Our Current Favorite Family Games
We are a very competitive family. We play at lot of games in our household, whether it's card games, board games, mind games or physical sport games. Playing games as a family is fun, and I think it brings us together. When we're playing games, we're not locked into electronics, doing our own thing away from the rest of the family. When we're playing games, we're all together, using our mind, being creative and having fun being with each other. Games are fun, and are a great family activity.
Not only do we like to play games, we like to win. Heck, once my kids finally started to learn how to actually play games correctly, I stopped letting them win. They would get mad, and sometimes still do, but we feel like it is an important lesson to learn. Especially when they get into sports. Unfortunately, my oldest is extremely good at basketball, but her school team only wins about 50% of their games. I think losing can be a great lesson for a kid. They learn that not everything is given to you, even if you're good, but instead you need to practice to become better. Also, when you do lose at games, it makes winning that much sweeter. Imagine if you won all the time. I would think that would get old. It wouldn't be very much fun anymore.
Related Article: Fun Card Games for an 8 Year Old
These are the games that we are currently playing with each child. Different ages, means different games.
WITH THE 5 YEAR OLD
Or as it is known in our house, "The Caterpillar Game". This game is the bane of my existence, but my son absolutely loves playing it. When I say yes, he runs and gets a paper so that we can keep score of ALL the games we'll play. Each round only takes about 3 minutes so we can get a few in at a time. It's a basic game of having to lay down the cards caterpillar, 1,2,3,4,5, butterfly first. It's actually a good game for his age because it's really teaching him about taking turns and following rules.
My oldest actually bought this for my son this last Christmas. It was her favorite game when she was in Preschool so she wanted to share the love of the game with her brother. It's a fun game. He even plays it on his own, which is an added bonus sometimes! The goal is to get more fish then your opponent. Simple, but perfect for his age.
- WITH THE 8 YEAR OLD
- This is a great game for her age. One side of the board has words already written on it. The goal is to just finish the words first to get more points. You can then flip it over and it's a blank side like normal scrabble. The whole family likes to play together on the prewritten word side. Even the 5 year old can play this and has fun. I'm the only one who plays with her on the other side though. She's entering 3rd grade so she's still learning how to manipulate letters to create correctly spelled words. It's great for her to practice though!
- This isn't any different then regular UNO, except that it's FROZEN!!! My 8 year old loves playing it and likes the one on one time she gets when someone plays with her. It's another good game that teaches the lesson of how to lose because this one really is about chance.
WITH THE 12 YEAR OLD
Remember that maze game that used to be around years ago? Well this is the updated version, and it's so much fun! The game board moves around after each turn, so your strategy continues to change. My 12 year old beats me at this game probably 90% of the time. I don't know what it is, but she's really good at it. I love this game so much, that when I saw a retiring teacher was giving it away, I scooped it up so I could have one in my classroom. You may find me next year playing this with the kids at recess.
This is a fun one that my husband and I love to play with our 12 year old. It's another game that changes each time and requires a lot of thought and strategy. We are excited to try some of the other varieties out there.
Do you love Monopoly but hate how long it takes? I feel like most people feel that way. Monopoly is a great game, but usually takes hours to actually finish it. This card version is a game changer. It's the same idea of Monopoly and collecting properties and money, but it only takes 15-30 minutes to play. I would definitely recommend this to any family.
My daughter won't even say the name of this game because it sounds like a swear to her. LOL! It's a fun card game though. There is strategy to it and you really have to think about what your doing. The goal is to lay down as many pairs without someone stealing them. At the end, whoever has the most money wins. This seems to be another game that my 12 year old beats me at most of the time.
Have any of you played these games? Which are your favorite? Is there a game that is your favorite that maybe I didn't list? We love games and I'd love to hear about some new fun ones!
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