Small group activities for short get-togethers

Looking for small group activities for just a few friends or a family for the afternoon or a couple of hours? Take them back to the area of their minds that loves to explore, experiment, and make something together.

When group activities include ‘making something,’ a surprise innate joy that comes from creating with the hands with others almost always shines through. Even when done tongue-in-cheek, such as the macho friend of one of my relatives who was stunned by the idea of sitting down and decorating eggs, found himself not wanting to stop and talking about the activity for months to come.

Unique small group activities:

- Find a non-tacky craft book at your public library, or check out our affiliate 101 Easy Craft Ideas, or shop at a nearby craft store for short projects appropriate for activities with small groups, such as making ornaments, painting glass bottles (save wine bottles for this), making beads, or building and painting wooden boxes from kits.

- Find a homesteading skills book at your library instead. Look for how-tos on food preservation, dyeing yarn, making noodles from scratch, woodworking, or making quick cheese, and so on.

(Our own article meant for teachers or homeschooling parents has fun, quick, small group projects related to homesteading you can adapt for your gathering.)

Choose a project that fits your timeframe, but assume it will take a little longer. You could mix projects as well, such as making homemade crackers and then making butter in a jar while the crackers bake. “Jar butter” always takes a group to make it work because it involves shaking a jar of cream non-stop, and participants need to take turns. Group activities like this should be seen as experiments, and if the results are a disaster, all the better.

- If kids are involved, make “real” playdough (recipe below). This project is great for small-number group activities of mixed ages, because kids ground their energy by working cooperatively with adults first, then feel safer to go off on their own with their new playdough so parents can then have quality adult time.

Playdough recipe: In a saucepan, mix 1 cup flour, ½ cup salt, and 1 tablespoon powdered alum (in grocery store spice sections or craft stores). Then add one tablespoon of oil, one cup of water, and mix thoroughly. Cook over medium heat until mixture reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove from heat, let cool to where it’s still warm but can be touched with hands, and add 2 tablespoons of vanilla and a drop or 2 of food coloring. Work the color in, and if you want more color intensity, add another drop and work in until you have the consistency you want.

Make a new batch for however many colors you want. Store in airtight containers.

To make the above project into a small group activity, have participants help measure and stir the ingredients, then have them help work the colors in once the mixture is cool enough.

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