Family Game Night Favorites

At the start of the pandemic, our schedule changed completely.  This new world meant a lot of our kid friendly spots were shut down temporarily – museums, zoos, parks, and chuck e cheese!  So, we started a new tradition of family game night and have become connoisseurs of board games.  Our shelves have exploded with all the games that we’ve tried.  Initially we gave away prizes to the individual that won the most games in a single night to get him excited, but now that he’s hooked, we don’t need to incentive him any longer.  We’ve learned he’s a whiz at memory and it’s embarrassing how badly we get beat by him. 

For additional math and language practice we slip in these tricks:

• We have our son count in Chinese for any game that involves rolling dice and moving a game piece around a board.
• We practicing our Chinese vocabulary with Spot It.
• We created Chinese number Bingo cards and he gets to call out the numbers which he loves!
• Board games have also been fun way to get him to practice addition.
• Any game with play money has been good for counting and making change.

Below is a list of some of our favorite games that all of our family has enjoyed playing.   

Card Games

• Spot It
• Old Maid
• Uno
• Go Fish

Board Games

• Monopoly Jr.
• Labyrinth
• Scoop It
• The Game of Life
• Memory
• Blokus
• Trouble
• Sorry
• Qwirkle
• Riddle Moo This
• Engine Engine No. 9
• Surprise Slides
• Count Your Chickens
• Candy Land
• Bingo

Interactive Games

• The Floor is Lava
• Don’t Spill the Beans
• Yeti in My Spaghetti
• Hungry Hungry Hippos