Party Fun - Detailed information for the most Frequently Asked party hosting questions. . From Help Me Host It

General

Whether you are hosting a dinner party, a barbecue or a cocktail party, if your guests are bored it's not going to be remembered as a successful event. BUT, adults, unlike kids, aren't quite so easy to amuse, especially if an activity feels contrived or gimmicky. Whether you are trying to come up with a conversation igniting Ice Breaker, or you are looking for a game or activity to get the group to play, it can be a challenge to walk that line between lame and fun. Also, it really does depend on your crowd as well. How silly does your crowd get? Can you get away with a game of Charades or will your guests secretly be rolling their eyes at your efforts? Here are some tips for successful Party Fun whether your crowd is sophisticated or silly. Also, you will find many ideas that we've found, created, or that fellow Help Me Host It! users have come up with and shared!

Interaction activities are fun as well - activities that get your guests talking to each other without having to ask how the traffic was on the ride over… It gives your guests a reason to talk to someone they may not know and prevents your event from breaking down into groups who know each other. See the activity ideas page for activities that may fit your event and can be tailored to your theme.

Ice Breakers

Unless all of your guests already know each other, you will need something to get people moving and mingling. Adults can be shy, and apprehensive about approaching a stranger. Ultimately, people who know each other will tend to congregate and your party will end up clumped into groups or you'll have a group of strangers awkwardly discussing the weather or the drive over. Then there's that momentary lull that terrifies us all. The Ice Breaker's job is to create a vehicle that allows your guests to approach each other, giving them something to chat and laugh about. It also provides a topic to use to fill uncomfortable silences.

Who am I? Place stickers on the back of each of the guests with an individual's name. This can be theme related - movie stars, political persons, dead famous people, alive famous people, people associated with an event or holiday (such as Christmas), etc. The individual is allowed to ask other guests yes or no questions and you can either award individuals for guessing first or you can have a series of names in an allotted time and provide new stickers when someone has answered correctly and award individuals for getting the most correct.
Quizzes and Trivia. Giving your guests fun trivia quizzes when they arrive provides a reason to "collaborate" with other guests and gets people talking. Particularly if your trivia is funny, debatable or nostalgic. Include about 20 questions on a fun flyer and have them available at the bar with pens. Let guests discover them on their own and the momentum will build gradually. One person will start, then another will notice, and so on. Once people are working on them together it provides something to talk about without forced conversation.
Saturday Morning Nostalgia - cartoons and cereal are something most of us fondly remember. You can include the opening to cartoon theme songs, commercials that would have been common on Saturday morning, confessions of your favorite Saturday morning cereal, and a variety of trivia questions about popular cartoons. There are a lot of websites that boast cartoon trivia, so have fun planning as well as partying!

http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/television/mixture_animated/80s_cartoons.html

Between the Sheets - This is a quiz, of sorts. Have eye-catching cards spread throughout the room asking guests who they would canoodle with if they had to choose? Each card would have a choice between two people. Include interesting, humorous, controversial, and unexpected choices. Hillary or Barack? Ginger or Mary Ann? Tom or Jerry? Angelina or Jennifer? Martha Stewart or Julia Child? Velma or Daphne? Robert Redford or Paul Newman? Betty Boop or Maralyn Monroe? Guests will circulate to find the cards and have fun discussing the options with other guests!

Map of Guest Travels. Put up an oversized world map with a bowl of pushpins for guests to mark where they have traveled to. This creates an opportunity for your guests to compare notes, talk about their travels, or seek out other guests to find out about someplace a guest may want to go… It's easy and creates a lot of interest for virtually no cost.

Party Games

Party Games - There is an entire industry devoted to "Get Together Games" because whether you're 20 or 60, they are simply fun. Whether you are into cards, Charades, or the various packaged games available, there's something for everyone.

