Living Room Games: No Energy, No Space, No TV, No Problem

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Ten years ago, we had Baby #4. I was exhausted and had little patience. By the end of the work day, all I could do was collapse onto the couch. But, I had family members who needed my attention – an infant, older kids and an equally exhausted husband. Still, we didn’t want to continually resort to TV for family time.

With the following criteria in mind, I compiled a collection of go-to activities that I could do while resting, holding a sleeping baby, or enjoying family time during holidays no matter how tired I might be.

  1. The activity couldn’t require any energy of me, but if it wore out my kids a little, that was a bonus.
  2. No television or computers required. 
  3. Nothing to purchase. Just pick up and do. You don’t even need a deck of cards or dice for these games. Some of the games do requires pens or crayons, but generally allow you to use whatever you have on hand.
  4. All Ages. 

My kids are a decade older and I’m not always collapsing on the couch at the end of the day, but these games are still great to pull out for family gatherings, game nights and family camping trips.

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All of these ideas are ideal for a vacation and family gathering, like Thanksgiving!

Parlor Games for an Easy Family Game Night

Parlor games are ideal for the whole family to play together any time. With many of them originating in the Victorian age, these classics don’t require special equipment and can be played with participants of mixed ages. The following are some of my favorites:

Charades is the perfect family game.

I love charades as a family game, because I can tailor the words to the age, interest, and experience of the participant, and, if the littlest players make no sense, one of the grown-ups can sit behind them giving additional charade hints. This even the smallest child can participate and have fun, but the game keeps moving along. If you need a refresher on charades, the Boy Scouts of America have printable instructions here.

Variation: Sometimes we change it up by putting on music and playing dance charades. 

Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?

This game can be played sitting in a circle or one person can go from chair to chair. The Genius of Play has instructions here.

Simon Says.

This is a great game for multiple ages and, as long as I’m Simon, I get to sit. Literacy Minnesota shares both the instructions and the educational benefits of Simon Says here.

Change one thing

One player can determine the parameters (ie. “Make a book about football by changing one word”). Than the other players shout out answers (ie: “Five Little Kickers”). If you want, you can have players guess the original (ie: “Five Little Peppers”). You can play this game with just about anything, and it is a great game to play around a dinner table or sitting in a living room.

Variations: Instead of changing one word, change one letter or add one word. I’ve seen this game played with movie titles, book titles, song titles and video games. The change can ruin the original, make the original better, or change it to a certain topic.

More ideas for parlor games with kids:

We like this list of games from Kid Games Central.

If you would prefer a book to a binder or a website, you can find books like Victorian Parlour Games: 50 Traditional Games for Today’s Parties by Thomas W. Cushing that have exhaustive lists of games and their various rules

Thank you spelled with game tiles - Family Fun Twin Cities.

Easy Scavenger Hunts

Scavenger hunts are a great way to keep kids active from your command seat on the couch. The adult can shout out an item to look for and let the kids run and find them.

Go and Get scavenger hunt

Another DIY way to do a Scavenger Hunt is by grabbing a piece of paper for everyone. Write the ABCs down one side or squares of colors. And everyone has to find something for each listing.  

When everyone returns, you can show what we have and defend your finds. (Read Go and Get with Rex by David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka for a demonstration of the game.)

Monthly scavenger hunt ideas

This idea came from Edventures With Kids – Twelve Months of Scavenger Hunts. Use the pre-made scavengers hunts or use them as inspiration for making your own.

Sneak in a little cleaning

I find it easier to come up with a list of items I know the kids can find. In fact, I often look around the house for stuff that needs picking up. That way I kill two birds with one stone. Tired parents could take a page from the book, All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor. In that story, the mom taught her children how to dust properly by hiding a certain number of buttons for the girls to find as they cleaned.

More help creating scavenger hunts

Gianna lays out a simple plan for creating your own Scavenger Hunts Here: Boredom Busters: DIY Scavenger Hunts. If you prefer, you can find a book of scavenger hunts that you can pull off the shelf whenever you need it.

Art Starters Make Fun Games

Art Starters can make some of the best family games for mixed ages. There are no winners, losers or opponents. Rather than competitive strategy games, they tend to be creative and collaborative. I’ve started keeping my eyes open for family-friendly art starters. Many of my best ideas have been coming from The Artful Parent, who I follow on Facebook. These first two ideas come from the Artful Parent.

Magazine Pictures As Drawing Prompts

  • You need a piece of paper and some magazines, glue, and drawing utensils.
  • Select a page from a magazine and cut out the image. 
  • Glue the image to the paper as an inspiration starter
  • Use your own crayons, markers, etc., to create an image from your imagination that incorporates the picture from the magazine.

Simon Says Draw

Set everyone up for a good time of drawing.  Then, start giving Simon commands:

  • Simon says draw circles.
  • Simon says pick a new crayon.
  • Simon says use the color blue.
  • Simon says trade markers
  • Etc.

Exquisite Corpse

In this classic game, each player draws a section of a body without seeing what the previous players have drawn. At the end of the game, the last person to draw, unfolds the sheet of paper to reveal the full picture. MoMa explains the rules here. This game can be as much fun with a group of talented artists as it can be with preschool age kids. 

DIY I Spy

This idea came home from school with my grade schooler. You can make your own I Spy game with knickknacks from around the house. Maybe collect interesting little objects into an ice cream bucket as you go about your week, or even just dump the contents of a junk drawer onto the coffee table?

  • If you want to go with a theme you could gather only red items or only art supplies, etc.
  • Once you have your items gathered, choose a few that you will have the kids search for. (For the littlest kids, you can just tell them, “Find the red crayon” and for bigger kids you can make clever clues).
    3. Spread your items out on the coffee table to start the game.

Find More Art Starters:

Art-making prompts are another thing that is easy to find in book format.

Don’t Forget Homework, Reading and Bible Verses

When in doubt, we can always fall back on the things that we should be doing anyways. If you are really tired, maybe you can find a cozy place to cuddle and read. If you are too exhausted to read aloud, look at through your library’s collection of digital on-demand audio books. 

The most important thing is that this time should be relaxing and enjoyable for everyone – tired parents and energetic children, alike.

While the sleepless nights and busy days of the baby, toddler years have given way to grade school, tweens and teens. The resources I pulled together during those tired days, are still useful for gameplay with my maturing family. With older kids, we can make the games a little more complex and a little more competitive, but all of these games (except maybe the homework) have grown with us and still can be plenty of fun for the whole family.

More Indoor Fun:

Indoor Outings:

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