How To Play MASH + Printable Worksheet! - It's Always Autumn

In today’s post: Remember the MASH game? Learn how to play MASH and download a free printable game sheet so your kids can have as much fun as you used to!

Alright, we’re going old school today. A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook that she had introduced the MASH (aka mansion apartment shack house) game to her kids and they were loving it. This iconic game from the 80s predicts the player’s future life in a fun, silly way, and brings back so many memories! I’ve decided it’s high time to pass this classic game down to the new generation, and just for fun I created a game sheet you can print out to introduce the game to your own kids. It’s a great way to get them off devices for a while.

MASH game worksheet

To make it easier for kids to learn how to play, I made a printable worksheet. Of course you absolutely don’t need to use this worksheet – one of the great things about MASH is you can play anywhere with just a pen and paper. But the worksheet makes it a little easier when you’re learning how to play.

Download the black and white MASH worksheet by clicking here

Download the color MASH worksheet by clicking here

How to play MASH

Ok, the MASH game is a fun fortune telling game that predicts your future by narrowing down options you choose. MASH is an acronym that stands for: mansion, apartment, shack, house. These are your options for where you’re going to live.

You also fill in 4 options for each of the following categories:

• Where you will live
• Who your spouse will be
• What your job will be
• Number of children you’ll have
• What type of car you’ll drive

These are the categories we used most often when we played as kids, so that’s what I’ve included on the game sheet. However, you can play without the game sheet and include whatever categories you’d like. The unwritten rule was always that at least one option in each category has to be pretty awful, ‘cuz half the fun is finding out you’re gonna be stuck married to The Hulk (just remind kids not to be mean about real people that they know).

Playing the Game

Once you’ve filled in all your options, you get to draw the “magic spiral.” Just start with a dot and draw a spiral around it until a friend tells you to stop. Then count how many loops you made – that will be your “magic number”. We’ll use the magic number to narrow down our options until there’s only one single answer left in each category.

In this example, the magic number is 6. Starting with mansion/apartment/shack/house, count down your list of options and stop when you get to the magic number and cross out the option (in this example we’re using 6, so the first option to get crossed off is “Prince Charming”). Continue through your list, crossing out the option you land on each time you count to the magic number (so in this example “13” gets crossed off next, then “School Bus”, etc). When you get to the end of the list, go back to the beginning and keep counting and crossing items off. As you count be sure to skip anything that’s been crossed off already.

When you get down to the final option left in any category, circle it. Then skip that category completely as you continue counting and crossing off options. When you get down to one circled option in each category, you’re done – and now you know the future! It’s totally silly and lots of fun.

Idea for Teens

Surprisingly enough, even teenagers enjoy this entertaining game, especially if you make it a little more complicated:

• Swap out the original list of places to live with other ideas starting with those same letters. For example, instead of “shack” you could use “shed,” “swamp,” or “sewers.”
• Come up with your own list of categories like: “Food you eat daily,” “Hobbies,” “What you’re famous for,” “Partner’s job,” etc.

Looking for more fun activities for kids? Check out these posts:

How to play spoons

How to play the dice game

How to play California speed

How to fold an origami frog that really jumps

How to create gorgeous art with tissue paper and water

Fired alcohol ink art for kids