How to Plan Games for a Housewarming Party

You've invited your family and friends to a housewarming party at your new abode. You want to give them something to talk about besides the weather or the fate of the local sports team. Break the ice by planning a game or common activity that is flexible enough to fit your fiesta. Choose something that doesn't take the focus off the star attraction: your new home.

Things You'll Need

• Good, old-fashioned ingenuity
• A portion of your budget, if prizes are involved
• Sports equipment, such as a croquet set or volleyball and net (optional)

Instructions

Plan Games for a Housewarming Party

1. Catch! When just a few guests have arrived or if a small group has formed a circle, toss a beach ball or easy-to-catch Koosh Ball into the mix. With no winners or losers, nobody gets embarrassed and everyone will have something to fiddle with and talk about.

2. Get lucky! Hand out numbers or playing cards to every guest when they arrive.

3. Have a drawing later on for door prizes. These can be lovely handmade chocolates or gag gifts left over from house moving, such as paint brushes or books you don't want to unpack.

4. Hunt for it! Plan a stationary scavenger hunt connected with your house tour. Give guests a list of items to "find" and match to the correct room. (Throw them off by putting soap in a bedroom and slippers in the kitchen.) Award small prizes.

5. Buy a set of poetry magnets and put them on the fridge or other surface. Then let your guests get creative.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a game as an ice breaker at the beginning of the party, or wait until everyone has arrived and play something more formal.

• Busy social gatherings where people come and go at different times need nonlinear games with flexible time frames and/or areas of play.

• If children are part of your celebration, enlist an older child or willing adult to organize games for them (see Resources below).

• Levels of participation vary at a casual housewarming party where people are busy talking and eating. Don't require that everyone play.

• Finger food and game accessories don't mix. If possible, choose a game with few props that doesn't require much physical effort.

Resources

• More ice breakers:
• Kid pleasers at Games Kids Play