I have found that a great way to get family members of any age group to spend time together is to set up a great game to play together!
A fun game can provide hours of fun for game night or for family visits during the Christmas season.
You can learn a lot about a person by seeing how they play games and through a unique answer they may give to a specific question.
Another great benefit of playing games together is that there is a lot of hilarious fun that can result!
While there are so many amazing games to choose from, we are going to focus on the classic scattergories game today.
This is a perfect game that can include anyone from the younger children to the older generations in your family.
So whether you are planning baby shower games or a Christmas party, this game lends itself very well to any specific themes.
Let us dive into the simple rules and printable game cards for scattergories we have set up for you!
Free Printable Scattergories Games
Before you begin using these free printable scattergories lists, it seems prudent to review the rules of this classic game.
When setting up, you will need the following items: your printed game sheet, something to write with, a letter die (optional) a timer, and your brain!
If you do not have a letter die, you can either start at the beginning of the alphabet or have someone choose a letter of the alphabet at random.
For a fun new take on choosing the letter, place letter tiles in a small bowl and let the kids pick a new letter each time.
Once you have a chosen letter, you pick a scattergories category to focus on and you will be making a list of the items in that category that begin with the chosen letter.
There are different versions of these game rules, but you will usually set a timer for approximately three minutes and let everyone make their own lists of matching items.
For some more specifics, words like A and The do not count as the first letter of the word.
Additionally, you can use a name in the order of last name first with a comma and then the first name.
You can also use answers that may be considered a play on words.
For example, if the category was types of sandwiches and the letter was “K” you could write in a knuckle sandwich.
The idea is to write in the most creative answers you can think of so that you do not have the same answers as anyone else who is playing.
After the timer rings, you compare your answer sheets.
If you have the same words as other players, you both have to cross off that word.
If you have a word that no one else listed, you get a point for it and so on.
At the end of each group of categories, the person who has the most points wins the game!
1. Food Scattergories
1. Vegetables
2. Fruit
3. Picnic Food
4. Candy
5. Animal product
6. Food many people don’t like
7. Breakfast food
8. Sweet drink
9. Something sour
10. Side dish
11. Dessert
12. Common kid food
13. Ice cream Flavor
14. School cafeteria food
2. Animal Scattergories
1. Scary animal
2. Mammal
3. Farm animal
4. Type of bird
5. Sea creature
6. Pet
7. Large Animal
8. Woodland animal
9. Baby animal
10. Animal people eat
11. Animal that swims
12. Insect
13. Animal with 4 legs
14. Cute animal
3. Scattergories
1. Book, movie or TV show
2. Place
3. Sport
4. Animal
5. Classroom object
6. Game
7. Food
8. Action
9. Snack
10. Chore
11. Disgusting smell
12. Mode of transportation
13. Drink
14. Something green
Accessing The Games
Simply click on the download link and you will be ready to print out all of our amazing category cards on your home printer for your personal use!
For the highest quality feel as well as for a game that will last you a long time, print your cards on nice heavy card stock.
For bonus points with your family, take a look at our Charades printable game.
We also have this game of Halloween Scattergories when you need help with a different category brainstorm.
With all of these instant printable files, you will be able to have a good time with your family in a matter of minutes!
The wonderful characteristic of this game is how many different categories you can come up with!
This lends itself well to hours of having a great time together.
Your word lists can even be used in lesson plans to help introduce new topics and to get students in the right frame of mind for new information and different words.
What better way is there to get people together, whether it is in the classroom or for the holiday season than a classic game that exercises the mind!
Free Scattergories Game Printable PDF
The whole point is to have fun and, as always, you’ve got this!