Family Time February - Wrapping It Up

During the month of February, I featured games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  I hope that these posts have inspired you to take some time and pull out those old favorites from your childhood to teach to your kids, or maybe add to your family's collection...even finding some new favorites.  We have certainly had lots of fun over the years playing games with the kids and with friends.  I would love to hear your favorite games as well.  Maybe we will find a new favorite from your list.

To finish off the month, rather than highlighting one more game, I want to list a few no-brainer games that little to get started.  

HANGMAN - All you need is paper/pencil and words/sentences in your head.  This is great for passing time at a restaurant, Dr's office, or driving in the car.

WAR - Just a regular deck of cards is all that is needed.  This game can go on for hours, so either set a time limit or play it out.  This has been a favorite of our kids and can be played in the car while traveling.

YAHTZEE - Since I played this so much as a kid (a great game for single play), I don't need the score sheet anymore to keep track.  But, score sheets can be found in stores if needed and found in GOOGLE images as well. Then all you need are 5 dice and you are set.

PICTIONARY- Again, just paper/pencil and your brain to come up with different things to draw and get your partner to guess.  The fun is in the drawing and getting the other person to figure it out and not so much winning or losing.  Who needs the actual game to play it?

The point is to find ways to have fun while working in maybe a little education, strategy, brain work, or creativity.  (The kids won't even know your ulterior motive.)  You are also teaching valuable social skills.  When I am at school, I can instantly tell who has played games at home and who hasn't as well as the kids who never lose, because the parents lose on purpose.  The skill of winning and losing well are both greatly important as our children grow and playing games is the earliest way to expose them to that. 

Family Time February - Spot It

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

The kids got SPOT IT  from their Aunt Elaine for Valentine's Day but this week was the first chance we got to play it.  This game has easily moved up to our favorites for quick and fun games that all of us can play.  

The best part of this game is that it can be played four different ways and all of them are fun.  For all the games you are looking at the cards and comparing them with the other players to find a match....such as the dinosaur, ladybug, snowflake.  Then depending on the game you could pile on the cards to the other players by finding matches or they could be piled on you.  The game requires quick mental thinking, but not too difficult for kids over 7. All the images are easily remembered, but the tough part is you have to forget them when you get to the next card with different images.

The game comes in a circular tin and is small and perfect for travel.  You just need an area, such as a floor or table for all players to sit around so all cards can easily be seen.  This would make a great game for summer camping.  Each game type is quick, so even though the games might be short, they can still be numerous.

This game is for 2-8 players and for those ages 7 and up.  SPOT IT is available on the BLUE ORANGE website HERE for $12.99.  I assume it is also available at your local discount stores, but I haven't noticed if it was at any of ours or not.  This is a perfect game for siblings to play together or if the parent has only a 15 minutes to devote to game time.  You can squeeze in a lot of fun and laughs in a short period of time with this one!

Family Time February - Qwirkle

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

Throughout the month, you have seen games that make you think or teach skills, games that get you moving, games that just help you have fun with your family, and games of strategy.  This is another one of those strategy games.  QWIRKLE is really fun and all of us like to play it.  This game has also received the Parent Choice Gold Award, Mensa Select Award, and Creative Child Magazine Award.  

This game is all about matching colors and shapes, but the twist is you need to plan out your moves in order to score the most points and block the other players.  The player with the most points when all tiles have been played is the winner, not necessarily the one who goes out first.  So, there is quite a bit of strategy involved and is not a quick play, but still lots of fun.  This game is for 2-4 players and for those ages 6 and up.  The tiles also come in a cinch bag inside the box, so could be traveled with, but you do need a large flat surface for playing.

If you are interested, you can find QUIRKLE on the MINDWARE website HERE for $24.95 which is pretty comparable to prices at your local discount stores.  Our family highly recommends this game.  

Family Time February - Blokus

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

BLOKUS is a game we have had for a couple years.  I put off getting this game because it was a bit more expensive than some of the other games and I just wasn't sure if our kids would like it.  But, they do.  BLOKUS is another strategy game and really makes your brain think about your best play.  It has even received a Mensa award for promoting healthy brain activity!

The goal of this game is to fit all your pieces on the BLOKUS board.  You can not place your piece on the board next to other player's pieces, but you have to place your piece with its corner touching another player's corner.  Your pieces are also all different sizes and will not always fit in all locations, so this is where the strategy and brain activity come in...figuring out when to play your bigger pieces vs smaller pieces.  

This is definitely a game for those that like and are good at spatial thinking.  This game is best for those ages 5 and up, but I am glad we waiting until the boys were a bit older to play it.  You can play this with 2 to 4 players.  This isn't a quick game by any means, but can be played in an evening.  Once you get the hang of it, you will want to play it again and again.  

Amazon is listing this game for $22.99 HERE or it can also be found at your local Wal-Mart or Target stores.

