15 Party Games & Activities to Do as a Family

I hope you’ve all had a fun-filled Christmas and are still enjoying the festive period! This year, the little ones and I are in France at my mum’s, and we love nothing more than an activity to do together or a party game to keep us all playing together and laughing.

Here are our favourites this year, in no particular order:

• In a Wobble

This game is hilarious. Just imagine Pictionary, but with a vibrating pen that quite simply won’t let you have a steady hand to draw a specific item for your team to guess. In A Wobble is a laugh-out-loud drawing and guessing game designed to be played in teams, and is a guaranteed way to get the whole family involved in the fun.

• Paintball Duck Shoot

My four little ones love bath time, and this new game is an absolute gem! All you have to do is put your four duck targets onto bathroom tiles and using the water pistol, aim at the ducks. The ducks change colour when hit with water so you know straight away when you’ve hit the target.

• Cranium is one of those games you can play with just about anyone and end up laughing till you cry. It’s brilliant and doesn’t require any specific knowledge or amazing skills, but focuses on the fun with word play, sketching, humming and acting.

• Party Face Mats

These face mats have been firm favourites in our house for the past couple of years. They make brilliant ice breakers at parties. Fancy a goatee? moustache? red lipstick? The pack contains 20 mats that are double-sided and can also be used as coasters. They’re so funny on children!

• Lay it or Break it!

This game is all about helping a chicken sneak out her eggs out of a frying pan and back into her nest. You basically have to wear a beak (why not?) and attach the magnetic chicken to you back pocket and squat to grab an egg without breaking it. My mum has chickens so the children absolutely love playing it, so do the adults after a glass or two!

• Build a Bird Feeder

We love ‘Gifts in a Tin’ at home and I’ve probably bought every single one of them as presents. This one is a new one for us, and I find it a fab way to introduce young children to bird watching. With the kit, you can put together your own window bird feeder with a few simple steps.

• Make Your Own Insect House

Here is another one of our favourite ‘Gifts in a Tin.’ My four are fascinated by insects and naturally curious so this quick and easy to build insect house was one of their favourite presents this year.

• The Great Railway Express  is a wonderful present for any train lovers. You wouldn’t believe how much fits in that small tin! When we first set my nephew’s one up, we were amazed it was all coming from the tin! It also goes back in the tin without fiddling at all. It’s brilliant for taking on holidays.

• Peppa Pig Skittles set

I always find that skittles are a bit of a timeless present. We got these for my nephew, a Peppa Pig fan who has just turned two, but all the children aged 2 to 9 were keen to play on Christmas eve. It’s the kind of game you keep for generations and generations and I hope my little nephew passes it on to his own children in the future.

• Dinosaur Model Kit

I used to love models like these when I was little, so when I first spotted them, I had to get my hands on them! Crevette loved his T-Rex and we have Dippy the Diplodocus to my 4-year-old nephew. All sales support our favourite museum directly, the Natural History Museum.

• LEGO

I have yet to find a child who doesn’t like LEGO, or an adult who’s not happy to help build a LEGO scene. Every Christmas day in our house is spent building a LEGO set and we all love it.

• PieFace Showdown

In France, it’s been awarded the prize for ‘Worst Christmas Present of 2017’ yet we love it! There’s nothing like a game where you haven’t got to think, and can get your adversary covered in whipped cream.  It’s easy to set up, cleans in minutes under the tap and it’s just fun.

• Bean Boozled

Oh. My. Goodness! I bought something very similar to this game for my brother (cheaper version in B&M Bargains), and we spent a good couple of hours laughing and trying hideously disgusting tastes… Cat food flavour didn’t sit too well with me!

• Mousetrap is such a classic! I wanted my children to experience this fun 1990s game and my auntie bought it for them. Hours of fun!

• Last but not least, the Nintendo Switch is THE present that has made everyone very excited this year. The console is compact, versatile and the games are top notch! So far, we’ve played Super Mario Odyssey,  Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2 and they are all brilliant games!

Disclosure: Some of the games mentioned above were sent to us as gifts, others I bought as presents.  This post contains some affiliate links. If you click and purchase something, I may get a small commission.