As my children get older and the years go by, we seem to be continually adding to our board game collection. I love board games because it is one way to bring us all together and focus on aspects of teamwork and family that we really need to focus our efforts on.
The calendar seems to be overflowing with activities as my kids get older and these commitments can sometimes pull us away from each other. I remember my own parents enforcing a strict Family Night on our calendar each week where we were not allowed to go anywhere or do anything except spend a night together as a family. Our night together included fun food and a great sitcom. There may have been weeks I acted as though I resented it, particularly in those middle school years, but now I look back on that time together fondly. It was important and essential to our parents and I looked forward to it just as much as they did.
To steal a line from Iron Chef, “Board games reign supreme,” in our house. Family nights usually include a homemade pizza, a board game, and a fun family movie together. We all look forward to it and I love sharing these precious moments with my children.
Board games not only help promote togetherness with our children, but also togetherness as a couple. A board game with your spouse is the ultimate in frugal date nights and I can think of no better way to spend an evening together than dusting off an old board game and just being kids again!
I try to get our board games at our local thrift store because it is a great way for me to try them out without making a huge investment. Sometimes I buy games and we discover that it isn’t something we would want to play over and over again. When they cost us only $1.50, it makes it much easier to donate it back and try something else out.
You might be able to do this without even making a small investment by checking with your local library. Our library actually has games and toys that you can rent for your children. We were able to try some games out for our son and found that he either didn’t like them or they were way too advanced by just checking them out for a week. We were able to return them and then try them at a later date with him, when they were more age-appropriate.
Twister Hopscotch- Twister Hopscotch is a great game to keep in your collection for rainy days because it is still a physical activity, but can be done indoors instead of out. The game consists of different colors of rings that can be made into a formation. Just like regular old Twister, you give it a spin to figure out your color, hop to your circle, and then do the required “silly” activity… at least I think this is the rules. In our family, we hand the kids the box and let them discover whatever it is they would like to create or do. It is a great game for preschoolers because they can create patterns, it helps with color recognition, and coordination. We really love this game and I think your kids would too! (Age Recommendations- 4 and up)
Disney DVD Bingo- This game was given to us as a birthday gift from a friend and it is one of the most used games in our collection. Each card has characters from the Disney movies on each of the Bingo spots. You pop in the DVD and choose the style of Bingo game you would like to play. For younger kids, you can stick to the basic Bingo, but older kids will enjoy the challenge that some of the other games offer. The DVD tells you what numbers are being called and occasionally there are very short Disney movie sequences that are shown. Both of my children love this game and paired with a big bowl of popcorn, they are entertained for at least an hour. Make it more challenging by adding extra cards for each child to increase the difficulty. This is a great game for recognizing numbers, colors, and patterns. (Age Recommendations- 4 and up)
Apples to Apples- If you have not played Apples to Apples before, you are really missing out on a treat. It is my new favorite game to tote around to all of our family functions and any opportunity where I can get a few friends together. Simply deal the cards out to each player and one person gets to be the judge. The judge will share a card and you select from your cards the best match to that card. Once everyone has given their card to the judge, the judge decides which card best fits the card they shared.
The fun is in the variety of unexpected comparisons people make, sometimes apt, funny, creative, or simply absurd. For example: people might match “Awkward” with “Oil Spills,” “My First Kiss,” “Dandruff,” and “Gold Chains. ” Or: “Painful” with “High School Reunions” and “Regis Philben. ” Strategy comes into play since, because each player takes turns being the judge, you begin to pick up on the preferences of each player and tailor your choices accordingly.
Honestly, if you find yourself hosting a dinner party where you are worried about conversation or a family gathering that you don’t have very much in common with, this is the game to break out to get through those awkward silences. Kid v
ersions of this game are also available. (Age Recommendations- 12 and up)
Trouble- Trouble is a great game for younger kids because it is a very simple concept and the playing time is perfect for shorter attention spans. Adults may remember this great game from their childhood. With this game, you just move your four pegs around the board and put them into the finish spots. If you land on an opponents peg while going around the board though, you can boot them back to the beginning and make their piece start all over again. Instead of rolling dice, you push the “Pop-o-matic,” in the center which throws the dice for you. My kids really love this game and you will too! (Age Recommendations- Ages 4-9)
Connect Four- Connect Four is one of our favorite games and both the kids really enjoy it. The game is a vertical version of tic-tac-toe. Each player has a color and you drop the pieces in and try to get four in a row. The other player can block your moves with their pieces and this is a great game for strategy building to see if you can outsmart your opponent. This is another game that is short and sweet so it is perfect for children with short attention spans or for a quick game before bedtime.
Rummikub: This is a game that my husband loved to play when he was growing up, and now he has me addicted to it too! The game is intended for ages eight and up and can be played with two or more players. Wi
th rules similar to gin rummy, Rummikub is a classic tile game that’s guaranteed to get at least a million kid-hours of use in any family. Players take 14 numbered tiles and try to get rid of them as fast as possible by creating runs (for example, 7-8-9) and sets (7-7-7). The link provided is for their deluxe edition (which we do not have). This deluxe edition is cleverly designed so that the four plastic tile racks fit together to form a carrying case for the game. Junior editions of this game are also available.
