16 graduation and retirement party games

Yard games bracket

Players

8 to 32, in pairs

Minutes

60 to 120

Ages

10 and up

You need

Bean bag toss boards, a ring toss or ladder toss set, a bracket sheet and a marker

1. Post a bracket by the food table and let pairs sign up as guests arrive.
2. Mix ages in each pair, such as a grandparent with a classmate.
3. Play games of bean bag toss to 11 points so rounds move quickly between trips to the food.
4. Hold the final when the graduate can watch. The winners get a small prize in school colors.

Without a printer: Draw the bracket on poster board.

For this game: 16-team printable tournament bracket

Who knows the grad best

Players

6 to 40

Minutes

15

Ages

10 and up

You need

15 questions about the graduate, answer sheets and pens

1. Write the questions with the graduate's help: first school, usual lunch order, favorite class, a teacher who made a difference.
2. Guests answer on their own sheets.
3. The graduate reads the answers aloud, with the story behind a few.
4. The highest score wins. Family can play as one team against friends.

Without a printer: Call out the questions. Guests can write on the back of a program or any scrap of paper.

For this game: Printable trivia answer sheets

Grad photo timeline

Players

Any number

Minutes

Runs through the party

Ages

All ages

You need

One photo of the graduate from each school year, numbered, plus paper and pens

1. Pin school photos from the first year to the last in a mixed order, each with a number.
2. Guests write the photo numbers in the order they think the photos were taken.
3. Each photo in the right place scores a point.
4. Reveal the order when the graduate cuts the cake.

Without a printer: Show the photos as a numbered slideshow on a TV.

Graduation bingo

Players

6 to 40

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

All ages

You need

A different card and a pen for each guest, and the call list

1. Hand out cards as guests sit down to eat.
2. Call graduation words from the list, one at a time.
3. Guests mark each word they have with a pen.
4. The first line wins. Play a last round for a full card while dessert is served.

Without a printer: Read the list once, have guests fill a hand-drawn grid, then call the words in a new order.

For this game: Graduation bingo

Advice and predictions cards

Players

Any number

Minutes

Runs through the party

Ages

All ages

You need

Blank cards, pens and a box

1. Set out cards with two prompts: one piece of advice, and one guess about where the graduate will be in ten years.
2. Guests fill a card whenever they like and drop it in the box.
3. The graduate reads a few aloud at the end of the party.
4. Seal the rest and open them on a later birthday or at a reunion.

Without a printer: Use index cards or sheets of notepaper.

For this game: Printable blank playing cards

Cap toss

Players

4 to 30

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

5 and up

You need

Paper plates decorated as graduation caps, and a laundry basket or bucket

1. Decorate a stack of paper plates as graduation caps, with a tassel drawn on each.
2. Mark three throwing lines at distances worth 1, 2 and 3 points.
3. Each player throws three caps like a flying disc into the basket.
4. Add up the points. The highest total wins.

Water balloon toss

Players

8 to 30, in pairs

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

6 and up

You need

One filled water balloon per pair, plus spares

1. Partners stand two steps apart with one water balloon.
2. Toss the balloon to your partner. After each catch, both step back.
3. A pair whose balloon bursts is out and becomes the cheering section.
4. The last pair with a whole balloon wins. Pick up every scrap of balloon afterward.

Graduation word scramble

Players

Any number

Minutes

10

Ages

8 and up

You need

A scramble sheet and a pen for each guest

1. Mix up the letters of graduation words, such as diploma, tassel, ceremony and valedictorian, plus the school's name and mascot.
2. Leave the sheets on the tables for guests to pick up.
3. The first correct sheet handed to the host wins.
4. The host keeps the answer key.

Without a printer: Write the scrambled words on a poster by the food.

For this game: Word scramble generator with answer key

Retirement bingo

Players

6 to 50

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

Adults

You need

A different card for each guest, the call list and markers

1. Place a card and a pen at each seat.
2. Call the retirement words one at a time while people eat.
3. Guests cross off each word that is on their card.
4. The first full line reads the words back and wins. The retiree can call the last round.

Without a printer: Read the list at the start and have guests copy words into a grid on any paper.

For this game: Retirement party bingo

Who knows the retiree best

Players

6 to 60, in tables or teams

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

Adults

You need

15 questions the retiree has answered and approved, and answer sheets

1. Ask the retiree to answer and approve 15 questions: first job, the year they joined, favorite project, the first trip they plan to take. For a teacher, add their first classroom and a favorite book to read aloud.
2. Each table works as a team and writes one answer per question.
3. The retiree gives each answer, adding a memory or two from the job.
4. The table with the most right wins.
5. On a video call, put the questions on a quiz board and share the screen.

Without a printer: Read the questions aloud. Tables write on any paper.

The year they started

Players

6 to 60

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

Adults

You need

Ten checked facts from the year the retiree started, and answer sheets

1. Find ten news, film and music facts from the year the retiree started the job, and check each one against a reliable source.
2. Read them aloud without saying the year.
3. Guests write the year they think it was.
4. The retiree reveals the year. The closest guess wins.

Without a printer: Read the clues aloud. Guests write their guess on any paper.

For this game: Decades trivia questions from the 50s to the 2010s

Bucket list draw

Players

Any number

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

Adults

You need

Slips of paper, pens and a jar

1. Each guest writes one activity the retiree could try, such as a pottery class or a trip on a sleeper train.
2. Fold the slips into the jar.
3. The retiree draws five and reads them aloud.
4. The guests who wrote them can explain. The retiree takes the jar home.

Two truths and a lie: career edition

Players

6 to 40

Minutes

10

Ages

Adults

You need

Three statements from the retiree

1. The retiree prepares three statements about their working life: two true, one made up.
2. Read them aloud, or have a coworker read them.
3. Guests vote by show of hands for the one they think is false.
4. The retiree reveals the answer and tells the true stories.

For this game: Two truths and a lie ideas

Left-right retirement gift pass

Players

8 to 30, seated in a circle

Minutes

10

Ages

Adults

You need

A wrapped gift and a short story that uses the words left and right

1. Write a short story about the retiree's career and plans that uses the words left and right often.
2. Seat guests in a circle and give the gift to one person.
3. Read the story slowly. Each time you say left or right, the gift moves one person that way.
4. When the story ends, the person holding the gift hands it to the retiree and says a few words.

For this game: Gift exchange games and simple rules

Whose baby photo: office edition

Players

10 to 50

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

Adults

You need

Baby photos from coworkers who want to join, numbered, plus answer sheets

1. Collect baby photos from the retiree and any coworkers who want to take part.
2. Number them and post them on a board or in a slideshow.
3. Guests write which coworker they think each photo shows.
4. Reveal the answers, ending with the retiree's photo.

Without a printer: Show the photos in a slideshow.

Retirement word search

Players

Any number

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

Adults

You need

A word search and a pen for each guest

1. Make a word search from words tied to the retiree: their job, team, hobbies and the places they have worked.
2. Leave one at each seat.
3. Guests who finish hand it to the host to check against the answer page.
4. Give the retiree a copy with every word circled as a keepsake.

Without a printer: Show the puzzle on a screen and solve it together as a room.