Family Game Night: Board Games for Kids and Families

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We are a family who loves to play games!

It all started while growing up. My earliest memories are of game nights with my grandparents and board games with my brother. To this day, my grandparents, who are in their late 80s, still have weekly game nights with their friends — and us! Some of our favorite evenings as a family are playing games together or having friends over for a fun game.

Some of you have asked what games we enjoy as a family, so I thought I’d type up a short post and share a few. Problem is, as I started typing, I realized how many games we really do love! I tried pairing the list down, but I hope you’ll share some of your favorites, too, in the comments below.

Our Family’s Current Top Picks for Game Night

One of our new favorites is a game called HedBanz, a part 20-questions, part “Who Am I?” game. We played for the first time when a friend of ours gave Isabella this Disney version for her birthday, right before our family vacation, and we have laughed and laughed and laughed while playing. It’s a definite hit in our home!

Mario Memory Match — My mom bought this game for Christmas for my {then} 3-year old son, and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t think the kids would have much interest because we already have a few different memory games. I couldn’t have been more wrong! I don’t know if it’s because it’s a Mario version or because of the Super Mario Twist, with different challenges on various cards, but my kids have spent hours playing this game. I have actually been shocked at how often they play and how good they are at it! Even my {now} 4-year old can whoop me in this game!

Parcheesi — From my earliest memories, my family has been playing the game of Parcheesi, so naturally I introduced it to my kids at a young age — maybe too young, but I was just so eager!! The suggested age is 8 and up, but my 6 year old understands the basics and I’m excited for her to gain more of the strategy as she gets older.

Uno and SkipBo are two of our favorite card games, apart from Go Fish, of course! We also just introduced Old Maid which has been a lot of fun — someone always ends up either laughing or angry when the Old Maid is picked!!

Rush Hour — We have the Rush Hour Jr. edition, and my two big kids love this game — ok, honestly, I do, too. This game is a great logic game focusing on visual perception and problem solving.

Jenga — This is a game that we all love, from the youngest to the oldest. Jenga is one of those games that everyone can play, and with all ages playing, we all learn a lesson in patience!

Family Game: Our favorite board #games for kids and families

Classic First Games

Of course we have our fair share of classic first games that get thrown into the mix, too. Some of the regular classic games we play are:

Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders — We introduced these two games when the kids were still tiny. These are some of the simplest, early games that my kids enjoyed from about 2.5 years old and still have fun playing at 4 and 6.

Giant Checkers — I was surprised by how fast my kids caught on to checkers. We love this giant board and pieces for the little hands in our home.

Trouble

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Operation — and for all the Disney Jr. fans out there, how fun would this version be?!

Family #Game Night: Our favorite #family games -- erikadawson.com #kids

Games We Want to Try

Blokus — I’ve heard this one described as a 3-D Tetris that helps build spatial thinking. Blokus is a game that has received numerous awards and rave reviews. Recommended for ages 5 and up, this is one we’ll introduce soon!

Qwirkle — A mix between Sequence and Scrabble, I have heard nothing but good things about this strategy game, designed for ages 6 and up. This is another one that has received numerous awards, so I’m excited to give it a try!

I have my eye on this Thinkfun Roll and Play Board Game created especially with toddlers in mind. I have a very active two-year old, and the gross motor skills and introduction to game play sounds like a perfect activity to add to our collection. The reviews are outstanding, too, so I’m excited to investigate it a little more.

Battleship — I loved the game of Battleship when I was a kid, and I think my two big kids are at the perfect age to start playing.

Zingo — Zingo is another game that my kids are at the perfect age to try. Sort of like a fast-paced, energetic game of Bingo, I’ve heard that this game is also great for pre-readers.

We were given the game Spot It! On the Road before our road trip this year. We enjoyed it so much we are looking into purchasing the Spot It! Educational Set to help us have fun while we’re learning!

Games for Adult Game Night:

Settlers of Catan — My friends have been playing this game for years, but we didn’t jump on the bandwagon until about 2 years ago. I’m only sorry I waited so long. Part Risk, Monopoly, and Go Fish combined, this strategy game is one even I can understand and enjoy, and every time we play, we share so many laughs with our friends. Settlers has definitely become a favorite of ours.

Dominoes — Our favorite Domino game is Mexican Train, followed by Chicken Feet, but for both, we prefer to use a double 15-dot domino set, similar to this one.

Apples to Apples, Taboo, and Catch Phrase are three of our favorite up-beat, make us laugh-tip-our-sides-hurt games.

There are so many great games out there that I haven’t even included in this post. Makes me all giddy to think of introducing my kids to some more of my favorites like Master Detective Clue (which I always thought was more fun than regular Clue), Sequence, and even Monopoly.