Family River Rafting: River Games – Splish, Splash, and Laugh

by Julie Trevelyan

Family River Rafting: River Games – Splish, Splash, and Laugh! A river rafting trip is definitely about serious enjoyment. Paddling downstream, telling tall tales over dinner, and getting to spend some awesome quality time with your family or friends is all part of the package. What else is a heck of a lot of fun that you get to do on a river trip? Games! There are all sort of possibilities, but here are a few of our favorites. Get set to have some giggles with these very silly, very wonderful pastimes.

An ammo can is an important piece of equipment on the river. One of its many functions is to act as your rock of Gibraltar as you and an opponent stand on your individual cans and attempt to yank each other off by pulling on the same rope. Balance, rather than strength, is a key ingredient in this game. Choose your opponent wisely!

Eternally popular, horseshoes can develop into a competition complete with the narrowed eye, careful toss, and either huge groans of disappointment at a missed throw or enormous cheers at a victorious one. Hand-eye coordination is essential in this battle.

Two teams are chosen. Each team buries a can in the sand, leaving the top open so as to create a hole in the ground. In possession of four large washers each, the teams practice their best washer-flinging moves to get them into or at least as near to their can as possible. The team with the most points at the end wins this stellar game, one of the most popular on river rafting vacations.

Nature makes the best course for this excellent amusement. Carefully choosing rocks, juniper trees, a raft, and other targets, teams then choose their flying discs and have at. He or she with the best arm, the perfect flick of the wrist, and a discerning eye for how to make that piece of plastic cruise at just the right speed and direction toward the targets shall rule the day.

An impromptu bit of fun at the end of a day, Christmas on the River asks that everyone in camp bring a gift to the evening gathering. Gifts may be made by hand on the trip (perhaps a necklace made from sparkly little-kid tennis shoes, adorned with leaves blown down from cottonwood trees), found along the way (a perfectly smooth, prettily-colored river stone), or brought from home. In the ensuing white elephant gift exchange, laughter generally rings through the canyon as you open your gift and then either try to get someone else to take it, or try to hang on to it for dear life.