<p>I’m putting together a game afternoon for our senior center and would love to try something new. We occasionally play trivia or have our own game show afternoon (Jeopardy, Password, Wheel of Fortune). Usually we’ll have several people who want to play and a larger group that just wants to watch the proceedings. </p>
<p>I’ve thought about team charades, which could be fun. I’m not much of a game player, so I could use some ideas.</p>
<p>When we played I’ve Got a Secret, some great stories came out. My favorite: one of our members made out with a guy named Issur at a Saint Lawrence college party in the early 1930s (under a banquet table with a long tablecloth, yet). When he changed his name, he was Kirk Douglas. She did not use the phrase “made out” - she said they “had a date.” So I’m filling in the blanks here, but if you had a date with a young Kirk Douglas under a covered table, I think some making out was going on.</p>
<p>How about ‘Two Truths and a Lie’? People take turns going around in a circle, making three statements about themselves - as is obvious from the name of the game. For instance, when it was my turn, I might say, “I went to an all girl’s Catholic high school. My favorite classic TV show is I Love Lucy. I love brussel sprouts.” Then the group would try to guess which statement was false. Of course, people can get as creative as they want or make their statements as obvious as they want. </p>
<p>Apples to Apples is a pretty simple game that’s good for biggish groups, but would also be fun for the lookers-on and kibbitzers. I like the Dictionary game - all you need is a big fat dictionary. Less stressful than charades and everyone can stay sitting down.</p>
<p>Dictionary, also called “Fictionary”. The person who is “it” looks up an obscure word in the dictionary and challenges everyone to write down what they think the definition is. Then players vote on which is the correct one. You can award points for correct guesses or just take turns until everyone has had one. We used to have some spirited arguments in this game!</p>
<p>My parents just got back from a Christmas party where they played a game called “What is yours like?” </p>
<p>One person leaves the room and then the remaining group members agree on a common object (ex. umbrella, closet). The individual comes back to the room and every person has to state what their object is like, with the intention of the individual to guess the object. So for example with a closet, participants might say “Mine is dark,” or “Mine is very unorganized.” The possibilities are endless! My mom said they had a fun time thinking of descriptive ways to describe the item without totally giving it away after one person. </p>
<p>It also depends on the level the SRs are functioning at. Some can’t do much more than hatching or bingo while others can do more dictionary/password or charade type games. If you can play music, guess the name of the tune could be fun and evoke happy memories. </p>
<p>Ha, as a senior( although our senior centers don’t discriminate by age), I don’t care for charades, but Apples to Apples, Trivial Pursuit or Cranium would be fun.
Or poker.
Or twister for the agile ones.
Some of the games that college dorms put on during orientation week as ice breakers might be fun.
There’s one where you have a well known name on your back and you have to ask yes/no questions to figure out who it is. Or when you are given part of a name, and have to find the person who was given the rest of the name.
Yu could use people with three names, like Helen Gurley Brown, or Helena Bonham Carter, to increase the liklihood of them finding their partner.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for the great suggestions! Ours is a recreational senior center, and almost all of the members are independent (I should be so sharp at their ages). We do many of the games mentioned here on a regular basis - cards of all kinds, Scrabble, bunco, bingo. Name That Tune is very popular, but our go-to pianist is laid up for a while - we’ll certainly do it again, though.</p>
<p>We might try Apples to Apples, Taboo, or some kind of guessing game like the ones kgos and emerald mentioned above. Someone PMed me with great suggestions, too - including doing hot potato as an icebreaker with some object that buzzes or dongs. Thanks again - I knew you folks would have some good ideas for me.</p>
<p>Speaking of hot potato, that reminds me, when I was in high school my parents were diplomats overseas and we were often in charge of keeping a bunch of kids happy with silly games. One that always went over well was “spoons” you just pass cards until you have four of the same kind in your hand - then you stealthily grab a spoon. There’s one fewer spoon at the table than there are people, you are out if you don’t get a spoon. <a href=“http://boardgames.about.com/od/cardgames/a/spoons.htm”>http://boardgames.about.com/od/cardgames/a/spoons.htm</a></p>
<p>If they are mobile, my favorite ice breaker for all ages is everyone has a post it with a character (fictional or real) on their back and they can only ask Yes or No questions to solve it. You can make up other rules, such as they can only ask the same person 1-2 questions in a row. The characters can be made age appropriate.</p>
<p>Some ideas: Barack Obama, Superman, Batman, Frank Sinatra, Queen Elizabeth, etc. </p>
<p>I love Dictionary, too! Maybe you could have a volunteer reader (instead of players taking turns to read the clues) so the elderly residents with fading eyesight can participate without having to decode handwriting of other residents. And maybe have preselected words to simplify the process. </p>