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Games to Play with Your Kids
Over the past several years, we have become a board game playing family. We sometimes play board games after we have finished our formal schoolwork. About three years ago we started what I like to call, “Fun Friday”. A day of baking yummy treats, having a fun family dinner, and then playing a board game around our dining room table. Over the years we’ve added some new games to our repertoire. Here are some of the games we’ve fallen in love with – ones that are fun for kids and adults alike.
10 Days in Europe – Want an easy and fun way to teach your kids European geography? Look no further. This game is awesome. You will all brush up on your map skills while you play this high-strategy game.
This has become a family favorite for the kids 7 and older in our house. My kids have memorized the countries of Europe. They now get 100% right on tests of these countries. We love this game so much that we’ve added to our collection, 10 Days in the USA, 10 Days in the Americas, and 10 Days in Africa.
Carcassonne Board Game
Sequence – This game is fun to play in “teams”. This is not your typical team game where one person ends up making all the decisions. (Wait, is that only in our house?) So, as I was saying, this is actually fun.
You must sit in a specific order with no two members of the same team sitting next to each other. For instance if you have three teams (we’ll call them team A, B, and C) they would sit like this: teammate number one from A would sit next to teammate number one from B who sits next to teammate number one from team C. You would continue this pattern with teammate number 2 and so on. You aren’t actually allowed to speak to your team mate – no helping each other. It is a fun game of matching and strategy.
Enchanted Forest – This is made for younger kids but the adults in our house (and the older kids) seem to like it. It is a twist on the old “memory” game. The goal is to walk down the path and land next to one of many trees on the board. Once you are next to a tree you may look under it to see what fairytale item hides under the tree. The trick is to make sure not to show anyone else. You don’t want to give away any clues. There is a fairytale card turned over in the courtyard of the castle and your goal is to find which tree the match is hiding under. Once you find the tree that the item resides under, you can make your way to the castle and announce where it is. If you are right, you keep the card and a new card is then flipped over. If you are wrong you must start at the beginning of the path and try again. Once you get 3 cards, you win! This is a game of memory, matching, counting, strategy and patience. It is loads of fun!
Labyrinth – This is one of our newer games we’ve added to our collection. This is only a 4 player game so we don’t always play this for Fun Friday. I’ve included it here because it is a favorite for most in our family. It is a game of strategy and logic. Essentially, the game board is a large puzzle that shifts with each move.
You will be dealt many cards at the beginning of the game. Each card has a different object on the back. Your goal is to make your way to the object on your top card, in order to fulfill all your cards and make it back to your home space. However, because the board keeps shifting this objective is very hard! This game is challenging and fun! It really challenges your visual perceptual skills.
So there you have it! Our favorite board games to play at the end of school time or on a Friday night!
What is your favorite board game?
[…] have purchased many board games over the years because they are a great way to get the kids to play together without using a screen. […]