Tag Archives: family games

Active Easter Games for Families to Play Together

When we lived near our families, we never had to worry about occupying the kids on Easter. Between church, a huge egg hunt, and a big meal, the kids were happy all day playing with their cousins. When we are home by ourselves though, it’s more of a challenge to fill up the day. Here’s a very silly variation of tag. Little kids love this game and will run and giggle for a very long time with no arguments. Tie an empty Easter basket around each player’s waist. Give each of the players some plastic eggs. Instruct the players to … Continue reading →

Cranium Super Showdown

Here’s another game that brings a lots of laughs to our house. Cranium Super Showdown is similar to Apples to Apples in that the players take turns being the judge. On each turn the judge picks a “Contest Card”. These cards say things like “climb to the top of Mt. Everest the fastest, or “kick a winning goal”, or “make someone laugh until milk shoots out of their nose”. Each player picks from his or her hand of challengers. The “Challenger Cards” have characters like Pinocchio, Barbie, Willy Wonka, a nurse, a librarian, or a frog prince. The players each … Continue reading →

Harry Potter Scene It? The DVD Game

Movie fans should give the Scene It? DVD games a try. Our family got the 2nd edition of Harry Potter Scene It? for Christmas. The game can be played with two to four players, or in teams. We divided up into three teams, my husband and one nine year old were one team, our other nine year old and I were another team, and our fourteen year old was on his own. He skunked us all. I’ve heard that kids can trounce adults in the Disney version, too! You do need a DVD player to play the game. An on … Continue reading →

Seven Days ‘til Christmas

Okay, the kids will be off school for Christmas vacation soon if they aren’t already. As we look forward to school or church parties and pageants, remember that once those events are over, children tend to get antsy. It’s hard not to do so with Christmas only a week away! At first, the kids are usually glad to be home, but it doesn’t take long to begin hearing, “I’m bored!” Plan ahead. Pick up some craft items if you don’t already have a good selection and plan some craft projects. Here are some ideas: Christmas Crafts: Music Inspired Decoration or … Continue reading →

Monopoly

Have you ever found yourself quoting from a Monopoly game? “That was your get out of jail free card.” “Don’t pass go…” When was the last time you played, at the age of ten? Monopoly is a classic game and it teaches us all some valuable lessons in a fun and entertaining format. To be honest, I forgot all the opportunities that Monopoly presents until just recently. My mother-in-law bought the game as a present for my children and it became an instant family hit. After playing it a few times, I was shocked how quickly my kids learned some … Continue reading →

Visual Brainstorms – Game Review

Visual Brainstorms: The Smart Thinking Game comes with 100 sturdy over-sized playing cards. The cards are color coded for easy, hard, and extra hard questions. Some of the cards have bonus questions. Harder questions are awarded more points. Some have “visual” bonus questions that you can only answer by having paid close attention to the card before you flipped it over for the answer. This game can be played several ways. I like that it’s so flexible for rules and time limits. You can play as teams, or with one or two players. If you play as teams you can … Continue reading →

Quiddler: The Short Word Game – Game Review

Quiddler: The Short Word Game is a great game for families. The game takes about 20 minutes to play, quick to learn, is very portable, and is challenging for most ages. The official age suggestions are 8 to adult, but I’ve used a variation of the game for younger children. I even sometimes use the cards for teaching reading. The 118 cards are beautifully illustrated Celtic calligraphy designs inspired by books from 500 – 800 AD. The cards all have letters, or combinations of letters (CH,TH, IN, ER, QU), on them along with a number for scoring. On each round, … Continue reading →

Fun at the Arcade

Most of the time I want family outings to have some educational moments. Today though we took our change jar and went to play at the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade. They have rooms and rooms of games. Some are very old and some are very up to date and modern. Some of the old games only cost a nickel or a dime. There’s an “English Football” game that is not electronic at all but has entirely mechanical works. And it costs a penny to play! One of my sons had great fun scoring goal after goal on me. We had … Continue reading →

Continuo – Game Review

I love games that don’t require reading a huge rule book or a lot of set up time. I also like games that can be played in less than twenty minutes. Continuo is one of those games. It’s incredible simple. You get 42 square cards. Each of those cards is divided into 16 small brightly colored squares. The idea is to place cards so that a color line is continued. You get points for the number of squares in each chain of color. If continue chain of both yellow and blue, you get points for both chains. The game is … Continue reading →

In a Pickle – Game Review

In a Pickle : The What’s in a Word Game is truly unique that encourages creative and logical thinking. The game is from GAMEWRIGHT and was a Dr. Toy Winner. It retails for around $8.00. Officially the game is for ages ten and up and for two to six players. I have used it with younger children though, and we also came up a solitaire version that I’ll explain a little later. The game takes about twenty to thirty minutes to play. It’s very easy to learn. Basically you try to win a set of words by building a row. … Continue reading →