Games

Do you have Game?

We are constantly trying out new games.  Sometimes they are big hits and other times they bomb.  Here's my attempt to give you a heads up on what has been working for me and what you should maybe reconsider.  If you have had a big success or a total bomb... I would love to hear about it.  We learn best when we listen to others.

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• Place your bets... AND THEIR OFF!
  
  
  
  
  
  This game by far is one of our favorites.  It draws the biggest crowd consistantly and is played every two weeks.  Here's how we play...
  
  
  First you must have music capability to play the William Tell Overture.  This is played at the beginning of the first race to boost enthusiasm and let the folks know we are beginning the race.  After that we play a cd of old television theme songs on low volume for background music.
  
  
  As the people come in they choose two numbers 1-6 (because there are six horses).  We allow two choices as this will cut down on the chance of too many winners at the end. We play for an hour and that allows for approximatly 10 races.  We have two dice.  One has numbers on it and it is rolled first to determine which horse will be moving forward.  The second dice will have dots on it and is rolled secondly.  This will determine how many spaces the horse will move forward.  We have found that the "claw" is much easier on the back when picking up the dice.  You can make your track as long or short as you have room for.  The longer the better.  The track is made from green astroturf then taped off in squares and painted.  This is the most time consuming process in creating the game.  The horses were purchased at this link on Amazon and plaster was added to paint cans to hold them in place.  They were finished off with a little bit of grass and we added numbers to the cans.  The horses we purchased have sound of galluping when you press their ears.  This also adds a great bit of excitement to the game by keeping up the horse race noises & momentum.
  
  
  Now each time a horse wins those who have the winning number will recieve a horse buck.  The last race of the event is our Daily Double and the winning horse will pay out two horse bucks.  We give a $10 gift card if there is only one winner or $5 each for a tie.  We also have a prize table for runners up.  In this case you have to choose by how many winners you will give prizes to.  Usually we cut it off at about 10 runner up winners.  Our prize table is made up of dollar items and winners can choose one item off the winning prize table.
  
  
  
  
  
  Here you can see we added numbers to the back of the horses so
  you can still see their numbers from behind.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The dice can be purchased at several different places.  I have provided THIS LINK as an example. 
  As I always do... I will search "large foam dice" on google images. 
   When I see what I'm looking for I just follow the link.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  All the numbers and horse bucks were made on Microsoft Publisher.  The numbers were laminated.
  
  
  
  
  
  Prize table
  
  
  
  Game on!
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  WHEEL OF FORTUNE
  
  

  One of our fastest growing crowd pleasers!

  
  

  This game just gets better each week.  We started off with only short NOUN words.

  Now we have topics such as:

  • Fictional Characters
  • Before & After
  • Trips through the Decades
  • Popular Phrases

  HINT... I use the internet for all my words
  I'll look up topics, ie. fictional characters, movies from the 40's, famous people from the 30's ...etc.
  
  

  We used a black Twin Sheet and pushpins for our board.  Prizes are what you typically give out at your games.  We visit the Dollar Store and since there are 12 winners we give out 12 prizes. Our game lasts approximately 45 minutes to 1- Hour.

  
  

  The way we play:  First player guesses a letter, if they guess right they can try to solve the puzzle.  If incorrect guess than it goes to the next person, and so on.  You can only guess if it's your turn.

  We also throw in a game where each person guesses a letter and anyone can guess on the puzzle.  It really helps to have to have an assistant when playing this game...   passing out winning tickets, taking down letters and putting up letters, filing letters when through and marking guessed letters and wiping off the laminated alphabet card... whew!

    

  This would be a great addition to your weekly calendar of events.
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

  Laminated cards to be given out to each winner.

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  

  Laminated Letters, punch hole top center

  
  
  

  
  

  

  Laminated sheets with alphabet and vowels
  
  
  

  
  

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  CONCENTRATION

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  Another game that should be added to your weekly or monthly calendar.

  Make this game a permanent fixture on your Activity Room Wall.

  We use it to add to our monthly theme.

  If we're decorating for Fall... Fall Concentration Pictures Get Hung

  If we're decorating for Spring... Spring Concentration Pictures Get Hung 

  If we're decorating for Father's Day... Sports & Car Pictures Get Hung

  I know you're getting the Picture!

  We play approximatly 5 games and it lasts up to 40 minutes. 

  Before the game starts we put up one set of pictures and then 
  numbers 1-20 

  On top of those numbers we'll put up another set of pictures and then 
  numbers 1-20

  ...and so on for five games.

  In this case we have a permanent game on this wall where we have screws spaced perfectly in place for our 20 pictures.

  
  

  

  
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  TAI CHI
  
  Hands down this class is our biggest exercise success