Whatever the occasion, a party or a youth meeting, fun indoor group games are the best way to keep people busy and entertained. Group games selection should be based on the space available, number of players and availability of game supplies. This Plentifun article offers you some good options for planning indoor group games for any occasion.
Indoor group games serve as a great icebreaker and help a crowd interact and familiarize themselves with each other. Depending on the reason for which the group has gathered together, one can also include games that teach qualities of teamwork or leadership. A good way to start any game session is with an icebreaker game. They also help separate the crowd into groups. On the other hand group games encourage team building qualities and sporting spirit in kids, which proves to be of great help for them in future. Children learn to compete, win and accept failures at times through these simple games. Hence take a look at the following tried and tested game ideas for adults and kids.
Indoor Group Games for Adults
Animal Farm
Divide the crowd into four teams. Pick four creatures that make distinct sounds, like ducks, donkeys, cows etc. Divide the total number of people by four. Write each animal’s name on that many pieces of paper. For example, if there are 40 players, write donkey on 10 pieces, duck on another 10, and so on. Now put all the pieces in a bag and shake it to mix the pieces. Ask each player to pick one piece of paper and make the animal sound written on the corresponding paper, and do actions like flying, walking on all four or waddling to find the way to their group.
Story Telling with Props
This game requires a fairly large group of people (at least 20). It also requires a bit of planning as 20 ‘props’ (like a pillow, plate, belt, flowers, etc) from around the house. To begin playing, divide the players into four teams. Now give them 5 props each, and some preparation time so that they can come up with ideas for incorporating all the props. Each item must be used in any way apart from its conventional use. Each team has to enact their story while utilizing all the props given to them. The team which uses the props in the most creative manner, or the team that comes up with the most hilarious story, wins.
Tablecloth Maze
You need to be in a fairly big room to play this game. Lay plastic rectangular table mats on the floor to form a maze. Wherever needed, attach them using sticky tape. While making the maze, leave three entry points. Now blindfold the first three participants and position them on their hands and knees at each entry point. As they crawl through the maze, they have to feel their way along the path formed between the table mats. Their objective is to get to one of the other entrances and exit the maze. As all three players start to crawl at the same time, the first one to find his way out wins!
Trash Can Ball
To organize this fun game you need 5 tennis balls, 3 sturdy trash cans and a magic marker. Decide on a throwing line, i.e. the place where each person will stand while chucking the ball. Position the cans in a straight line, directly ahead of where the player will stand. The first can should be at a distance of 7 feet from the ‘throwing line’, the second one at 14 feet and the third at 21 feet. Draw a star on one of the tennis balls. The rule is that the closest can is 3 points, the next one is 6 and the farthest one 9. The ball with the star on it adds 10 points to whichever can it lands in.
To start the game, split your group into two teams. Let one player from the first team stand behind the throwing line. Each player gets to chuck 5 tennis balls into the trash cans. The second person to play should be from the other team. It keeps the interest alive if players from different teams alternate. If you want both the teams to play simultaneously, you have to arrange for an additional set of 3 cans and 5 tennis balls. In the end, the team with the highest points wins!
Indoor Group Games for Kids
Guess the Rhyming Word
It is a fun game for kids because they have to act and guess the rhyming word rather than just guessing it orally. To begin this game, divide the players into two teams and put them in two separate rooms. Now one team will choose a word, say ‘cap’ and tell other team that the word chosen rhymes with ‘map’. The other team then has to guess the correct word. When they find their first guess, say suppose ‘nap’ then they should act and convey their idea to the opposite team. Since the word is wrong the other group will shout “No”. This shall continue till the word is guessed right. Finally, the team that attempts correct guesses in less time wins.
Fall in Line
This game requires quite a large number of players. Divide the players into teams of 6 and assign one number to each player. Each team can have a team leader, who will help the players to fall in line according to the sequence of numbers called out by the volunteer of the game. The teams should try to be first in arranging themselves according to the sequence called out, which will earn them a point. Finally, the team that is first to reach 10 points wins the game.
Alphabets on the Back
This may seem a very simple game for adults, however when it is planned for kids it becomes a bit challenging and exciting. Now to begin with, divide all the participants in pairs of two. Next, call one player from each team and show an alphabet to them secretly. The player then has to go to the partner and trace the letter on his/her back using only one finger of his hand. While doing so the player tracing is not allowed to speak or give any other hints to the partner. This activity should be timed by the volunteer and the player who is quick in guessing the alphabet earns points for his/her team. To increase the difficulty level for older children, you can use words consisting three or more letters. The partner will try to guess each letter of the word in sequence and then form the correct word out of those letters.
A Truth or a Lie
For this game you will have to arrange a piece of paper and a pen/pencil for each participant. This game is more suitable for a group of older children. To begin the game, distribute a paper and a pen/pencil to all the players. Now ask them to write 2 true sentences and 1 false sentence on the paper. The sentences can be “I walk to school everyday”, “I have four rabbits at home”, etc. However, participants should make sure that the lie or false sentence they write is not very obvious to recognize as fun and surprise element will be lost. When all participants finish writing ask each one to read their statements aloud one by one. Other players should guess the false statement out of the three. The person who guesses the lie correctly earns a point. On the other hand the person who fools maximum people (the people who voted for the true sentence as a lie) gets a bonus point. Ultimately the player with maximum points wins the game.
Indoor group games are a lot of fun, and time spent making great memories. As organizers, with sufficient thought it is very easy to come with games of your own. However, it is very important not to let the crowd become too competitive, as the purpose of these games is for everyone to have fun and stay occupied.
