Board Games - Which do your kids like to play with most?

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> School age children

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Tech_mom

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 2:44 pm

I am going to be restocking my board games. My children are 7,5,3,1 - b"h.

I have pretty pretty princess (they love this), candy land, chutes and ladders, don't break the ice, cootie and zingo.

My bigger kids (girls 7,5) need some more for shabbos and when their friends come over. Also, I am already thinking towards the yomim tovim when shul days are long and they need more entertainment - new things will keep them stimulated.

I know the classics: Trouble, Sorry, Connect Four, Guess Who, Mastermind, Hangman, Boggle, Rummy, Chinese checkers.

For my 3 year old son (almost 4) - he still plays with blocks and trucks but I think he can play: Don't tip the waiter, Hi ho cheerio

Which ones do your kids enjoy most - at this age?
Are there some games that aren't on this list that you can suggest? Remember - most should be able to be used on shabbos/yomtov.

Of course, I am not buying all of these at one shot- but it would be useful to know which you find to be most engaging for your children.

workingmom3

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 2:48 pm

'in a pickle' is great for your 7 year old. othello is also a favorite with my kids.

Tech_mom

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 2:51 pm

Never heard of "In a Pickle". Just googled it. Looks very interesting and appropriate. Than you for the suggestion!

acccdac

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 3:13 pm

there is a game called sequence, we have the kids version, they also make an adult version or state/capital version

my 6 year old loves racko, we have the newer version with different color cards which bring in new rules.

also othello.

there is a game called zoorika which is also cute that would be more for your 3-5 year olds.

QUEENY

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 3:16 pm

My son loves junior scrabble and Junior monopoly, uno, kerplunk and war (regular deck of cards). He is 61/2. My five year olds like these games too.

BeershevaBubby

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 3:18 pm

I've been told Apples to Apples (or rather, Junior Apples to Apples) is a great game for kids.

MyKidsRQte

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 5:22 pm

apples to apples(jr) is gr8. my kids play all the time

bella

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 7:30 pm

YESHASettler wrote:

I've been told Apples to Apples (or rather, Junior Apples to Apples) is a great game for kids.

There is also a Jewish version of "Apples to Apples" - both regular and Jewish. I haven't seen the items for the Junior, but the regular version has pretty general and sometimes stereotypical stuff like things about Jewish food, holidays, etc.

We literally have hundreds of board games in our house. Most of them were brought into our marriage by my husband, and he then inherited hundreds more when his brother was niftar. They were both really into gaming when they were in college. Maybe I should get my husband to repond to this thread:-)

We love "Encore." The board version is for older kids and adults, but sometimes we play this on mixed-age teams. There are cards with words or categories and you have to think of as many songs that have a specific word -like "Star." Imagine how many songs you can think of with that word! Or categories like songs about flowers. Mixed-age teams are really great, because my little ones know all the kiddie songs from camp and preschool.

My kids love the card games "Flux" and "Set" but I've never played either of them. They can be played by fairly young kids, although flux requires reading. We sometimes have had a non-reader team up with an older sibling or adult.

My really little ones have really liked "Guess Who" and, of course any of the multitude of "Memory" games.

ShakleeMom

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 8:45 pm

we have magnetic mosaic pieces in a bucket that the kids use to 'draw' on the refrigerator.

flowerpower

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 9:01 pm

Funny bunny is a great game. They also like finders keepers.

sim

Thu, Aug 06 2009, 9:22 pm

Rummikub, Sequence, Kerplunk, Zingo, Chess and Checkers, Set, Uno, Sorry, Battleship, Parchesi, Cadoo, Doodle Dice.... these are the current contents of my games closet that my younger kids always play on shabbos.

RachelEve14

Fri, Aug 07 2009, 1:36 am

Blokus, the cranium games (we have Cariboo but that's more for younger kids, I can't remember what the older one is called, check it is okay for Shabbos, Cariboo is), my kids like Hi Ho Cherry-O, Lotto (for the younger ones), we were told colorforms are fine on Shabbot and I ordered some from amazon (I think). Mastermind, Memory. I don't know how you feel about kid card games on Shabbot, but we also have Snap, Old Maid, Go Fish, War, Uno, Crazy 8s (all kid decks, not regular adult decks). Snap is probably their favorite.

BeershevaBubby

Fri, Aug 07 2009, 2:16 am

Fluxx, the kids need to be able to read in order to play.

We have that game and we ALL love it. And so does everyone we've introduced it to.

pina colada

Fri, Aug 07 2009, 8:17 am

slamwich

Hashem_Yaazor

Fri, Aug 07 2009, 9:47 am

Bananagrams for the 7.5 year old age group.

I have the classics as well (Chutes and Ladders, various Cootie made games, etc) for my 4 and 2.5 year old...I actually was just given I Spy Bingo which looks like fun for that age (saving it for Y"K Smile

) -- 2 levels, and if they don't recognize letters they can find an object on their board (I Spy after all Smile

)...

Fox

Fri, Aug 07 2009, 12:17 pm

We've nearly worn out Apples to Apples Junior; several Connect Four games; and several Guess Who? games.

I'll share a relatively short (for me, anyway!) story that relates to threads going on right now about large versus not-so-large families.

When my kids first began playing board games, I would get so disgusted by how quickly the games would be broken, lose pieces, etc. I mean, no game lasted over 6-9 months!

Finally I figured it out! As an only child, I owned board games, but I almost never used them. My parents weren't interested in playing, and we didn't have any neighbors my age. Needless to say, they stayed pristine for years!

So I learned somewhat belatedly that as long as the kids aren't being willfully irreponsible, it's actually a good sign that games need to be replaced. It means that they're being used; that friends are coming over on Shabbos, and that the cost of purchasing a new Connect Four every 6-9 months is a small price to pay for happy kids involved in a wholesome activity.

On a separate note, I've discovered that I can no longer beat them at Guess Who?, and only by sheer luck or their inattention do I win at Connect Four. Ah, how the mighty are humbled!

Tech_mom

Fri, Aug 07 2009, 12:28 pm

Fox: I appreciate your story. The few games that I have are very beaten up and some pieces are lost. I thought that it was the lack of responsibility of the two older ones - to not put it away properly and not leave on the floor for the younger ones to ruin.

We just bought a little mini closet to hold the games and I have a baby lock on it. So the rule will "hopefully" be: One game per set of friends - and return to the closet to before getting another. I hope that this works.

But you have given me food for thought that if they get ruined I should accept it as a positive thing.
Thanx.

lady chan

Fri, Aug 07 2009, 12:32 pm

Connect four, mastermind (we found ours on ebay - its a classic version from the eighties), phase 10 and memory. Even the three year old can play memory - only use 5 or so matches at a time.

BeershevaBubby

Sat, Aug 08 2009, 1:54 pm

Phase 10 is another family favorite here.

baseballmom

Mon, Aug 10 2009, 3:11 pm

I highly recommend Guess Who Extra - there are like 8 different boards of character to play with and it is amazing. It is actually electronic but we never putin the batteries so it is a great shabbos game!

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