Playing games is an important part of my family's culture. My wife and I feel that games are a great educational resource. The beauty of playing games is that the learning is wrapped up in fun, excitement, and time spent together as a family.
Image Source - Pexel by Hal Tate
In today's post, I want to share about a game called Fish Bowl. Let's get started!
What is Fish Bowl?
Fish Bowl is a party game that can accommodate small and large groups. It can be played by a group of family and friends who already know each other or can be used as an icebreaker to get to know people you have not met before.
The following are some of the skills each participant will practice:
- teamwork
- critical thinking/problem solving
- communication (speaking and listening)
- acting
- observation
How do you play Fish Bowl?
1. Divide the group into two teams
Although randomly dividing up the group is possible, I suggest you attempt to divide up your group evenly (both in the number of people and the ability of each player) if you want to use Fish Bowl as an educational tool.
When my family last played, we placed people of similar skill levels on opposite teams. Balanced teams help ensure that everyone has a great time while playing. If you have an extra large number of people playing, you could add a third team to the mix.
2. Understand the categories
Every Fish Bowl game is unique because each player contributes to how the game will be played. This process occurs when a player writes a "prompt" on paper.
Every player writes one prompt to match each of the three categories. Typically, the categories are a person, place, or thing.
Depending on the age of the people who will be playing, I suggest that you come up with very specific categories that suit the needs of all players. I will provide a list of alternative categories in this post.
3. Write the prompts
Every person needs three pieces of paper and a pencil or pen. Once every person writes down three prompts, all of the prompts are collected in a container - the Fish Bowl.
For the best playing experience, ensure players do not write vague or overly complicated prompts. Generally, a prompt will be limited to one or two words easily understood by everyone playing.
4. Understand the phases
Now that each player has written three prompts, it is time to move on to gameplay. There are three different phases during a game of Fish Bowl.
- Words Only - A player can use an unlimited amount of words to describe the prompt but is not allowed to say any words that are on the prompt.
- Actions Only - A player can only use actions to act out the prompt. Words and noises are prohibited.
- One Word Only - A player can only use one word to describe the prompt. You still cannot say a word that was written on the prompt.
5. Play the game
Team #1 will start. One player from that team will follow the rules of the current phase. The other players will attempt to guess the current prompt for 60 seconds. This time can be modified to make the game more or less challenging.
A team receives one point for each correctly guessed prompt. Correctly guessed prompts are removed from the Fish Bowl. A team can continue to guess new prompts up until the time limit.
If a team passes on a prompt (which is allowed), that prompt will be returned to the Fish Bowl after the 60-second guess duration. If a team does not follow the rules of the current phase, then the prompt will be returned to the Fish Bowl after the 60 seconds are over.
Once the time limit has expired for Team #1, Team #2 will begin to guess.
Once all the prompts are successfully guessed by following the rules of one of the phases, every prompt is returned to the Fish Bowl, and the next phase begins. If a player from either team completes one phase and still has time remaining, that player provides clues for the next phase with the remainder of 60 seconds.
6. End of the game
The game ends when every prompt has been successfully guessed across all three phrases (words, actions, and one word only).
Successful guesses are tallied throughout the game. Each team's score is announced after the completion of Phase #3.
Minor Modifications/Things to Consider
- Have each player add more than one of each prompt to lengthen gameplay.
- If a player does not know how to read, have an older player speak the prompt to the player giving clues. This worked well when my wife helped my five-year-old act out the prompts.
- If you have someone in your group who is a "rule follower," make sure it is clear when you will offer grace and when the rules will be followed precisely. For example, in Phase #3, a player can only say one word. What happens if the player uses a filler word like um?
- To make it easier to count points, we threw successfully guessed prompts on the ground. Players should decide what to do with prompts that score points and prompts that don't.
- Two or more people might write down the same prompt. If this happens, you will discover it while playing the game.
- Be creative when selecting the categories that will be used. This is helpful when considering younger players and can also be used to focus on a particular theme/learning opportunity.
More Fish Bowl Category Ideas
The following are some additional category ideas and examples prompts. You can be as creative as you want when playing Fish Bowl.
| Occupations | Rooms in a house | Animals | Kitchen items |
|---|---|---|---|
| doctor | kitchen | dog | fork |
| teacher | bedroom | cat | sink |
| fire fighter | living room | elephant | knife |
| Places in town | Sports | Feelings | Homeschool items |
|---|---|---|---|
| bank | baseball | happy | pencil |
| school | basket | sad | desk |
| hospital | football | mad | book |
Final Thoughts
Games are a great way to teach and educate our kiddos. Taking a little time each week to play a game as a family can have a positive, long-lasting impact on your kiddos.
I want to hear from you.
- Do you play games with your family?
- Would you consider playing Fish Bowl with your family? Why or why not?
- What other Fish Bowl categories do you think would be beneficial for homeschooling families?
Thanks for stopping by!
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