Old-fashioned Party Games are New Again

• Card tricks, fortune telling, and amateur magic can highlight your party, provided it is well-done. 

• A scavenger hunt or treasure hunt is a great activity for kids and adults.

• A beanbag toss with opposing teams 12 to 15 feet apart is worth a try.  Each side gets six bean bags. If a player is hit with the beanbag, they are out of the game. 
  

• For outdoor fun, try horseshoes and shuffleboard.

• The card game “Pit” is exciting and loud.   The aim of the game is to corner the stock market through the means of cards frantically traded during the game.  You can buy the game “Pit” by following this link:  http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Moves-Pit-Card-Game/dp/B001Y9CXK6

• Of course, charades are a favorite.  Teams are usually composed of 3 guests each acting out the names of books, movies  etc.  in pantomime while the rest of the guests try to guess the charade within a time limit.

• Try jigsaw puzzles depicting scenes from foreign countries, famous paintings or geometric designs.  Use puzzles with the same number of pieces and the same level of difficulty. Race to determine which pair or team completes the greatest portion of the puzzle in a specified amount of time.

• Composing limericks can be great fun.  Each guest is provided with paper, pencil, and a writing surface.  Guests are instructed to compose, anonymously, the first 2 lines of a limerick.  The papers are folded with the limerick inside, collected, shuffled, redistributed and guests add the last 3 lines.  Each limerick has 5 lines rhyming as follows:  the last words of lines 1 and 2 rhyme with each other; lines 3 and 4 do the same; the last word of line 5 rhymes with the last word of lines 1 and 2. 
  

• My reading students and I made up a special game of Hangman.  Only book titles could be used.  Directions for playing Hangman can be found at http://www.ehow.com/way_5414972_directions-hangman.html

• Board games such as Bingo, Perquackey (a word game), Diplomacy (how well can you lie?), Scrabble (tests word skills, Aggravation, Parcheesi, and Mille Borne (like an auto rally) are just a few of many games that work well at parties. 
  

• Foil, a word game; Bazaar for trading; and Win, Place and Show for horse racing fans are a few different and challenging games.  You can purchase  Foil and the other board games mentioned at http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/794/foil
  

Your local dollar store has a multitude of items that can be used for prizes.  Also, you can just go around the house and find any little items that can be used as prizes.  Guests can also be asked to bring an unwanted item to place in the prize pool.