and adults will sometimes enjoy revisiting the familiar games of childhood. You can give almost any traditional party game a Valentine's Day twist. For example, play Pin the Arrow on Cupid instead of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Organize a scavenger hunt for Valentine-themed items such as candy hearts, stuffed animals and chocolate. Play Hot Potato using a plush stuffed heart as the potato.
Games That Require Planning
Most games require at least a little preparation and planning. However, you don't have to spend a lot of time getting materials prepared for your games. There are many games you can play with nothing but a bag of Valentine's candy conversation hearts. For example, you can have players build towers of candy hearts within a short time limit--the player with the tallest tower wins. Or you can divide players into groups and have each person choose three pieces of candy; the groups must then write stories or poems using the phrases and words on their hearts. If you don't want to use candy, you can play boys vs. girls trivia by writing trivia questions on topics that one gender is more likely to know about.
Games That Don't Require Planning or Props
No matter how many games you have planned, it's always a good idea to have a few games in reserve that don't require preparation. Maybe the group won't enjoy all the games you planned, or maybe one of your games will take less time than you expected. If that happens, be prepared to play an additional game that doesn't require any props, such as "Honey, If You Love Me, Smile." In this game, players sit in a circle with one person ("it") in the middle. "It" goes up to another player and says to them, "Honey, if you love me, smile." The person who is "it" should try to be as funny as possible, but he is not allowed to touch the other player. The other player replies without smiling or laughing, "Honey, I love you, but I just can't smile." If the player smiles, then she becomes "it." Another fun game with very little preparation required is "Encore." For this game, divide players into two teams. Each team must take turns thinking of a line from a song that includes the word "love." The entire team must sing the entire line in unison before time is up (usually 15 or 30 seconds). No song can be repeated. At first, the game is easy, but eventually one team will be unable to think of a sung that hasn't been used yet, at which point the other team wins.