Therapy Source has been featured in a wonderful Age UK article titled “The best disability and wheelchair-inclusive party games.” The article describes a variety of activities from seated games to sensory, including the following:
Quizzes and Guessing Games
“I feel you can’t go wrong with a game like ‘name that tune’ or ‘guess the movie’. For fans of music and movies, these are great games for friends and family. They require minimal supplies and effort to set up or physical movement to play, which makes them the perfect party game for everyone and all abilities.
All you need is cards or sheets of paper with the movie or song names and two teams of players. The aim of the game is for each team to get their own team players to guess the movie/song using as little words as possible or in the shortest time.”
Act/Draw-It-Out Games
“Charades or team Pictionary (in order to support each other) can be fun for smaller gatherings for all ages,” says Katie. Not only does the team element encourage some friendly competition, but it also allows everyone to be involved even if someone is unable to take part in the drawing or acting out themselves.”
Board Games
“Kids and adults of all ages love board games. For kids, this can encourage the development of math, reading and social skills, depending on the game. You could even let the kids try their hand at poker, with play money and a real prize at the end. For the adults, bring on some old-time favourites such as Monopoly and Cluedo.”
Sensory Activities and Games
Sensory activities and games are an entertaining alternative to more traditional games, especially for those who aren’t able to participate in them or choose not to. We suggest sensory activities like a petting zoo, multi-sensory story-telling, face painting, and activity tables. Also, we recommend including items like gloop, cereal, or bubbles in sensory play.
Music Games
We suggest adapting the game “musical chairs” so that it uses flat objects like posters or photographs for participants to stand on. “There’s nothing like music to get the party going! Gather the players and line up some flat objects on the floor, one less than the number of people. Each participant should circulate around the line and when the music stops, whoever isn’t situated on an object will be eliminated and so on.”
Therapy Source also recommends an excellent music-based game called musical ball. “Musical ball can be played by just about anyone. Musical ball involves passing a ball and when the music is stopped, the player holding the ball gets a point. The first player to 5 points wins.”
Throwing/Rolling Games
Games that require rolling and throwing are excellent mobility-based games that students can play while seated or in a wheelchair. Specifically, we suggest a beanbag toss or bocce, which is a popular game (included in the Special Olympics Games!) that involves rolling game balls in the direction of a target ball, also called a jack. The individual who rolls their game balls closest to the jack wins!
Considerations
The article also states that it is important to accommodate special requests for guests with disabilities. When planning an event, the author suggests considering the venue’s accessibility and whether it has mobility aids like stairlifts, a flat entrance ramp, conveniently accessible toilets, etc.