19 Family Games for When You're Stuck in the House

Family Games

Schools across the country are closed—in some places, already through the end of the school year—thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, meaning that most families are spending more time than usual together. While keeping up with school work and reading are important, so is relaxation and family bonding.

Family Games

Going out to the movies or the mall isn't an option right now, but you can easily replace those outings with family games you can easily play while you're stuck in the house.

Family Games

Turn to this list when you've run through your list of tried-and-true activities. These games will get the whole family laughing and working together, and they're suitable for most ages. The best part? Almost all of these games are completely free to play, and you'll need only minimal supplies, if any. So let's get started!

1 Would You Rather?

Borrow this classic car game for household use if you have elementary school-aged kids. It's a favorite with this age group, and they'll love coming up with their own questions (or you can search for some online). Be prepared for a hilarious (and possibly gross!) good time—trust us, your kids will find a way to bring "boogers" into it.

2 Scavenger Hunt

Plan a scavenger hunt for your kids to complete in your house and/or your yard. Although this game takes a bit of advance planning, the great thing is you can adapt it to just about any age, from toddlers to teens.

2 Scavenger Hunt

Toddlers benefit from picture-based hunts with familiar objects like balloons or teddy bears, while teens will enjoy a challenging scavenger hunt that comes with riddle-like clues. And coming up with the game ought to keep you entertained as well.

3 Charades

This classic and prop-free game is a perfect way to pass the time when everyone's bored and cranky. All you need to play are your imaginations. Take turns coming up with topics and acting them out. Clues can be as simple or complex as you like, depending on the ages playing.

4 Minute to Win It

With a little bit of ingenuity and some common household items, you can come up with tons of Minute to Win It-inspired activities for the whole family. The object is to complete a certain task in less than a minute, and the ticking clock definitely ups the excitement. Check out this ultimate guide of Minute to Win It games for some ideas.

5 Pong

Remember beer pong? You can actually play it with your kids (sans alcohol, of course) if you happen to have some Solo cups (or something similar) and some ping pong balls laying around. Set the cups up however you'd like and split the family into teams. Give each person a shot at getting the ping pong balls into the cups.

5 Pong

Change it up by challenging everyone to bounce the ball once first or dream up your own variations of this fun family game.

6 Hot Potato

There's something about Hot Potato that converts even the most reluctant game player. It's hard not to get totally into it once that music starts playing! Create a fun playlist that appeals to your whole family or use one of the hot potato songs on YouTube that stop and start at different intervals. Anything relatively soft that can be passed easily can serve as your potato.

7 Hallway Laser Maze

If you have a roll of painter's tape in the garage, there are tons of fun things you can do with it to keep the kids entertained. One of our favorite uses? Making a hallway laser maze. Run the tape from one wall to the other at various heights and locations to create your very own laser maze. Then, have each member of the family try to make their way through the maze without tearing it down.

8 Laundry Basket Skee-Ball

Using laundry baskets and a makeshift ramp, you can recreate this super fun skee-ball game from Frugal Fun for Boys. Looks like a blast!

9 Spoons

This fast-paced card game is a favorite among kids and adults alike. Place spoons in the middle of the table; one fewer than the number of people playing. Deal four cards to each player. The object is to get four of a kind. To do so, the first person draws a card, then passes one of their cards to the person on their left. Play continues around the circle until someone gets four of a kind.

9 Spoons

That person then picks up a spoon, and it's a race for everyone else to pick one up as well. The person stuck without a spoon gets an "S." Get to S-P-O-O-N, and you're out!

10 20 Questions

Everyone's already familiar with this classic game, most often played in the car or used as an icebreaker. Repurpose it for the family, maybe as everyone's finishing dinner one night. It's super fun and easy to play, requiring nothing but a bit of brain power. And if you liked this activity, be sure to check out these hilarious would you rather questions next.

11 Movie Quotes Game

You can buy lots of games that have players guess quotes from different movies. But why spend your money when you can make your own? With just a bit of advance planning (and some help from the internet), you can create your own "Guess the Movie" game by writing down a bunch of popular movie quotes on notecards, one quote per card.

11 Movie Quotes Game

For a fun twist, keep all your quotes within a certain theme, such as Disney movies or comedies.

12 Pictionary

Here's another game you can easily make on your own. Split the family into teams to see who can figure out what their teammate is trying to draw. Don't have a white board or a chalkboard? A chalk marker on a french door (where each team gets one side) totally works too.

13 Bingo

Draw up your own BINGO cards, or use this awesome site to have BINGO night, quarantine-style. You can even come up with prizes, like a night off from chores or the opportunity to choose the next movie you all watch together.

14 Bunco

If you've never played bunco, now's the perfect time to try it! All you'll need are some dice to play this fun game. It's so addictive, chances are you'll want to continue your family bunco night even after social distancing is a distant memory. This easy rules breakdown explains how to score.

15 Rummy

If your kids are a bit older, this is a great time to teach them how to play Gin Rummy. It's a bit more involved than Go Fish or War, but once they've got it down, this fun card game can provide hours of enjoyment. Refresh your memory on the rules here.