	Scattergories - Scattergories is a fast-paced word game that's a real crowd pleaser. Each player takes a category list with 12 categories--such as vegetable, state, president, things you throw away--and must write down the name of one item that fits into each category. Sounds easy enough, but each item has to begin with a specific letter that is determined when the 20-sided die is rolled. For instance, you roll the letter "R." Your answer list for the above categories might look something like this: rutabaga, Rhode Island, Roosevelt, rubbish, etc. You have to think fast, because a round lasts only 3 minutes! Players score points for each unique answer.
	Taboo - How do you get your team to say diamond, if you can't say baseball, ring, carats, jewel or engagement' You might say, "These are a girl's best friend. Hope is a huge one. The World Series is played here. Some are found in the rough." Get your team to say the secret word. Give suggestive sentences, funny phrases or even one word hints as clues. But don't use any of the words on the card. That's Taboo! Each time your team shouts out the secret word, you get a point. But be careful! Your opponents will be "looking over your shoulder" - making sure you don't say any of the Taboo words. If you do and they catch you, they sound the buzzer and score the point! It's unspeakable fun. Take our word for it! For 4 or more players.
	Poker - Poker has always been a party game, in fact many people have a routine get together just to play poker. And it's not just for the boys anymore! Toss in the huge popularity of Texas Hold 'em and you've got a winner. Great for smaller groups, or, if you have a larger event you can have several tables going at once or make this one of the activities available for interested guests.
	Balderdash - a classic bluffing game, has gone beyond hilarious. With real but outrageous facts that now include the category Laughable Laws, play the game that asks your friends to "call your bluff". The categories contain unbelievable but true statements about people, words, initials, movies and laws. Players make up phony answers to these categories, read them off along with the correct answer, then vote to choose the "real" answer. Score points for guessing correctly and for bluffing the other players. It's hilarious.
	Apples to Apples - The concept of Apples to Apples is pretty easy: match the adjective card on the table with a noun or verb card from your hand. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Watch hilarity ensue as players match terms like "Fluffy" to "Mildew" or "Sticky" to "Horror film." While it may be limited by the hand of cards you’re dealt (what if you don’t have a perfect match for "Harry Truman"?), there is some strategy to the game. Each round of card matching is judged by a different player at the table. So you can use it to your advantage to play a card that you know is a shoo-in for certain judges. Everyone is a judge at some point which makes this game all-inclusive. The fast pace and lack of accessories make it portable. The combinations thrown together in Mad Lib style make it addictive.
	Cranium - Spell a word backwards, hum a tune, answer a multiple-choice question, draw with your eyes closed, and more when you play Cranium. Unlike games that focus on only a few skills, Cranium offers 14 talent-tapping activities designed to bring out the best in you and your friends. Cards from four decks, color-coded to match each of the crazy characters--Star Performer, Creative Cat, Data Head, and Word Worm--describe activities that teams must complete in order to advance around the board. If you choose a Sculptorades card from the Creative Cat deck, for example, you might be asked to sculpt a hamburger from lemon-scented Cranium Clay while your teammates try to guess what you're creating. The result is that the team with the best combination of abilities comes out on top.

Entertainment Activity

Entertainment Becomes an Activity, or Vice Versa!

Another option is to select an entertainment that is also an activity. This provides guests with something to enjoy, and then when they feel comfortable, they can join in! Or, you can provide your guests with an activity that is also entertaining for other guests to watch.

Karaoke - Some folks just inherently wince at the idea of Karaoke, others think it's all good fun and everyone let's their hair down a little. Determine which of these two realms your guests fall into and if they would enjoy Karaoke, then go for it! You can buy your own machine and music or you can hire a Karaoke DJ or rent a Karaoke system - your extroverts will enjoy the limelight and your introverts will enjoy watching! And once everyone has had enough to drink, you may be surprised who jumps up to sing.
Dance Instruction - Hire a dance instructor to teach your guests the salsa or the tango, or line dancing. Their demonstration will entertain and then guests can join in during the lesson and have fun practicing. Learning a new dance together gets everyone together and laughing and then once they know the steps, dancing into the evening is that much more fun!
Cooking Demonstration - If you have budding gourmets in your crowd, then hiring a chef to do a cooking demonstration of an unusual food or an ethnic food (sushi, curry, southern barbecue, etc.) is a lot of fun. Guests can try their hand, and then your meal is part of the entertainment.

Keep Everyone Busy

You may not want to have "games" but there are still ways to keep your guests entertained with subtle flair. Little things you can do to occupy idle hands or create a little energy. You may be surprised at what your guests will gravitate towards!

Butcher Paper and Crayons. I NEVER would have guessed that I would see a group of adults, specifically adult men over 40 sitting and coloring. But at a luncheon a few years ago in an office that was predominantly older male, we went to a nice Italian restaurant that unexpectedly had white butcher paper over the linens. Periodically along the table where small containers of new crayons. In MOMENTS people had crayons in hand and were doodling while waiting for our drinks and salads. There were a couple games of tic tac toe going, a game of hangman that others watching, and some budding artists just doodling away. Our food was a little delayed, but no one even noticed!
Desert Station. Create a fun, nostalgic ice cream Sundae bar, or a cupcake decorating station, or even a hot chocolate/coffee bar. Guests will have fun concocting their deserts and you won't to buy gourmet decorated cakes!
Bartending Fun. If you are serving alcohol, add an element of entertainment to your bar. Create "recipe cards" for guests to write their drink on, and then have them name it. You can keep it theme related, or have it relate back to the Guest of Honor. You will end up with a fun drink book and your guests will have fun outdoing each other with naming protocol.