Fun family games that require no set up or equipment

These are fun for the whole family and might become favorites long after quarantine is over.

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Keeping the little ones busy from morning till night indoors is a tricky exercise for any parent. Here’s a selection of games that require almost no set up, supplies, or equipment and allow you all to have fun during quarantine.

Riddles

• Hot & Cold

How to play: One player chooses a color or an object in a home. The others offer their answers while the player tells them if they are “cold” or “hot”.

• Who Am I?

How to play: A child or adult chooses someone or something and gives a hint at a time: “I am … an animal with brown fur, I hibernate …” until one of the players offers the right answer.

• The Guessing Word Game

How to play: one player offers a letter and decides on the word to guess (a country, an animal, a celebrity, an object, a profession …). The winner is the person who was the first to guess the word.

Songs

• Name That Tune

How to play: One player sings a tune with his mouth shut. The others must guess the title. So that everyone can participate, each can take a turn and write down the scores on a piece of paper.

• Karaoke

How to play: Each brings his or her favorite song to play. As the volume goes down for a space of a few seconds, others keep on singing it. It’s loads of fun!

• The Phonemic Song

How to play: Take a well known song like “Row, row, row your boat” or “Happy birthday” and change one of the letters in the verse. For example, change the first letter in each word to “s,” so you can sing “Sow, sow, sow sour soat” etc. Along with a few laughs your kids will learn that one letter can change the whole word.

Imagination games

• “Then Suddenly …”

How to play: One player (a parent) begins telling a story. After two or three minutes, he concludes it with “then suddenly” and lets the other player continue it, using his or her imagination.

• Speech Improvisation

How to play: One player begins his or her speech while the others start introducing different words that have to be included in the speech.

• Stringing Words Together

How to play: One player introduces a word; the others must find a new word beginning with its last syllable.

Games to calm down and concentrate

• “In My Room, I found …”

How to play: The first player says: “In my room, I found some books.” The following player repeats the sentence and adds another object at the end. Everyone takes his turn; the player who makes a mistake is eliminated.

• “What do I put in the basket?”

How to play: A parent can introduce it by saying: “I am going to the market. In my basket, I can’t put anything beginning with a letter ‘I’. What can I put inside?” Children take turns to find suitable products (eggs, salad, etc.) Or you can make it more complicated by only using products containing “p” in them (peach, peas, etc).

• “Ha, ha, ha!”

How to play: Each player takes his or her turn to say “ha!” You need to determine the number of “ha!” (one, two, five or one, then two, then three, etc) and a specific intonation you use. Players must repeat your sequence and tone. The first one to laugh loses. (Actually, this game is not so great for calming down!)

• Story With Gaps

How to play: One parent whispers a story and stops from time to time. Children must guess the missing words and insert them into the story.

Stéphanie Geustmaried