Getting to Know You

Family reunions provide many opportunities to meet extended family members. The following fun games have helped our family become better acquainted.

Hello Bingo. We give each person a card with 25 blank squares, five down and five across, with instructions to ask a different relative to autograph each square. The names of all present are written on slips of paper and placed in a container. After all have had an opportunity to fill their cards with names, we hand out beans or markers, then draw slips of papers from the container and call out the names until someone gets five in a row in any direction.

Family Word Search. To make a word search, draw a grid of half-inch squares. A typical sheet of paper will hold a grid of 15 squares across and 18 squares down. Write the names of family members, using one square for each letter. Names can be written up, down, across, backwards, or diagonally and can interconnect. Fill in the remainder of the squares with random letters. Make copies and see who finds the most names.

Guess-Who Quiz. Prepare a quiz based on family members and some of their accomplishments. Who plays the violin? Who can fix a car? Who took a trip to Virginia in 1927?

Family Skits. Each family prepares a skit that dramatizes something funny or unique or interesting that has happened, such as the time the family was traveling to Denver and the car broke down. Children already know the “script” and enjoy replaying their parts in the drama.

Such activities can help families grow in their love and appreciation of each other.

Lois G. Kullberg, Salmon Creek Ward, Vancouver Washington West Stake