60 Classic Indoor Games

By Katie Hewett

Fun indoor games for the whole family to enjoy.

Switch off your screens, gather the family, open up 60 Classic Indoor Games and remember how simple it is to play and laugh together. Inside this wonderful little book are new, classic and beloved (but often-forgotten) family games that are perfect to keep the children from their screens or tearing the house down on rainy days. It's great for entertaining visiting grandparents and brilliant at getting everyone's imagination going!

Create your own family traditions with classic games like Charades, Sardines and Are You There, Moriarty? as well as new favourites like Kangaroo Racing, Sprouts and Fish Flap.

Includes everything you need to know to play over 60 classic games ordered alphabetically for quick and easy reference. Suitable for all ages, it's a lovely gift to pass on for future generations to enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Mar 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781911163961

Katie Hewett

Katie Hewett is a keen naturalist and the author of Are We There Yet?, You're It and Cool Maths.

Book preview

Introduction

In an age where you can even play games on your mobile phone, traditional indoor games, or parlour games as the Victorians called them, could be regarded as a thing of the past. However, I think there are many reasons for us to bring them back into the mainstream.

I grew up in the 1970s, some of it in Jersey in the Channel Islands, where television programmes didn’t even begin until 4p.m. I also spent two weeks of the year with my grandparents in south-west Ireland and their tiny portable television was stowed away in a cupboard until the evening news started at 6p.m. Here, in spite of the beautiful countryside and glorious beaches, we tended to spend a great deal of time inside because it rained – a lot. Hence my fondness for indoor games (and endless fudge- and toffee-making – but perhaps that’s for another book).

Indoor games work because they are simple, cost virtually nothing, require very little equipment, exercise the mind creatively and intellectually, and cut across generations – I can remember crying with laughter while playing a game of Consequences with my grandmother – but, most of all, because they are fun.

This book contains everything you need to play over 65 games, divided into sections depending on what sort of mood you are in: silly, energetic, clever, dramatic or quiet. There are games for the whole family to play together, games for mums and dads (and their friends), as well as children’s games that most of us should remember, even if the rules are a little fuzzy around the edges.

Over the last few winters, heavy snowfalls have meant that thousands of children have been forced to stay at home for days at a time. So, once the snowmen have been built and the socks and gloves are drying on the radiator, rather than reach for the remote control why not play a few of these parlour games instead?

Illustration

Silly Games

These are the games you play to get everyone in the mood, to cast off inhibitions and get the party started. When played by a group of people who know each other less well, they can be great ice-breakers.

Illustration

Goodies and Baddies

Illustration

Everyone loves playing keepie uppie with a balloon – however, this game has an exciting twist.

Stuff to Find

• An even number of players.

• A lot of balloons.

House Rules

Divide the players into two teams, the Goodies and the Baddies. The Goodies are given the blown-up balloon and it is their job to keep it airborne, while the Baddies have to try to burst it. The use of sharp objects, tackling or similar moves is not allowed.

When the Baddies have succeeded in bursting the balloon, the teams swap over their roles and start again with a second balloon.

The Picture Frame Game

Illustration

A straight face is essential for this game – and if you’ve heard my son giggle then you will know how hard this can be!

Stuff to Find

• Two or more players.

• An empty picture frame or a frame made out of cardboard.

House Rules

The players make a circle and take it in turns to sit in the middle holding the picture frame. They have to hold the picture frame in front of their face, which must remain completely expressionless, for two minutes. If they move, twitch or laugh, they are out and must perform a forfeit. Play then passes to the next person.

Fun Forfeits

Games can be made even sillier by asking the players to perform forfeits if they lose a life or are disqualified. Here are some suggestions:

1.     Recite the alphabet backwards.

2.     Act like a chimpanzee.

3.     Frown for one minute.

4.     Skip 10 times with a skipping rope.

5.     Wearing a blindfold, identify two people by touching their faces.

6.     Recite a poem of your choice.

7.     Have someone apply lipstick to you while blindfolded.

8.     Swap socks with the person on your left.

9.     Name 10 things you would find in the kitchen.

10.   Wear a hat for the rest of the game.

11.   Hug a person wearing glasses.

12.   Pat your head with one hand, while rubbing your tummy with the other, for 30 seconds.

13.   Do the opposite of three things ordered by other players.

14.   Yawn until you make someone else yawn.

15.   You are shipwrecked on an island inhabited by cannibals –