Xmas day games for entertaining elderly guests

[Istanbol]

We have DH’s elderly mum and aunt coming for Xmas day. They are very much of that generation where they expect to be hosted “properly” and sit there like pot dogs, expecting tea and entertainment brought to them throughout the day. This differs wildly from my own family where things are much more relaxed and it’s absolutely acceptable for some people to be playing a board game in the corner and the rest slouching in from of the TV after dinner.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a board game or similar that would be appropriate for two people with limited mobility, eyesights and hearing? Their lives have shrunk over the years as their health has declined so general chit chat can be limited. I’m hoping to find something that will keep everyone entertained and stop MIL from complaining that the teens have sloped off to their rooms. I tried scratch cards on the dining table last year and they looked at them like they were from Mars!

Are there some games/tasks that you could 'borrow' from Richard Osman's House of Games or Taskmaster?

With ROHOG, name e.g. a prime minister, county, country whose name doesn't include a certain common letter; or distinctly average, where teams of two have to individually guess e.g. how many pillar boxes there are in the UK or how many words are in War and Peace, then the team with the closest average wins. Or just guess the year or broken karaoke (just the initials of lyrics of songs). They're all basically parlour games that are mostly easily adaptable for playing at home - that's why it's so popular with viewers.

With TM, thinking something like work out the number I've written on this hidden card by asking me Yes/No questions or say a qualifying word (a 7-letter word, a word starting with the last letter of the previous word etc.) each time you hit the table tennis ball to stay in the game (but maybe you could pass a teddy or bean bag or something or make a sound instead). Probably not the one where you have to make a painting of a famous person by eating various foodstuffs and then dribbling them out artistically!

I thought about CAH too!

Of course very many elderly people don't just want 'prim and proper' parlour games, and will eagerly join in with everybody letting themselves go and having a hoot all around; but OP's guests clearly are the kind of elderly people who do want something 'seemly and ordered'.

The Names Game (the internet calls it Fishbowl or Celebrity).

In general I would pair people up so that bad eyesight and hearing can be compensated for.

There's always one. Just count yourself lucky you don't have relatives who insist on making Christmas (and other events!) miserable for everyone. Especially the vagina-having partners of their sons...

Yes them! 😀

Oh for goodness sake! If you would like to swap places with me, I would gratefully accept your offer.
Her age has nothing to do with MIL’s mean-spiritness, she’s always been like this.
She has a choice, she doesn’t have to come but she chooses to, then bitches about how terrible it all was. Im sick of it but put up with it for the members of my family that love her.
If you had any compassion you will see from this thread I am trying to balance her needs with all the others in the house so we ALL have a nice Xmas day.

We played a game with genteel MIL (in her 90's) one year that involved playing tunes on a kazoo and the other team having to guess what it was. She absolutely loved it and was in complete hysterics. I think they came in Christmas crackers and we all got one each. I haven't laughed so much in a very long time.

That’s a great idea @strawgohi will definitely try this

At 91 she might be too old, but I delegate the task of the annual quiz to the teens who do it on kahoot which we put on the tv and then everyone joins in on their phones. Caused endless hilarity last year although the teens do have to consider everyone’s ages. Can’t just be what was Sabrina carpenters last no 1!

Perfect! Apples to Apples was invented by a bloke who was trying to find common ground with his in-laws. There's also a card game called "Chronology" in which players have to guess whether eg; JFK was assassinated before or after the discovery of penicillin or whether penicillin was discovered before or after Tensing & Hillary made it to the summit of Everest. If the in-laws' memories are still decent they're in with a good chance of winning, which might even make them unbend a lttle.

They sound fun not.

We play a great game with fake snowballs for all ages. 100 snowballs & 4 buckets, 3 white and 1 red. You get 1 point for each ball that ends up in the white buckets but you lose a point for every ball that lands in the red.

This game can be played individually or in teams. It's messy but fun. At the end of the evening when the wine has been flowing, finish the evening off with a snowball fight. See who can hit in the in-laws the most :-)

I also have a posts here - where i'm trying to collate ideas for Christmas entertainment. I will add this to the bottom of that post too. Feel free to add any others!

I’d go for a Christmas quiz, lots online for ideas and you can tailor to your own family.
Print the questions out in large type and also read them . Play it in two twams with one of the older relatives on each team with younger ones to help. Make sure there are some questions they are more likely to know the answer to.
In my experience they just enjoy being part of a family Christmas and watching others enjoy themselves.
Find a film that suits all - Wallace and Grommit always a hit here across generations.
Find out what makes Christmas Day special for them. For my parents and in-laws, Christmas would have been ruined if they didn’t see the Queen’s speech live with a glass of sherry. Don’t ask me why recording it wasn’t good enough, never got to the bottom of that so just went with it. Not sure if the King’s speech has the same impact, sadly never got to experience that with them.

Just wanted to say thank you for the ideas on this thread. Play your cards right and Herd Mentality worked a treat. We all had a good laugh with Herd Mentality, even the grumpy oldies, so we’ve done a good thing there. Thank you wise women of MN. Hope you all had a good day yesterday

We bought Ransom Notes at PP suggestion and it was a massive hit with the older relatives! Even setting it up was kind of enjoyable for everyone as each person took a few of the word sheets to tear up so it was kind of a focused arts & crafts interlude in the day 🤣