Scrabble- What is not to love about this game? Intended for two players or more and recommended for ages eight to ninety-nine, you can play this game for years with your children. The game has been improved with a swivel board (less stretching required!), raised holders to rest the tiles into, and a bag to store all of the tiles. This is one of my personal favorites and we play this a lot in our house. Don’t forget to purchase a copy of the Scrabble Dictionary and store it with your game board. Take some time to study some words and really beat your opponents! Want to see what Scrabble obsession looks like? Rent the movie, “Word Wars.” It is all about the Scrabble championships that are held and people who attempt to make a living from this sport. Junior editions of this game are also available.
th placeholders for all of the stacks of cards and score sheets to keep tabs of the winners. I love this game because it is easy to still have conversations while playing, making it a great game to socialize with other couples.
rs. The ultimate in
this game is to actually get Yahtzee or five of a kind. This game is so much fun and also a great teaching tool for children. Children can learn basic addition and subtraction, as well as sequential ordering.
Monopoly- I had never played this game until high school, and I can honestly say that my husband is always the winner, which is why we don’t play it as much! This game is a great teaching tool in
money-management and in buying real estate. We have a couple of different versions of this game, but my favorite is the Dot Com Monopoly, which we purchased when Dot Coms were ruling the world. Few of the companies on the board exist anymore, which makes for interesting conversation and fond memories before the dot com bomb hit for computer nerds and geeks alike!
We have many more games in our collection and the last time I hit the thrift store, I picked up another stack of new ones. Our collection keeps growing and we hope to have a game collection that our kids will enjoy someday with their friends. In a day of technological bliss, game nights now seem “retro.” Why play on a board when you can just grab your game system or play a computer game online? I hope that board games will last the test of time because they can be an essential part of family bonding and creating a family night to remember!
What are your favorite games? Any new games that I should be adding to our collection?
We love board games & card games as well as puzzles, for the same reasons you listed.
Our favorites are Chutes & Ladders, Benji & Pac Man {yes, I'm dating myself here these were Brian's when he was little}, Operation, Uno, War, Go Fish, Memory. Ryan really wants Sorry Sliders, so we'll probably add that for Christmas.
Fun!
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We love playing games, too! My girls faves right now are Guess Who, Froggy Boogie, Monopoly Jr., checkers and the Blink card game. So much fun!
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Another great thing to do is swap games with another family. We do this and borrow some games for a few weeks or so from them, they borrow some from us and there is not any additional cost! This would work well with siblings, cousins or whomever! Great way to view movies, too!
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Blokus is a great game that encourages strategic thinking but is still lots of fun. While it's probably best for older kids 8 and up, little ones can still play it. My five-year-old plays it with us and it's amazing to see how her strategic thinking skills are developing. It's most fun with 4 players but the instructions include variations for 1, 2 and 3 players as well. It can be kind of pricey ($25-30) but you'll get your play value out of it. Fun party game, too. I ordered mine years ago online, but I've seen it recently at Target. They have a smaller, travel version as well.
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Blokus is a great game that encourages strategic thinking but is still loads of fun. While it's probably best for older kids 8 and up, little ones can still play it. My five-year-old plays it with us and it's amazing to see how her strategic thinking skills are developing. It's most fun with 4 players but the instructions include variations for 1, 2 and 3 players as well. It can be kind of pricey ($25-30) but you'll definitely get your play value out of it. Fun party game, too. I ordered mine years ago online, but I've seen it recently at Target. They have a smaller, travel version as well. It's one game you won't dread playing (like Monopoly.)
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I love all of the classics but Aggrivation has to be my all time favorite! Blessings!!!!
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I like your blog! This is the first post I've read, but you write well and I enjoyed the read. Board games are great family fun and I would add dice games to the list too. With a handful of dice, an inexpensive investment, you can play lots of fun family oriented games like Farkle, Shut the box, Ship/Captain/Crew, Matterhorn (fun for young kids!) and liars dice. If you need free instructions or score sheets, you can get them from All-About-Dice.com.
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You won't believe this, but I just bought Blokus last night. I keep hearing about this game and see it set up at the toy stores so I thought I would give it a try. My son is 7 so I am thinking he might be able to play a little bit with us. If not, I am going to try the two person version with my hubby.
Michelle- I LOVE that idea- BRILLIANT! I am definitely going to mention this to some of my mom friends. We have quite the collection we could share and I would love to try some new games.
Christi- Those are such fun games!! I have never heard of Sorry Sliders, I will have to look that one up.
Amy- We don't have any of those games so I will have to add them to our Christmas wish list. Thanks so much for the suggestions!
Marva- I completely forgot about Aggravation- what a great game!
Mike- Love dice too! One of my favorite things in life is Bunco
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We have an older crowd, but just picked up Scene It for a $1…unfortunately the DVD was missing but we can still use the cards w/ questions.
CR
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Before kids, my husband and I would play board games with friends of ours. In the winter, we are still apt to break out a deck of cards after the kids go to bed. My fav is Simpsons Clue. Last C-mas Jake got a toddler version of Candyland. no counting- just matching shapes to your gingerbread pad. Once you get all four shapes you win. Easy and fun!
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My 4yos current favorites are Candy Land and Shoots and Ladders.
My dd and I play Settlers of Catan when we are able.
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wow..a great trip down memory lane! also, an extremely important topic…spending quality family time together…thanks!
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I'd forgotten about Trouble! When I was little I also loved Risk, Yahtzee, Scrabble, Operation, and Monopoly.
My girls are 7 and 4 and so far our faves are Chutes & Ladders, Hi Ho Cherry O, and we have a great game someone sent us to test out called Blurt that they love. It's great for building vocabulary. Oh and Hullabaloo! I picked one up at Goodwill (aren't you proud of me) this summer and it rocks.
Of course you can't rule out good ole checkers.
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I never thought to check out thrift stores for board games. That is a great idea! I am looking forward to our kids being a little older so we can have activities like this together.
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