Fun and Unique Family Reunion Activities

Family Reunion Activities are to a reunion as icing is to a cake and as dressing is to a salad. You have something good already (the reunion) and you top it with something to accentuate it (the activities)…and make it even more delicious, yummy and tasty. Below, I’ve put together some great family reunion activities to do just that. A few of these are unique to my family as we actually conceptualized, planned and executed these ourselves i.e. Legacy At A Glance, Family Reunion Playdate, Reunion Kids Activity Pages.

You will, also, note that some of the family reunion activities listed here are common to family reunions. However, you will note the spin that I put on them to liven them up a notch. You can tweak and tailor any of these family reunion activities to fit your family’s personality.

Pre-Reunion Social
This a great family reunion activity, particularly, if your reunion is a three day or more event and you have family members who will arrive in town a day or more prior to the actual start of reunion and want something to do. We started doing this in 2007, at the suggestion and request of family members who were in this category. We had the first one in our hotel and it was an absolute blast. This is just a pre-reunion fellowship of your choice.

Banquet Activities & Icebreakers
Although I have listed this under activities, because these activities are primarily games, they are on the Games page of the website.

Family Reunion PlayDate
This was truly a wonderful family reunion activity and idea which was suggested, coordinated and facilitated by a family member who loves games, a family member whom we have affectionately nick-named “The Game Queen”…I kid you not when I say she has every game under the sun. We incorporated this into our “Meet & Greet” and it was simply amazing. We had the hotel to set up several tables with table clothes on them… then each table had a specific game placed in the center of the table. There were games galore…too numerous to name. There were games for everyone, including the kids. As family members arrived for this event, they took their seats according to what game they wanted to play. We added some music, and, of course, some food… and there was so much laugher in that room until you would have thought we were at a comedy show. It was amazing to see various games going on simultaneously and each table and family member attentive and engaged in the respective game they were playing. I never knew the game “Spoons” was so much fun. Even the hotel staff members were coming in to see what was going on. We were told by the hotel event coordinator that they had never seen that done before.

Coffee, Tea, and Family
This was the idea and suggestion of one of our catering family members who, of course, coordinated this one. It’s very simple…enjoy a variety of coffees and teas with your FAMILY.

Family Reunion Themes
Add more fun and excitement to your family gathering with activities that center around a specific theme. Click here for a great listings of family reunion themes.

Balloon Release
Balloon Releases are very popular at weddings and are not uncommon at funerals. A balloon release is a terrific reunion activity and is certainly a way to make any occasion memorable, including a family reunion. My family members are still talking about the lovely balloon release which we did in honor and remembrance of all family members who have passed on and are longer with us. This was soooooooooo beautiful! We all gathered in the hotel lobby approximately thirty minutes before our reunion banquet. We all formed a circle and held hands as everyone was asked to say one word which family meant to them i.e. love, forgiveness. After a family prayer, we then proceeded outside and released balloons in loving memory of our deceased family members.

Awards & Certificates
Presenting Awards and Certificates at family reunions is a fun family reunion activity and great way to let your family members know how special and unique they are. Many of these I have denoted below in Group 1 are usual and typical. However, when you check out my Group 2 listing below, I assure you that you haven’t seen these on any other family reunion website. That’s because the Group 2 listing is my personal creative spin on family reunion awards and they are not the typical or standard awards you see listed on other family reunion websites. I had my family members in stitches and literally laughing their butts off with some of these awards and particularly the gifts/prizes that I associated with the awards in Group 2. The prize/gift received for this group are denoted in parentheses. For Group 1 certificates were presented.

GROUP 1
*Attended The Most Consecutive Reunions
*The Oldest Male
*The Oldest Female
*Traveled the Farthest
*Traveled The Least
*Couple With The Most Children
*Couple With The Most Children Attending the Family Reunion
*Couple With The Most Grandchildren
*Has The Most Grandchildren Attending The Reunion
*Couple Married The Longest
*Couple Most Recently Married
*The Oldest Family Member
*The Youngest Family Member

GROUP 2
*First to Pay Reunion Fees ($5)
*First To Arrive for Reunion (1st Place Ribbon)
*Shortest (stepping stool)
*Tallest (light bulbs)…light bulbs because they could easily change the lights
*Cooks The Most (dough rolling pin)
*Baldest Male (baseball cap or jar of vaseline)
*Longest glue in weave (hair bonding glue)
*Longest sew-in weave (hair weaving thread & needle)
*Longest Real Hair(super grow hair cream)
*Thickest Hair(can of hair spray)
*Recently lost a tooth (a quarter or .50 cents)…that was all I got from the tooth fairy..haha!
*Male Longest Legs (pair of long socks)
*Biggest feet (toe ring)
*Female Longest Legs (pair of thighs..size super long
*Most Keys (jumbo key ring) found this at Spencer’s
*Wearing the most jewelry (big bling ring)…found this on Amazon
*Longest Name (jumbo writing table)
*Has The Most Change (plastic coin holder)
*Twins attending there reunion (Doublemint gum)…lots of twins in our family
*Female With Grayest Hair (tiara)
*Male With Grayest Hair (crown)

