Family Game Night: Recommended Family Games For Kids Of All Ages

posted in Family & Kids on 5/28/2014

Why You Should Consider Family Game Night For Your Family 1. You spend time together, talking, without the TV on. 2. It helps your children learn fundamental lessons of life, like taking turns and being a good winner and not a sore loser, along with fundamental educational skills like counting. 3. Building traditions in your home for your family will give your kids something fun to look forward to all week, but also great memories for years to come.

Ages 3 And Up

Candyland - one of the classic board games from our own childhood, it is still fun for the kids now. It can get a bit boring for adults after a while, but kids don't tire of getting to Kandy Kastle, and no reading is required. They just need to look at the cards with colors on them to know where to

Hi Ho Cherry-O - this is a great game for introducing kids to counting. Little kids love it, and the rules are simple for everyone to learn quickly. Just make sure you're careful not to lose those little cherries, they are very small (and also a choking hazard for smaller kids).

Memory - this is one recommended for 3 and up. If you play it with 3-year-olds do yourself and them a favor and don't lay out all the cards at once. Instead, lay out just 20 or so because they cannot remember, at first, where all the cards are if all of them are laid out at once.

Ages 4 And Up

Hungry Hungry Hippos - this game is purely fun -- there is really no skill or strategy involved. The game can get loud (as can the kids playing it), so it is not ideal if there are smaller children asleep while family game night is going on, and you have to be careful of the small marbles.

Uno - This is a classic card game that almost anyone in the family loves to play. You can have lots of fun catching people when they don't say "Uno" too, which is one of the best parts of family game night for our family.

Ages 5 And Up

Blokus - this is one of the best kept secrets out there, as far as board games go, in my opinion. My kids love this game, and so do Mom and Dad. That is the best of all worlds when planning family game night.

Trouble - this is a fun little game for kids and adults that has simple rules and strategy. I think of it, and Sorry as basically the same game, in different forms (with Sorry being slightly more complicated). We have both in our house, but you can easily get by with one or the other.

Ages 7 And Up

Connect Four - There is a lot of strategy involved though, and you really have to pay attention, so it can be lots of fun. (Only 2 can play at a time -- in our family we have tournaments, with various rounds and an ultimate champion at the end of the family game night.)

Mexican Train Dominoes - My whole family loves this game -- in fact the adults in my family stay up every night of holiday gatherings playing until late into the night, even after the kids have gone to bed.