Skip to main content

Our Favorite Games

At swim class a few weeks ago, my girls' friends with brought Uno with them.  Every week since, my girls have tried to take a game with them.  My kids love games and they've had a few favorites along the way.  I thought I'd share a short list of them.  

Ages 5 and under
* Zingo (4 and 5)
Tumbling Towers
* Hullabaloo by Cranium
Cranium Cariboo (only found at garage sales now)
Any Bingo game
Hi-ho Cherry-O
Candyland

Ages 5-7
* Life (the old version, not the new one is my preference)
* Zooreka by Cranium
Sherluck
What Time is It? by Eeboo (called Eeboo time telling game on Amazon)
* Wig Out
* Battle Ship
* Blokus (square edition)
* Uno
* Connect 4
Sum Swamp (good for practicing kindergarten level addition and subtraction) by Learning Resources
* Sequence for Kids (may be better under 8 and up though)

Ages 8 and up
* Catan (basic edition)
* Risk (classic edition)
* Make it and Break It (this was such a hit because both adults and kids could enjoy it--just caution the adults to not be too competitive--I watched as some guys played it and totally missed how the kids felt left out)
Life
* Sherluck
Quelf Jr
War, Steal the Old Man's Bundle, and Old Maid (the old card games)
Blokus Trigon and * Blokus (original square edition)
Rush Hour by ThinkFun--there's a junior edition, but my son who's 5 loves the easier cards from the harder version
* Hoppers by ThinkFun (good logic building game)
Qwirkle (just found this one at a garage sale and like it)
Rory's story cubes
* Phase 10
* Apples to Apples Jr (Autumn declares that this one is her favorite)
Mancala
Checkers and Chess
Learning Resources Money Bags Game (it used to be called Money! Money!), I bought an older version at a garage sale.  This one helps kids learn their coins.
Mexican Train Dominoes


Ages 10 and Up
* Rummykub
* Bananagrams
* Boggle (there's also a 5x5 square that's made)

On my wish list...
Tenzi (but I'm thinking about just getting generic dice to play the Tenzi variations with).  This is a great one for ages 5 and up.
Catan Jr.  (the kids need us to play the grown up version with them, but a friend has this version and said her sons love it)

Some we weren't so crazy about...
Boggle Jr.
Chutes and Ladders
Clue Jr.
Don't Rock the Boat (the boat didn't balance very well even without any pirates on it)
Tetris Jenga
Hedbandz (the kids version)
Charades for Kids (they play this without the cards because they felt like the cards just made a mess--a good intention, but Autumn says that brains are better.)  I like the cards, but they're the ones playing ;)
Word Pirates

Somes of these games we bought new.  Some at garage sales.  At garage sales, I will usually pay $1-$2 for a game.  Games have gone up a lot in price in the stores.  Catan new runs $35-$40.  Ugh.  I did buy it on sale last Christmas for $30 which saved a few dollars.  I placed a star by the ones I would be willing to buy new if I didn't have them.  Some of them we did buy new and I'm very glad we did.  Some of them were treasures I found at yard sales that I'm even more thankful for.  When I found Blokus and Blokus trigon at a yard sale three weeks ago for $1 each, I was so excited!  My kids have already played Blokus several times. 

One thing tripped me up with games, though.  I put them out of the way and made room for their cars and Barbies on the lower shelves.  This has meant that my kids always have had to ask me to get them down.  This is good if one doesn't want a mess of pieces.  But, it's not good if you want your kids to play--which I do!  So, I'm working on finding space for their favorite games on the lower shelves along their walls...
 



Labels:

Comments

becky.onelittle said…
We love many of those games- but our kids also like Ticket to Ride- I'm not sure the age on it, but our 7 year old plays well enough on his own- our 6 year old has to be guided through it- mostly because she is not an independent reader. And we love Catan Cities and Knights. And my children felt like the Catan Jr. game wasn't worth it.
June 8, 2014 at 3:21 AM
Anne said…
I have seen Ticket to Ride at Target and wondered about it. Thanks for the recommendation! And I'm glad to know that your kids didn't think Catan Jr was worth it. I wondered if it would or wouldn't be since they are able to play the original edition. :)
June 8, 2014 at 8:40 PM
Jo said…
Thanks for the list. We love board games, so we will have to check out some of these. One game we found at a yard sale recently was Clue - Master Detective. Once you get past the whole murder thing, it's a fun game of strategy and deduction.
June 27, 2014 at 9:38 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comparison of Verses

Tonight I was reading the Mom's Bible again (NCV) and compared this verse: NCV Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, yield to your husbands, as you do to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Savior of the body, which is the church. 24 As the church yields to Christ, so you wives should yield to your husbands in everything. NIV Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. The Message 22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewis...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grieved

Why is it that my generation (I belong to Gen X) and generations after us always seem to think that they know more than the generations that have come before us? Why is there such a lack of respect in our generation for our elders? Why do we think that the liturgy of the church and hymns are irrelevant? It is ironic to me that the emergent movement is saying that the seeker sensitive movement is irrelevant. It seems as if it was only a few years ago when it was the seeker sensitive movement that said to the traditional church that it (the traditional church) was irrelevant. I'm reading a book with all of these big words and I want to be honest--I didn't understand a lot of it. I'm not dumb. I understood most of it, but the author was assuming a lot of background knowledge on the part of the reader. Most of the time I learn deep theological concepts and then I have to store them in my "attic" (as Autumn would say) because there isn't enough room in the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

ESV, NIV, or NASB and then there's the ICB, ESV or NIrV...which should we read?

I am so thankful for my friend's question about the ESV vs. NASB and NIV. I couldn't remember the difference so I went to look it up. I knew that John Piper and Tim Keller, both pastors and authors that I deeply respect have switched over to the ESV. All of the churches that we have attended over the past few years PCA or Reformed Baptist have also switched to the ESV. I did find a blog that explained the differences and that helped me ( http://thefoolishgalatian.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/niv-vs-esv-and-why-piper-switched/ ) I knew why I didn't like the KJV--it was written in the days when writers were paid by a patron and that often slanted the translation. The NKJV, from what I understand, is a revision of the KJV that uses more modern language. Most churches I have attended used the NIV until the ESV came out. The blog I found explained that the ESV is a more literal translation---like the NASB. The NASB is a very literal translation. The ESV has come to be consid...
Post a Comment
Read more