Thursday, January 10, 2008

13 Board Games My Family Loves

Eli is quickly developing my love of board games. Yippee!! I am so happy after all these years that I finally have someone to play with me. Here are 13 games that we love, mostly board games, but I’ve included some others (like Connect Four) also!

1. Bonkers – This was my favorite board game as a kid. They no longer make it, but I found it on ebay and ordered it so I could play it with Eli. He loves it, too. My husband? Not so much. He thinks it takes too long to play.

2. Candyland – This is a classic, but I think my kids love it because we have the Dora version. Eli loves this game, but I have to watch him to make sure he doesn’t cheat. (He stacks the cards!)

3. Chutes and Ladders – I like this game, but I NEVER win. I get beaten every time by a 5-year-old! What is up with that? I swear I land on every freaking shoot.

4. Connect Four – Eli just got this game for Christmas, and he’s still getting into it. He doesn’t understand strategy quite yet so he gets very pissed when I block him. He’s decided that the best way to play the game is to see how fast you can fill the grid up with checkers.

5. Operation – Another new one for Eli. I thought it would be a great game for him to work on his fine motor skills. He likes it for a couple of minutes and then he gets extremely irritated by the buzzer.

6. Sorry – This is Eli’s favorite board game. We play this one over and over and over. And most of the time he wins. His favorite party of the game is when he gets to bump me back to start and say “Sorry!” in a sing song voice. Grrrr.

7. Trouble – Very similar to sorry, except this game has a popper with a die in it instead of drawing cards. I never realized when I was younger how similar the games Trouble, Sorry and Aggravation actually are.

8. Lucky Ducks – This is a cute game that even Georgia likes to play. It’s a fun memory game in which all the ducks have shapes on the bottom, and they go around in a circle. You try to pick matching shapes. The kids really enjoy it, but I could do without the quacking.

9. Clue – I am a big fan of Clue, and I’ve loved it all my life. They now have Clue Jr. where instead of a murder, the players are trying to solve the case of the missing cake. Miss Scarlet ate the cake in the Lounge at 8:00 with a glass of milk!! Okay, it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but it’s still fun.

10. Backyardigans – Yes, the Backyardigans have their own board game. On one side of the board you can search for pirate treasure and on the other side of the board, it’s the Mission to Mars game. Okay, it’s really the same game with different pictures, but it’s still fun, especially if your kids love the Backyardigans.

11. Jenga – Not a board game, but I’m quite impressed at how skilled my son is at this one. In fact, I’m the one that usually knocks the blocks over.

12. Candyland Castle – The kids got this one for Christmas. It’s another fun one that Georgia can play. It has a castle that shoots out shapes, and you match the shapes to shapes on your Gingerbread man. The only drawback to this is that the kids fight over who gets to pull the lever on the castle.

13. Let’s Play Count and Cook – This is a Cranium game that Mom Central sent me. I’m actually going to be reviewing it on Saturday, so come back to read more about it. But if your kids are interested in cooking, they will LOVE this game. It’s quickly becoming one of Eli’s favorites.


18 comments:

Lazy Daisy said...

In Canada Chutes and Ladders are called "Snakes and Ladders". My family always enjoyed board games.

Nadiah Alwi said...

When it comes to Dora, no kids can say no. :D

Nadiah Alwi - Write at Home Mom said...

My daughter can't really play board games yet, but I'm working on it ;D

Malcolm said...

It's cool that your son is getting into board games. Connect Four was one of my favorites as a kid. I still remember the commercial where the boy says "Pretty sneaky sis."

SJ Reidhead said...

You know you have problems when you can't let the 3 year old win one of these because you're so competitive!

Guilty

SJR
The Pink Flamingo
http://thepinkflamingo.blogharbor.com/blog

Leeann said...

On the Lucky Ducks game,
did you know that if you take out one of the batteries, then it doesn't quack?
Very useful info, that!

Leeann
niccofive.blogspot.com

Melanie said...

1,8,10,12,13..we do not have..but we play the others often..GREAT list!

Unknown said...

We love board games in my house. My girls are a little older and we've been playing Cranium alot since they got it for Christmas. It's a fun game! Happy T13!

suchsimplepleasures said...

my son just got toot and otto... a connect four kind of game, for preschoolers...we play that A LOT at my house!

Nicholas said...

I used to enjoy Connect Four. Still do actually. Clue Jr defies belief! Generations of children have been perfectly okay with solving Dr. Black’s murder. Who interfered and thought they introduce this dumbed down version?

Julie said...

Oh yeah! Great list. I always loved Candy Lane and Chutes and Ladders. The board was always so colorful!

Thea @ It's Me Vs. Me said...

Our kids should get together and play games! Jake just got Jenga for Christmas and loves it. He also got Uno Attack...oh my goodness...he cannot get enough of that game!

Zenmomma said...

We have most of those. Haven't played them in awhile though.

Aisling said...

I've only ever heard of 6 of those, and at least 2 have different names over here.

Deb said...

That's a great list! My girls love to play games although we don't play them nearly as often as they would like.

Anonymous said...

I wish hubby were a board game kind of guy...

Only board game I own is Sephora Monopoly. I love the little game markers! (Blow dryer, lipstick, mirror, mascara wand...).

Now I do like me some jigsaw puzzles!!!

Crazy Working Mom said...

I LOVE clue. :)

Great list.

Mo and The Purries said...

I used to get pissed over Operation too.
Damn buzzer!
Probably why I didn't become a coroner...

And cake? Clue Jr is about cake?
That's just so wrong! Murder, I say, Murder!