Fun things to enjoy in January: from indoor games to traditional New Year’s pastimes
January, when we welcome the New Year, is the perfect time to enjoy activities that are a little different from the everyday! From traditional New Year’s games like karuta, fukuwarai, and spinning tops to easy, casual fun like charades and plastic-bottle bowling, why not try some seasonal games this time of year? In this article, we’re sharing plenty of ideas for January activities that will put smiles on the faces of family and friends.
Whether it’s games that get you moving indoors despite the cold or ones you can enjoy while connecting with older adults, discover the charm of each activity and make wonderful memories to start the new year.
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Fun activities to enjoy in January: From indoor games to traditional New Year’s pastimes (41–50)
rubber band gun
Some of you may have made one when you were children.
You can make it with just wooden chopsticks and rubber bands.
It also sounds fun to set up a target and compete for points.
Try customizing the way you build it to create a one-of-a-kind rubber band gun.
Donjara
When you think of a casual version of mahjong, it’s probably easy to imagine: you match the same patterns to aim for scoring hands.
If you do well, you earn points, and the person with the highest score at the end wins.
It’s a tabletop game meant to be enjoyed together, gathered around a kotatsu.
Drop the Handkerchief
Many of you probably played this when you were kids, right? Everyone sits in a circle facing inward and chooses one person to be “it.” The person who is “it” carries a handkerchief and walks around the outside of the circle, then secretly drops the handkerchief behind someone.
Once they drop it, “it” runs away, and the person who was dropped on chases them.
If “it” makes it all the way around and sits in the empty spot, they win; if they’re caught by the person who was dropped on, they lose.
Fruits Basket
It’s a classic indoor activity for large groups.
Each person is assigned a fruit, and anyone whose fruit is called has to quickly move to a different seat.
It’s a variation of musical chairs and is especially recommended for elementary school kids.
Blox
Let me introduce the territory-claiming board game, Blokus.
Players fill the board with pieces of their own color, and the winner is the one who has the fewest squares left in their remaining pieces at the end.
Since there are pieces in many different shapes, the key to victory is using them cleverly to prevent your opponents from placing theirs.