Family Time February - Monopoly

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

MONOPOLY is THE classic family board and is one of our family's favorites.  This was one I played all the time growing up....yes with my dolls and stuffed animals....but I still played it fairly! Ha! Ha! I remember starting a game on Saturday morning while watching cartoons and finally finishing it up Sunday night before I went to bed....leaving it out on the living room floor all weekend.  Now our family is doing the same thing.  We will start a game and continue it until it is done over the course of a day or two. 

MONOPOLY is a game of luck, change, wheeling and dealing.  You travel around the board buying up properties.  As you land on purchased properties you must pay rent to the other players.  There are other pitfalls along the way; luxury tax, income tax, and cards that require you to pay or maybe, if you are lucky, receive money.  As you build up your property stash, you can then wheel and deal and purchase houses and hotels to require more rent. 

This is not a quick game.  As I said, depending on how many have been playing it can take 1 or more days to truly finish it out.  If your time is limited, you can set a time limit or end it after properties are all purchased or whatever works for your family. 

Monopoly is great for teaching your kids about money.  You frequently have to figure change and you can role play how you would count the money back to the person.  (This seems to be a lost art in our computer generated customer service world, sadly.)

Monopoly is for 2-8 players and for those ages 8 and up, but we have been playing with our kids since they were 6 or so.  Monopoly has several different versions as well to meet this needs of all kinds of players.  You can get Monopoly themed to your favorite city, favorite sports team,  or favorite cartoon character.  There are also several versions including electronic banking, here and now, or monopoly deal.  We like the Here and Now version for a change once in a while.  The money amounts are more realistic and the properties are new, like Disney World.  We also have Monoply Deal which our sons like to play but isn't my favorite.  It is a card game similiar to Monopoly but can be confusing...at least for me.

You can get MONOPOLY at Hasbro HERE for $14.99 or at your local discount store, often times for much cheaper if you watch for sales. 

Family Time February - Name 5

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

NAME 5 is a game we got as a gift this Christmas.  We have played it several times and had a blast each time.  This game is a little tough for our 7 year old, but the boys do ok, if teamed up with a parent. It states it is for those ages 12 and up and for 2 or more players or teams.  Some categories are easier than others and so it will just depend on your child.  This would be great for two couples or for an adult party. 

The game has categories like naming 5 Tom Hank's movies, 5 things that cause a person to sneeze, 5 TV Dads, 5 Vegetables beginning with "A", 5 Tina Turner songs,  5 pizza toppings, or 5 video games.  Then you have a certain amount of time to answer 5 things in the specific category to be able to continue on with your turn.  If you don't, it is the next team's turn.  Sometimes you are playing alone and other times you are competing against the clock with the other team.  It really is harder than you think for some of the categories. 

NAME 5 is a product of ENDLESS GAMES and can be purchsed HERE for $22.99 or at Amazon HERE for $15.73.  It is also available at your local discount stores. 

Family Time February - Cranium Brain Breaks

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

CRANIUM BRAIN BREAKS is a fast-paced game that can be played anytime and anywhere.  Each game lasts only 60 seconds, so it is great for the kids to play during that crazy time while you are trying to make supper. 

The kids got this game for Christmas and we tried it out one night.  I had the 2 boys in mind when I got this (ages 11 and 10).  I thought it would be fun for them to play this together without any adult intervention for those snow days/rainy summer days/bored weekends. 

In this game you race to beat the timer buy doing the usual Cranium game activities of sculpting, drawing, acting, or solving word puzzles. You complete each activity before the timer empties and you win.  Short. Sweet. Fun. 

This game is for 2 or more players ages 8 and up.  The boys enjoyed it as did our 7 year old.  Sometimes you don't have a whole night to devote to a board game, but spending 15 minutes before bedtime will show the kids that you are still fun! Playing Cranium Brain Breaks will meet that need for you. 

This game is available at your local Target/Wal-Mart as well as on Hasbro's website HERE and retails for $12.99.   

Family Time February - Swap

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

SWAP is a card game that our family has been playing for a few years.  I remember when we first got this game, our son, Bennett would ask if we could play SWAP (rhymes with lap).  The game's tag-line is "It is a Swift Swappin' Switchin' Slappin' Card Game", and that about says it all.  

You need to try to get rid of all your cards, but it isn't as easy as you think.  Your cards are constantly changing hands.  You may match a color and then end up having to swap hands with someone or having to be the first to slap the pile.  Watch out for the Super Swap where EVERYONE has to change hands.  This game is fast-paced and super fun.  The first to get rid of the cards in their hand is the winner.  

This game is for those ages 7 and up and it is for 2-10 players.  It is available your local discount stores like Target or Wal-Mart for around $5.  It is also available HERE on Amazon for $7.22.  

