1940s Theme Party Games and Activities
1940s Theme Party Games and Activities #1: Take a common object that’s small like a jelly bean, paper clip, etc. and hide 40 of them throughout the party area. Tell your guests at the beginning that there are 40 of the item to be found. The one who finds the most by the end of the party wins a prize. This is a great game that can casually be played by your party guests throughout the party, intermixed between other activities you might have planned.
| 1940s Theme Party Games and Activities #2: For a large group of guests that are comfortable and familiar with each other, there is a particularly ruthless game I’ve called Platoon (in honor of those who fought in WWII.) The rules are simple, but it gets interesting VERY quickly. Take free40sgsthe number of guests and divide them by three. Now take that many cards from three suits of a card deck, beginning with the ace. For example, if you have 18 guests (18 divided by 3 = 6), then take the last six cards (ace, king, queen, jack, 10 and 9) of three of the suits (spades, hearts and diamonds) and make a pile out of these 18 cards. If you had 36 guests (36 divided by 3 = 12), then take the last 12 cards from three of the suits. Whether or not you are playing will depend on how evenly you can divide the party guest number by three. It is important that the number of participants is evenly divided by three. Once you have your stack of cards, pull everyone together and explain that the simple rule is that the first complete platoon to form wins. A complete platoon is a successive series of cards, regardless of suit. For example, everyone gets a card and you yell GO! The first group of guests that has one of every card in their platoon, wins. Now, what is so challenging about that? Well, wait till you see how many different platoons start to form…then wait till you see platoons begin trading platoon members to try and complete their platoons. It becomes a strategic battle to exchange platoon members! |
1940s Theme Party Games and Activities #3: This works best with larger groups. In honor of Frank Sinatra “Old Blue Eyes”, the famous crooner of the 1940s, hold a Blue Eyes Contest. Award a prize for the person at the party with the bluest eyes!
| 1940s Theme Party Games and Activities #4: During the post war years of the of the 1940s, as the US entered what became to be known as the Cold War, suspicions were flying all over the country over who could be possible spies for the Soviet Union. Any good spy needs to be a great liar – so test out your guests to see who would have been successful! Have all of your party guests sit in a circle. In turn, each guest must offer three facts – two of them false and one of them true. Once someone offers their three statements, everyone votes on which ones are true and false. All correct answers (three possible for each person) are awarded one point. Encourage the guests to get creative with their statements, offering facts about their lives that they think those in the room wouldn’t know! |
1940s Theme Party Games and Activities #5: Play a game of Fire Brigade! Enemy WWII planes are flying overhead and dropping bombs in your city. Have all participants form two lines (or more depending on the number of participants.) At one end of each line put a full bucket of water. At the other end of the lines, put empty buckets. The goal for each team is for the first person to scoop out a cup of water and pass it from player to player until it reaches the end of the line where the last person fills the bucket with whatever water is still in the cup after all that passing. The cup is then passed back in the same way for the first person to scoop out another full cup of water. To make it more challenging, space out the players a good six feet apart from each other so that they have to walk/run with a full cup of water!
| 1940s Theme Party Games and Activities #6: A few times during the party, hold an air raid. It’s quite simple, simply turn out all of the lights and instruct everyone that they must be quiet until the air raid is over. For maximum effect, consider making it last for a couple of minutes. It will give your guests the feeling of what it must have been like to experience a real air raid. If possible, get your hands on some sound effects of old air planes flying and a siren. These can be played simply for your party sound system. Begin with the sound soft…then have it get louder…then softer again to simulate the passing of the planes overhead. Once the planes are ‘gone’ you can turn on the lights again and let the party continue. For the most fun, initiate the air raids during busier times of the party, when guests are in the middle of something else and won’t be expecting it! |
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