Zero prep fun for now or later
By Lauren Wagner, IHSPA At-Large Member
Are your kids bored at home, on a road trip, or waiting in amusement park lines? Do you love a fun party game with friends? (Because party games are the best.) Are you planning for a summer workshop or staff retreat? Do you, like me, either completely forget about or overthink teambuilding during the school year?
Then this list of NO PREP fun is for you. Use it for summertime laughs or in-the-weeds school year destressing (looking at you, February deadlines). Seriously, zero materials needed, and once everyone knows the rules, there's zero for you to do except join in if you want! Thanks to the students and advisers from Fishers, Northwood, and Columbia City for helping to create this list.
WAVELENGTH
Choose a person to be the guesser and they first close their eyes and everyone else silently chooses a rating, like a 5/10. Once they have a number, the guesser opens their eyes and asks each person about something in a certain category that matches the rating. For example, the guesser says shoes, and the first person says Sketchers because they’re a 5/10. The guesser asks the next person about movies and that person says “Aquaman.” Then at the end, the guesser guesses the number. Repeat with a new guesser and a new number.
SAME THING
Partner up. The two people think of a random word. One person snaps three times and then both people say their word at the same time. After thinking quickly about what word those two words might have in common, the pair repeats the countdown, each saying a new word inspired by the previous round’s words. Keep going until they match words. OR watch this video by Ok Go to learn how to play. OR just watch a bunch of Ok Go videos to be entertained!
CELEBRITY NAME GAME
Sit in a circle and move the gameplay clockwise to begin. One person starts by choosing a celebrity and state their first and last name. The next player has to name a celebrity whose first name starts with the first letter of the previous celebrity’s last name. For example, if the first person says, “Taylor Swift, the second person has to name someone whose first name starts with an S, such as “Stephen Colbert”. Then the third person names someone with a first name starting with a C, etc. Every time a player names a celebrity with matching initials (for example, “Marilyn Monroe”) the play changes direction. A player is out if they answer with the incorrect starting letter, repeat a celebrity name previously said, name someone who is not a celebrity (a good rule is that 3 or more players must know of that person), or take too long (you can set a time limit). The last one in is the winner.
HEADS, SHOULDERS, KNEES, AND SHOES
Have everyone find a partner and then stand face-to-face with that person. One partner of the pair should take off one of their shoes and place it between the two partners. When the group hears either “head”, “shoulders” or “knees” shouted they are to place their hands on that part of their own body. Then, when the word “shoe” is shouted the first person to grab the shoe in front of them wins. The person leading shouts the words “head” “shoulders” or “knees” at random and shouts the word “shoe” to end the round. You can repeat this several times with new partners or form an elimination round where winners play each other until you are down to the last two players. Do this with any other object if shoes gross you out!
THE ULTIMATE
Pick a general category (Breakfast Foods, Villains, Only in Indiana, Disney Movies, Last Meals, etc.). To start, two group members pick an item and a hand gesture for each item that the group will use to vote. Have everyone make the hand gesture of their preferred item. The item with the most votes goes up against the next thing proposed by another person. Go until you have chosen the “ultimate” item for that category, the one that no other item can beat. For instance, the category is breakfast food. The first battle is oatmeal vs. toast. Oatmeal is represented by cupping your hands like a bowl and toast is represented by a flat hand. Oatmeal wins, 7-2. Oatmeal (cupped hands) now goes up against the next person’s suggestion, which might be cinnamon rolls represented by a closed fist. Etc. Etc.
PARANOIA
Sit in a circle and all you need is a quarter. The first person whispers a “Most Likely to __________” category to the person next to them without anyone else hearing. That person then answers aloud by saying a person's name they feel best fits that category. Then you flip a coin and if it is heads you say what the “who’s most likely to” question was, but if it is tails the category remains secret (and makes them a bit paranoid).
GROUP STORYTELLING
Everyone sits in a circle to see each other, then the first person starts the story with something basic like “It was a bright and sunny day when all of a sudden….” Then the second person adds on a sentence, and it keeps going until the last person wraps up the story.
SNAPS
Have individuals in the group share a compliment or shout out about someone else. You can do this organically or make everyone share something about someone to their left in a circle, for instance. Everyone snaps to applaud the person/their achievement before moving on to the next person.
GROUP PLAYLIST
Have everyone suggest a set number of songs to create a group playlist using your preferred streaming service. Play whenever you need a boost!
SHOE TOWER
Divide into 2-3 large groups. Everyone in each group puts their shoes in the middle. Set a timer for 3 minutes and have them try to build a shoe tower. Whoever’s tower is the tallest wins.