16 Roll a Face Printable

Conversely, this adorable printable game is fun for the younger set. A roll of the dice determines which unique combination of facial features your character will have. Of course, it's never the same result twice!

17 Yahtzee

Sure, you could go online and buy a game of Yahtzee, but did you know it's super easy to make your own? All you need are five die and this printable Yahtzee score card.

18 LEGO Challenge

Got lots of LEGO laying around? Gather them up and invite your family to participate in a LEGO competition. There are tons of different ways to do this, but our favorite is to write several building challenges (like "build a car" or "build a fire station") on a set of notecards, then draw a card and complete the challenge using only LEGO and your imagination. Rotate who gets to judge the creations to keep everything fair.

19 Don't Eat Pete

Here's a game for little people and big people alike that can be adapted to just about any holiday. It's called Don't Eat Pete, and all it requires is a printable game card. To play, one person leaves the room while everyone else looks at the characters on the card and decides which one will be designated "Pete." Then, they place chocolate candies on each character.

19 Don't Eat Pete

The person returns and begins eating the candies one at a time. When they go to eat the piece on Pete, everyone shouts, "Don't eat Pete!" Yep, that's it! For this time of year, we love this seasonal take on the game from Simple Everyday Mom, called Don't Eat Peter Rabbit.

View more

01.

02.

03.

10 Ways to Have a Fabulous Family Vacation

10 Sure Signs Your Child Is Being Bullied

9 Tricks to Keep Your Toddler Busy

19 Family Games for When You're Stuck in the House

Read more

Family Games

Read more

Family Games

Going out to the movies or the mall isn't an option right now, but you can easily replace those outings with family games you can easily play while you're stuck in the house.

Read more

Family Games

Read more

1 Would You Rather?

Read more

2 Scavenger Hunt

Plan a scavenger hunt for your kids to complete in your house and/or your yard. Although this game takes a bit of advance planning, the great thing is you can adapt it to just about any age, from toddlers to teens.

Read more

2 Scavenger Hunt

Toddlers benefit from picture-based hunts with familiar objects like balloons or teddy bears, while teens will enjoy a challenging scavenger hunt that comes with riddle-like clues. And coming up with the game ought to keep you entertained as well.

Read more

3 Charades

This classic and prop-free game is a perfect way to pass the time when everyone's bored and cranky. All you need to play are your imaginations. Take turns coming up with topics and acting them out. Clues can be as simple or complex as you like, depending on the ages playing.

Read more

4 Minute to Win It

Read more

5 Pong

Read more

5 Pong

Change it up by challenging everyone to bounce the ball once first or dream up your own variations of this fun family game.

Read more

6 Hot Potato

Read more

7 Hallway Laser Maze

Read more

8 Laundry Basket Skee-Ball

Using laundry baskets and a makeshift ramp, you can recreate this super fun skee-ball game from Frugal Fun for Boys. Looks like a blast!

Read more

9 Spoons

Read more

9 Spoons

That person then picks up a spoon, and it's a race for everyone else to pick one up as well. The person stuck without a spoon gets an "S." Get to S-P-O-O-N, and you're out!

Read more

10 20 Questions

Read more

11 Movie Quotes Game

Read more

11 Movie Quotes Game

For a fun twist, keep all your quotes within a certain theme, such as Disney movies or comedies.

Read more

12 Pictionary

Here's another game you can easily make on your own. Split the family into teams to see who can figure out what their teammate is trying to draw. Don't have a white board or a chalkboard? A chalk marker on a french door (where each team gets one side) totally works too.

Read more

13 Bingo

Draw up your own BINGO cards, or use this awesome site to have BINGO night, quarantine-style. You can even come up with prizes, like a night off from chores or the opportunity to choose the next movie you all watch together.

Read more

14 Bunco

If you've never played bunco, now's the perfect time to try it! All you'll need are some dice to play this fun game. It's so addictive, chances are you'll want to continue your family bunco night even after social distancing is a distant memory. This easy rules breakdown explains how to score.

Read more

15 Rummy

If your kids are a bit older, this is a great time to teach them how to play Gin Rummy. It's a bit more involved than Go Fish or War, but once they've got it down, this fun card game can provide hours of enjoyment. Refresh your memory on the rules here.

Read more

16 Roll a Face Printable

Conversely, this adorable printable game is fun for the younger set. A roll of the dice determines which unique combination of facial features your character will have. Of course, it's never the same result twice!

Read more

17 Yahtzee

Sure, you could go online and buy a game of Yahtzee, but did you know it's super easy to make your own? All you need are five die and this printable Yahtzee score card.

Read more

18 LEGO Challenge

Read more

19 Don't Eat Pete

Read more

19 Don't Eat Pete

The person returns and begins eating the candies one at a time. When they go to eat the piece on Pete, everyone shouts, "Don't eat Pete!" Yep, that's it! For this time of year, we love this seasonal take on the game from Simple Everyday Mom, called Don't Eat Peter Rabbit.

View more

01.

02.

03.