Retirement Party Games

Retirement comes as a personal decision for many adults who usually are 65 or older. This passage in life is a time to celebrate years of hard work and service and a good time to host a retirement party for that special person. Games can be enjoyable for retirees and other adults attending the party. Playing a few games at a retirement party can lighten the mood and help everyone to have a good time.

You can make your own word search puzzle for your party goers to complete. Turn it into a game by seeing who can find the most words within a certain time frame. Look at various websites that will create a word search puzzle for you once you enter the words and phrases, as well as details such as the difficulty and size of the puzzle. Examples of words and phrases that you can use for a retirement word search puzzle include "gone fishing," "extended vacation" and "babysit the grand kids." You might also add humorous words and phrases such as "aches and pains," "frequent trips to the bathroom" and "senior discounts."

Since a retirement party is a celebration of one's career contributions, you can play a version of charades that centers around various occupations. Write different occupations on index cards (one occupation per card), and place the stack of cards face down on a table. You can use plenty of traditional jobs such as "banker," "teacher" or "lawyer," but you might want to include some unusual choices as well such as "lion tamer," "astronaut" and "exotic dancer." Divide your crowd into two teams. Have teams take turns sending up someone to draw an index card and act out what is written on the card. If the team members guess the occupation within one minute, they earn a point. The team with the most points after a certain time period wins.

This game offers an opportunity to spotlight various phases in the retiree's life. Post pictures of the retiree over the course of his life from birth until present. Place these pictures in a central location that is easily accessible and visible to everyone attending the party. Post a number beside each picture as well. Provide a stack of papers that are numbered with the number of pictures that you posted. Invite your guests to take a piece of paper, survey the pictures and guess the retiree's age in each picture. Once everyone has had a chance to do this, let the retiree reveal his age in each picture, as well as any interesting or funny stories about the pictures themselves. The guests who guesses the age correctly the greatest number of times wins.