Family Time February - Stratego

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

I remember when the boys were little Pat couldn't wait to get the game Stratego and play it with them.  It was a game he loved and remembered playing with his brother when he was a kid.  I remember the first time I played it....I didn't do so well.  I quickly realized this wasn't going to be my favorite game.  But, the boys LOVED it.  I remember them playing it a lot.  A few years later we even got the Transformers Stratego version.

To play the game you set up your "battle field"  and by moving your marked pawns, you engage in a battle against the other player. Your whole purpose is to protect your flag while trying to capture  your opponents.  Certain pawns can be beaten by others when matched up, so strategy is key in this game.

This game is only for 2 players and is recommended for ages 8 and up.  STRATEGO is readily available at your local discount stores and online HERE for $19.99.  If you have kids who like battles, Star Wars, or strategy type games, this is for them!

Family Time February - Feed the Kitty

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

FEED THE KITTY by Gamewright is not one of the games you will find on every game shelf, but it is certainly worthy of being there.  FEED THE KITTY has won several awards including the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award, Today's Parent Magazine Top Toy of the Year, Parenting Magazine Mom-Tested Toy of the Year, and Family Fun Magazine Toy of the Year Finalist to name a few.  

FEED THE KITTY is super simple to play.  We got this game when our daughter was 4 and it was a hit with our family.  It is also great for our family of 5, because all of us can play together.  It is playable for 2-5 players, ages 4 and up.  It is also a quick game taking around 15 minutes to play and needs no paper or scoring, just a spot to roll the dice.

Everyone starts with mice and you take turns rolling the dice and either passing your mouse to a neighbor, putting a mouse in the kitty bowl or taking a mouse out of the kitty bowl.  Play keeps going around the circle until you run out of mice and have no opportunity to get one from your neighbor.  The winner is the only person left with mice.  

FEED THE KITTY retails for $11.99 HERE.  It is available online at several other places and can be found in your more specialty toy/game stores.  

Family Time February - Cranium Hullabaloo

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

When the kids were little I especially liked games that got the kids up and moving.  CRANIUM HULLABALOO did just that!  HULLABALOO is a game that gets kids moving around on floor pads that are placed around the room.  Based on the item called out by the game console, the children will jump, spin, leap, crawl or even tip toe to the appropriate shape, color, food item, animal, or instrument. It will randomly stop and whomever is standing on the item called (like the elephant) is the winner!  The winner will then be asked to do a funky dance or some other trick.  Then you can start the game all over again!

CRANIUM HULLABALOO is perfect for kids ages 4-10 and can be played with 2 or more people.  This is a great game for daycare, homeschools, preschools, birthday parties, playdates, or rainy days!  Even the grown ups have fun with this one!

This game has also been discontinued by the manufacturer, but can still be found online at places like ebay and AMAZON.  Because it is discontinued, it is retailing for $49.00, but if your kids are little, it will provide years of fun for the money!

Family Time February - Bananagrams

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  


Today's featured game is BANANAGRAMS.

You know I LOVE word games and BANANAGRAMS fits the bill.  This is a much more fast paced word game in comparison to Scrabble, but much like it in some ways.  BANANAGRAMS can be played alone or with as many as you can fit around a table.  Really, the more the merrier and more challenging it gets.

Everyone starts with the same amount of tiles.  Using those tiles you build your first word and others from it until you have used up all your starter tiles.  Then as you run out of tiles, you "peel" another from the main pile which causes the other players to also have to "peel" a tile.  Using the tile you draw to add to a word or create a new word on your own personal game area.  As other players run out, they will "peel" and cause you and others to "peel". This goes on until all the tiles are used.  The first person to use all their tiles to create their own scrabble like board wins.  The other important part of the game is that your tiles are movable.  You can move them around to create different words as you need to.  So, it makes the whole game much more exciting.

This game is best for those ages 10 and up.  There is no scoring, you just play and start a new game.  It is a great way for kids to work on word recognition and spelling.  BANANAGRAMS is available at your local toy and discount stores as well as Amazon and Target online HERE.  It retails for $14.99.

Family Time February - Trouble

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

I think my husband's favorite game as a child was TROUBLE.  In the last 30+ years the game hasn't changed much except for maybe adding Disney or other movie characters to the theme of the game.

The game is a classic and includes the fun pop-o-matic dice roller that any kid will love using.  I remember playing and letting our youngest be the popper while we played with the older kids.  The overall purpose of the game is the get your four pawns into your home base while traveling around the board.  But you have to watch out for other players who can send you back to start as they come around the board.    This game is for 2-4 players and for ages 5 and up.

My husband still enjoys playing this game with the kids and it is a quick and easy game to play.  The kids always think it is funny when they get to send Pat or I back to start!

Trouble is sold by HASBRO and retails for $11.99. It can be found at toy stores and discount stores or online.

