11:09am Tuesday 22nd December 2009
When the turkey’s been eaten and you’re running out of conversation on Christmas Day, turn to games instead of the TV, says games mistress Josie Curran. She explains the rules of some of her favourites to Lisa Salmon.
JOSIE Curran is the ideal party guest. She’s the bubbly woman you want on your guest list when family gatherings or parties quieten down too early – or if they never got going in the first place.
The 33-year-old is a walking compendium of games, and she knows exactly how to get the fun started.
Most of us have a party game repertoire of just one – charades. But for Curran, the list is endless – she might initiate a game of Human Buckaroo by piling paper cups on a sleeping party guest, or perhaps suggest a few raucous minutes of Never Have I Ever, where players take it in turns to state something they’ve never done, and other players confess if they have.
While she can’t spin her gaming magic at all the parties where it’s needed, the good news this Christmas is that she’s put all her games ideas in two books: Organised Fun For Grown-Ups and Organised Fun, which features games for both kids and adults.
So there really is no excuse for dull moments at parties and family gatherings this Christmas.
The books feature hundreds of ideas ranging from familiar children’s games like Blind Man’s Buff and Conkers, to bizarre games that you’re unlikely to have heard of before, like Schnitzeljagd (a kind of scavenger hunt).
They’re from a variety of sources, including the author’s childhood, her own ideas and games suggested by friends, as well as a huge amount of research.
The aim is simply that the games are a good laugh, with no cost attached – and if they need props, it’s just things you’d find lying around the house and garden.
While Curran says her personal favourites depend on who she’s with, she currently prefers the oddlynamed Fungal Bum Candle, which involves participants trying to put out a candle in a jar using a mushroom hanging from string tied to their belt loop.
“It should be played in the latter stages of the evening,” she laughs.
She’s also keen on Ellie’s Brilliant Name Game, where players write ten names on pieces of paper which are put into a hat. The players split into teams and take turns, in a set time, to describe the famous person in various ways without actually saying their name.
“That’s a brilliant one to play,” she enthuses, “because you can play it with people of any age, anywhere.”
Curran laments the fact that her enthusiasm for games isn’t universal, but believes that while games have lost popularity over the last 50 years, they’re beginning to come back.
“In Victorian times it was something people did when they got together, but the demise has gone hand in hand with the arrival of television and other easy ways you can distract yourself.”
“It’s paved the way for there being a real appetite for games and homespun fun at the moment – a resurgence in interest in old-fashioned ways to spend time together.”
While the old favourite charades is in her book, it comes in several different guises, including the potentially hilarious Remember When?
In this version, instead of picking a film or book to mime, contestants act out an embarrassing moment from one of the group’s lives.
“It’s a really funny way of going through your memories when you all get together,” says Curran, who goes on to relate how she mimes the time a boyfriend was sick over her in a restaurant on their first date.
FOR a spot of really successful game playing, Curran says you need a member of the group to be game leader, and they need to have the confidence to put ideas forward.
“If you present it in the right way and are boundingly enthusiastic about it, people will be swept along with you.
“When you get to a certain stage in an evening, you’ve all sat around and you’ve eaten dinner and the conversation’s started to run out, you just need something to give the night a new burst of energy,” says Curran.
“Introducing a game re-engages people and gets them to connect.
“When I look back on my childhood, the times with my family that I remember really clearly are the times when we were all laughing together playing a game.”
■ Organised Fun and Organised Fun For Grown-Ups (Boxtree, £9.99)
Try Curran’s top Christmas games for fun festivities...
HUMAN CHRISTMAS TREE
A GREAT way for kids to get creative with leftover wrapping paper and decorations – all you need is a pile of post-present opening debris.
Split into teams and equally divide up all the leftover wrapping paper, ribbons and packaging so there’s a healthy pile for each team.
Decide who’s going to be the Christmas tree in each team, and the teams then have five minutes to turn their elected player into the best Christmas tree using the leftover debris.
Prizes are awarded for creative use of materials, as well as closeness to the real Christmas tree form.
FATHER CHRISTMAS’S BEARD
THIS is a team race for all ages to see who can create the best Father Christmas within a set time. You need cotton wool balls and a pot of Vaseline per team, chairs and a stopwatch.
Get everyone into teams, with one nominated Father Christmas per team.
He/she sits in a chair and on the ‘go’ command, the rest of the team use their Vaseline and cotton wool to create the most recognisable Father Christmas by sticking cotton wool balls onto the nominated person’s face with Vaseline.
The best Father Christmas after 60 seconds wins.
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