Six Party Games for New Year's Eve
Make Your Party One to Remember With These Fun New Year Games
Dec 29, 2008
Party games are the mainstay of party entertainment and guarantee an enjoyable time for all who attend. They include everybody and allow people who haven’t met to become acquainted. Here are six ideas for party games that can be used to spice up your New Year’s party.
All Together Now…
This is an ideal warm-up game. Divide everyone into groups of four or five people. Explain that the object of the game is to think of as many songs as possible which mention place names, for example: ‘New York, New York’, ‘London Bridge is Falling Down’, ‘Hotel California’.
Each team sings as a group, singing only the line from their song which mentions the name of the place. The first team begins, and as soon as they finish, the second team must come in with a different song, followed by the third team and so on, back to the first team again. If a team cannot think of a song immediately – or if they repeat one that has already been used – they are out. The winning team is the last one remaining.
Anthony and Cleopatra
This is another great game for getting people to mix and meet each other. Think of as many famous pairs as you can – Anthony and Cleopatra, Laurel and Hardy, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Abbot and Costello, Napoleon and Josephine and so on.
Make separate name tags for each character, and stick or pin one on the back of each player. (Make sure you have an even number playing the game.) The idea is for each player to find the other half of their pair. They must discover who their character is by moving around the room asking questions of the other players. Questions can only be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – such as ‘Am I still alive?’ When two players think they belong together, they can go to a third and ask, ‘Are we a pair?’ If they are right they receive a prize. The game ends when everyone has found their right partner.
This is a perfect game for playing cupid!
Musical Hats
Now that everybody is warmed-up, here is a more energetic game. You’ll need a bag of party hats, enough for everyone at the party. Distribute the hats amongst the players and ask them to stand in a circle wearing their hats. Have some music ready to play, but before you begin, take a hat off one player so that you are one short. When the music starts, each player must take the hat off the person in front and put it on their own head.
The hat keeps moving around the circle until the music stops. Whoever is without a hat on their head at this point is out of the game. Take away another hat each time you restart, until finally you’re left with two players swapping one hat. The player wearing the hat when the music stops is the winner.
Blind Butler
An extremely silly and messy game, which makes it a favorite for children! Ask for two volunteers, who should be equipped with large aprons to cover their clothes. They sit opposite each other and are both blindfolded. In one hand they are given spoons, and in the other a bowl of cake.
The object of the game is quite simple – they must try to feed each other, with the help (or hindrance) of the audience.
What Country Am I?
This game is really a fast form of charades, calling for quick thinking on the part of the players. An umpire with a list of well-known countries divides people into teams, and asks each team to send one person to get the name of a country. They must then go and act it to their team without using words. For example, if the country is Spain they might try to convey Flamenco, castanets or bullfighting. As soon as someone guesses the country correctly, the team can send another player to get the next name on the list. The winning team is the one to get to the end of the list first.
I’m Dreaming
A fascinating and revealing game to end with, and one that will only work if some players are new to the game (or joke, as you shall see!) Send two or three people out of the room, explaining that the rest of you are going to agree upon the story of a dream. They must discover the story when they return by asking questions. In fact, you explain to those who remain that all they must do is answer the questions in a repeating sequence; ‘yes’, ‘yes’, ‘no’, for example.
Call the first player in and tell them they can only ask questions which the group can answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The person might begin with a question such as, ‘Was I in this dream?’, to which everyone replies with amazement ‘yes!’ They will then proceed to invent their own dream without realizing what is happening. Stop the game when the dreamer runs out of questions, or begins to smell a rat! The next player can be called in, and the same game played – with different results. Note: victims for this game should be chosen for their vivid imaginations and strong sense of humor!
These games will guarantee an enjoyable time for all at your New Year’s party and may even form the basis for some beautiful friendships for the New Year!
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