Football Party Games

Ball Toss

• An entertaining game for all ages, set up a football toss game in your yard and play for prizes. Challenge each player to throw a football through a tire set at a distance away from the throwing area. The distance should be determined by the age of the players with a closer throw for children. Players who get the football through the tire hole win a prize. Each player gets five throws.

  An alternative to the tire throw game would be to throw a standard football between two posts to mimic the field goal or to toss a small Nerf football into a can. Again, each player gets five throws, and the one who succeeds the most gets the prize. Use a Nerf ball for any tossing game you play indoors to protect against damaging your décor.

Forbidden Word: Football

• This halftime game will keep your guests talking. When halftime starts, give each guest five football stickers to place on their shirt. During the duration of halftime, everyone is forbidden to use the word "football." Should another guest hear someone say "football", they get to remove one of the offending guest's football stickers. When halftime is over, the guest with the most footballs wins a prize.

Team Trivia

• Create 10 trivia questions about each team that is playing on the day of your party, or 20 questions about the home team. Trivia questions can include information on team stats, facts about the stadium where the game is played in, Hall of Fame players and even how much a hot dog costs at the field. List guests names on a piece of paper to help keep score, then ask the team trivia questions to the group. The guest with the most correct answers wins a prize.

Food Challenge

• A "Tailgate Challenge" puts the guests' barbecue skills to the test. Challenge guests to come up with their best hamburger recipe, grilled chicken marinade or hot dog relish and bring their specialty to share. Guests will vote on the most original barbecue dish, giving the winning cook a special prize.

  For cold-weather parties, have a chili cook-off, where guests will bring their rendition of a chili dish and other guests will have a taste test, voting for the best chili. Have winning subcategories, such as "Hottest Chili," or "Most Unusual Ingredients", so that everyone walks away with a prize.

  Conversely, you can get dessert into the act by challenging guests to bring a football-themed dessert to your party. Whether you end up with football-shaped brownies or goal-post pretzel rods, everyone will enjoy the tasty snacks, and the provider of the most original dessert can win a prize.