Are your kids bored out of their minds while staying home? With a little bit of creativity, you can still host family game nights with extended family through video chat platforms like Facebook Messenger, FaceTime, Skype, or Zoom.
Getting on camera to chat with friends and family helps us socialize during a time when we’re not supposed to leave the house. Playing games together is a great way to continue strengthening bonds and connections with the people we care about. Plus, if you are playing a game, you never have to worry about running out of things to say!
So prepare for a fun night with one of these game suggestions families can play together during the next video call.
Pictionary
Pictionary by Mattel is a classic game in which players have to guess what one person is drawing. Even if you don’t have the official game, you can come up with a list of words or phrases to use as drawing prompts. Just make sure to set up your phone or webcam to see what they are drawing, then start guessing!
Charades
Charades is a classic game of guessing what another person is silently acting out. There are several different versions of this game, so use whichever one you have on hand. Pressman Toy’s Charades for Kids is a great choice to play with young children learning how to read. The cards include pictures so kids of all ages can play.
You can also make up your clues for people to randomly pick and act out. Just make sure everyone can see the person acting out the word or phrase!
Splurt!
Splurt by Gamewright is a fun new word game for two or more players. Flip over two cards and be the fastest to give the answer that fits. For example, one card may be a category, such as movies, and the other card says, beginning with the letter “A.”
Gamewright is also offering a free print and play version of Splurt!
Hive Mind
Hive Mind by Calliope Games works great for playing virtually during a video chat because it only requires one person to have the game. Everyone else simply needs something to write with, and a piece of paper. One person can draw the cards and move the bee pieces on the board. The main fun is in everyone’s answers to the questions.
The object of the game is to try to come up with the same answers as the other players. The more identical solutions you have, the more likely you will stay with the rest of the bees in the hive.
There are hundreds of family-friendly questions to pick from, and many of the answers given will get people sharing memories and have everyone talking and laughing.
Not Parent Approved
Not Parent Approved works best if each household has a copy of the game since everyone will need to draw red cards and keep their hand private from other players. It’s a fill-in-the-blank style card game full of kid-friendly humor.
To make this work over a video call, one person will flip and read the blue card. The rest of the players will choose a red card from their hand that they think fills in the blank the best and take turns reading them aloud. The person who reads the blue card will choose their favorite.
More Fun Options!
If you love Not Parent Approved, you may also be interested in the new Cards Against Humanity Family Edition, which is currently available as a free print and play the game.
There are also several classic board games you could play, such as Yahtzee, Battleship, and Chess. If your family enjoys playing cooperative board games, then one person can set up the game and move all the pieces around on camera while still allowing all players to discuss what actions to take on their turn.
Are you looking for even more options? Have the kids participate in a video call scavenger hunt or play a digital board game app together on your phones while chatting on a video call. No matter what, there is a lot of fun to be had!
For more activities and resources for your family to do while staying safe at home, click here.