The family members (male & female) who won the “Grayest Hair” were seated in two chairs placed side by side facing us and were crowned the “King and Queen” of the reunion. All family members were asked to stand and applaud the King and Queen of our reunion. We had so much fun with these, you will too. Add your own and as always, think outside the box.

Legacy At A Glance
Because family reunions should not only be fun but educational, this one-of-a-kind idea was inspired by one of my BFF’s. We are constantly discussing and coming up creative ideas for our respective family reunions. For this one, you create either a brochure and/or fact sheet on your ancestors…this could be grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. Set up a display table and place the photographs of each ancestor accompanied by the brochure or fact sheet regarding them. Be sure to include a section in the brochure or fact sheet regarding their legacy.

Ice Cream Social
Have an ice cream social. This certainly worked wonders for my family on a hot July day some years ago. You already know the deal on this one. The main item is cream. We only used three basic flavors vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. You’ll need disposable bowls, spoons, napkins and an ice cream scoop in a cup of water to assist with scooping. Topping like sprinkles, hot fudge, caramel, marshmallow, maraschino cherries, candy bits, chopped nuts, whipped cream, etc. Also, if you like you can add waffle or ice cream cones. Side Note: Don’t forget the trashbags! The next time, I put a twist on this one and pleasantly surprised my family. We were on a tour bus touring Atlanta, I arranged for an ice truck to meet us at one of our stops and everyone got their choice of ice cream. “You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream!!!”

UN-Birthday
Celebrate everybody’s birthday at the reunion by celebrating everyone’s birthday at once! There a several ways integrate this into a family reunion. What I like to do is to have everyone born in the same month all gather together and then have each group line up by day born, height, age, birth day in their family etc…This is lot’s of fun!…and then serve everyone birthday cupcakes with the meal for that event. You can certainly put your twist on this. I’ve heard of some families having everyone bring a small gift and having a gift exchange. Another wonderful family reunion activity to spice up any family reunion.

Strut Fashion Show
Okay, so I’m sure you’ve seen the other family reunion websites that denote a fashion show as a reunion activity. If you’ve navigated through my website, you’ll notice my constant theme, thread and mindset is “Think outside of the box”!!! I don’t know who actually came up with this idea or where it originated from. However, one of my family members actually participated in this activity at her husband family reunion. She had so much fun and loved it so much that she brought the idea back and shared it with us. With the “Strut Fashion Show” everyone gets to participate. You don’t even have to worry about bringing extra clothes or luggage. It’s so darn simple and yet so much fun! Each branch of the family rocks the runway by simply strutting their stuff. We incorporated this into our banquet night event. We had the DJ play music and introduce each branch of the family as they strutted their stuff. Even the little ones were strutting. We then had a contest for the branch that collectively strutted their stuff the best. We based this on the loudest applause. Each family member in that branch was given a gift. Lots and lots of fun!…and truly a unique alternative to the traditional fashion show! Be sure to give your strut fashion show a name, i.e. “The Smith Family Strut Fashion Show”. This is a great family reunion activity! Remember, have fun and be creative.

Memorial & Remembrance Activities
These are great family reunion activities for honoring and remembering family members who have passed on. Have a candle lighting ceremony for instance. As a part of our banquet program, as each deceased family member’s name is called family members light candles in their honor and memory.

Resort Activities
If the venue where your reunion is being held has a pool, golf course, paddle boats, skiing, tours, good restaurants, a beach, etc – take advantage of them! Get a group together and go golfing, swimming etc! So much fun! However, make sure you actually spend time with your whole family sharing stories and memories, not the whole day on the beach or touring the local areas!

Family Reunion Kids Activity Pages
And for the little ones, be sure to click here to check out how you can create truly unique and one-of-a- kind kids activity pages, booklets, sheets, etc, that will not only entertain and amuse the kiddies but will have your adult family members talking for months and months after the reunion.

Integrate any of these family reunion activities into your next family reunion. Again you can tweak, adjust, and tailor them fit your family. Be sure to check back often, more family reunion activities and new pages are being added daily. As always, remember, to have fun, be creative and think outside the box!

I hope you got value and inspiration from this post. Your feedback is welcome. Please leave it in the comments below.