It’s always a challenge to bring fun to people who are sick or in some way physically or mentally challenged. And it’s always rewarding when you succeed.
Here are some games that tend to make people laugh, that are easy to learn and easy to play, that are so much fun that it really doesn’t matter if people play them the “right way.”
Consider playing them your next visit to the retirement home.
Screamless – pointing fun
The Name Game – a great way to get to know people
The “Numbers Game” – beyond sanity
Dum Dum Da Da – a singing silliness
Duck-Duck-Elephant – beyond Duck-Duck-Goose
Zen Hip Swing – get moved while moving someone else
Psychic Handshake – mystical group gathering
Glass Cobra – get yourselves together together
The Sound and the Fury – a warm-up game of almost mystical silliness
Panther, Person, Porcupine – three-team Rock, Scissors, Paper
The Wrapping Game – an hilarious game for all ages
Yes/And – a group story-building game from improv theater
Polaroid – build an image and see what develops
The Blessings Game – bless each other in and with fun
It Could Be Worse – and it could be even worse than that
Plenty Questions – more than 20 questions
Found Object Scrabble – what to do at a restaurant while you’re waiting to get served
Manner of the Adverb – a dramatic guessing game
Singing Syllables – guess the word of many syllables when all the syllables are sung at once
Cosmic counting – how high can you count together without interrupting each other
Dumb Crambo – a team guessing game
Found Object Olympics – a game of ingenuity, creativity, and much shared playfulness