Family Time February - Balloon Lagoon

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

Today I am featuring another great Cranium game.  Sadly, it is also discontinued, but still available on Amazon.

 
BALLOON LAGOON is definitely one of our kids' favorite games.  Playing this game is just like being at a carnival but without the crowds! There are four mini games to complete.  As you complete each "challenge" you collect balloons to put into your game piece.  The person with the most balloons at the end is the winner. The four mini games include a slot-machine like game where you match pictures on a card (like the four pieces to a shark), flipping frogs into the pond, fishing for magnetic letters to spell words, and a dice matching game.  You have to complete each mini game before the song/timer runs out.

We have great memories playing this game.  I always struggled with the frog flipping and the kids always thought it was so funny that they could do that better than me.  They loved fishing for the letters.  This is such a great game that includes both cognitive and physical abilities.  The game states it is for 5 + years which I think is pretty realistic.  This is a relatively more expensive game at $34.99, but our family has gotten several years of enjoyment from this game.  This is one of those classics that we will hang on to forever.  

Family Time February - Mouse Trap

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

Another game from our childhood as well as one we enjoy now is MOUSETRAP.

Because the set up is more work for the parents, it may not always be our first choice, but it still is fun!  As you play and move around the board, you build pieces to the contraption.  You collect pieces of cheese to use as payment once the entire trap is built.  Then you try to trap another player's mouse in the mouse cage as you release a marble through the contraption maze.

 I remember when the boys were really little, they would get so excited to watch as the marble wound its way through every part of the maze and eventually dropped the cage on the potential mouse.  This game teaches patience for the building process, teaches the science of how to get the marble to drop to engage the next process, and is always good for laughs.

The game states it is for ages 6 +, but I expect most 6 year-olds would need help from a parent in building the maze.  The game is available on Amazon for $18.15.

Family Time February - SkipBo

During the month of February, I am featuring games that our family has enjoyed over the years.  February is a great time of year to get cozy with your family and play some games.  I guarantee there will be lots of laughs and memories made.  

Today's featured game is SKIP-BO from Mattel.

I don't remember how this game came into our family, but it started with my husband and I playing it together.  When the kids were little, we would put them to bed and play a few rounds of Skip-Bo.  Now we have taught our kids how to play.

The object of the game is to use your cards along with the other player's cards to build stacks of cards in sequential order.  You must use strategy, planning, and luck in playing your cards.  The winner is the first to get through their own stack of personal cards first.

The game is appropriate for ages 7 to adult and can be played with 2 or more people.  You do need to have a flat surface to play it on due to the stacking of cards.  This game retails for $6.99 and can be found at your local Target, Wal-Mart or toy store as well as Mattel's website HERE.

Family Time February - Cranium Whoonu

During the month of February, I am going to have a new feature titled, FAMILY TIME FEBRUARY.  I plan to feature board games that our family has played over the years and maybe even some from our childhood that we just loved. Even though February is the shortest month of the year, sometimes it can feel like the longest because we are all cooped up due to the cold and snowy weather.  What a perfect time to get down on the floor and play a game with your kids.

Our family LOVES to play boards games.  As as kid growing up, I loved playing board games, but since I didn't have any siblings at home to play with, I would often set up my dolls and stuffed animals around the board and play against them.  I know....sad.....but I loved to play them so much.  I would get board games as gifts which was pure torture because I would have no one to play them with.  Yes, my mom would play with my sometimes, but not as often as I would have liked, of course.  So, as a parent, I tend to buy a lot of board games for our family and instill that love in our kids as well.

Even though our kids love to play on the iPad or the Wii, they still love to play board games.  One of our favorite games to play is WHOONU.

I like this game because you don't have to sit around a board, you can sit comfortably in your living room or even in a car and play this game.  This is a game that can be played with people you know or don't know very well.  The object of the game is to guess out of the four cards in your hand which item the person who is the "Whoonu" during that round, would like best.  So, if I had Roller Coasters, Ebay, Drive-Thru's, and Spiders on my cards to choose from and my son, Bennett was the "Whoonu", I would choose Roller Coasters. (Because of those four items that is what he would like best.) Then everyone else would choose a card from their hand as well.  Then Bennett as the "Whoonu" would take all the cards (not knowing who put in what card) and rank them from best to worst.  Then we get coins with points on them according to our ranking.  You keep going around the room until everyone is a "Whoonu".  The winner is the person with the most points in coins.  Essentially the person who "knows everyone best".  It is fun to play with people you know as well as you don't know.  You learn about them either way.  There are always a lot of laughs whenever we play this game.

The game states it is appropriate for 8 years to adult, but our daughter has played for a few years, so it just depends on the abilities of your child.  Unfortunately, this game has been discontinued by the Cranium company.  But it is still available on Ebay or on Amazon HERE.

What is your family's favorite game to play?  What do you do to pass the time in the winter?