I know a lot of us are probably bored at home right now, so I’ve put together a list of seven fun literature-related games that you can play by yourself or with family or friends if you’re looking for something to do that’s fun, takes little to no equipment, and is somewhat educational.
The first game, and one that I’ve had a lot of fun playing with my sister, is the say-the-same-word game. It’s based off an old video I found while browsing youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sP1DqyagXE), which I think was originally meant to advertise an app that no longer exists, but it’s more fun to play in person anyways. To play, find a partner, count to three, say a random word, and repeat the process with a word that relates the previous two words. For example, one game I played with my sister started out with “food” and “ocean”, then became “slug” and “salt”, and finally ended with “death”. Depending on the people and starter words, some games can last pretty long!
Another game that’s fun to play if you’re bored and are quarantined with people who have the same taste in books as you is the badly-describe-a-book game. The object of the game is to correctly guess the name of a book after someone gives it a “bad” description, such as “capitalist society promotes child murder” for The Hunger Games or “small man goes on an adventure” for The Hobbit. This game can be played with just 2 people or a big group, and it’s even more fun if you add restrictions on the amount of words allowed in the descriptions. If you aren’t much of a bookworm, it also works with movies, TV shows, celebrities, and just about any other category you can think of. It’s sort of like Charades, but with words!
A third game is the one-word story game. Find another person or group of people, and take turns saying one word each to try to tell a cohesive story. You never know what word could come next, which makes it exciting to try to come up with new plotlines on the spot. The story can take some pretty surprising twists and turns! If you’re looking for a longer lasting activity, you can also have everyone get out a notebook (or two) and take turns passing them around and writing one sentence or paragraph to add to each story. This variation is fun in a bigger group because you get to see everyone’s different writing styles and hear how all of the stories turned out at the end.
A fun game to play while driving is the letters-on-signs game. Everyone has to look out for words starting with each letter of the alphabet in order. You can also play while on a walk/run/bike ride in your neighborhood and have challenges with your siblings to see who can spot the words first.
If you don’t have siblings or you’re looking for something to do on your own, you can try a just-keep-typing session. Set up an empty google doc, sit down at your computer, and just start typing. This one isn’t really a game, but it’s fun to see where the words lead, and can even help you practice getting faster at typing. I did this once in sixth grade and ended up writing an entire five-page story about a chipmunk who ate a green potato and turned green. You can also do this as a consciousness stream, where you set aside a certain amount of time and just write everything that comes to your mind. Consciousness streams can be a great way to release stress, but I find it much more fun to just type without any limits and see where it goes.
The next game is great if you are trying to entertain younger kids: a word-scramble scavenger hunt! Write down a word or phrase, cut out each individual letter, and hide them around the house or backyard. You could also use this as a creative way to get exercise by writing a certain number of exercises on the back of each letter to complete once the letter is found.
The final “game” I recommend is: board games! There are lots and lots of great word-related board games out there for all ages, group sizes, and skill levels. Some of my favorites are Scrabble, Taboo, Malarkey, and Balderdash. If you happen to own one or more of these, dig them out of your games closet and give it a go with your family! It’s the perfect thing to do if you’re looking for creative family activities that don’t involve sitting in front of a TV (or doing yet another jigsaw puzzle).
That’s all I have for now! Enjoy the tips, and feel free to add more in the comments if you think of any!
-Marlow Tracy
This is a really great post! I attempted to solve a 750-piece puzzle a few weeks back because I was practically dying of boredom, but I gave up 1/20 of the way through. I like how you gave a detailed set of instructions (and examples) for each game so as not to confuse any players. I will be sure to play one of these games with my family soon. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I’ve been trying to find e-books to read to replace the books I’m normally able to get from the library, but I get headaches from reading online for too long so I haven’t read as much lately. All of the games you mentioned sound really fun (I’ve played a few with my siblings during car rides and they’re a great way to pass time). Some other word games I would add are hangman and “The alphabet game.” I’ve played the alphabet game a lot with my younger sister recently and the rules are pretty simple: everyone agrees on a category (food, books, movies, people, etc.). The first person says a word in that category that starts with ‘a,’ the next person says a word that starts with ‘b’ and the game continues until ‘z’ (if you can’t think of a word you’re out).
ReplyDeleteThis was such a fun post to read during the time of quarantine, it's different, it's fun, and educational. I really enjoyed getting to read the kinda of games you enjoy playing and they seem pretty easy too. When I went to Chile with my family over the summer we played the letters game with the signs and it was so much fun especially because there are certain letters that are less common in different languages. Glad you're making use out of quarantine!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. I've been pretty bored the past couple of months, and these seem like really fun quick games to play with my sisters. It'll also be a way to strengthen our vocabulary, which has probably been depleating because us having less work that involved writing durin quarantine.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! At the beginning of the quarantine experience, I was more than happy to just watch shows and movies. Now, I have gotten tired of that and I feel like I can be more productive. I am starting to really enjoy games again including some of the games on your list. I am ecstatic to use your suggestions to play new games and have fun.
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