Do you have family night at your house? Where do you find new ideas for your family game night? For too long now we've been adopting more technology for all sorts of entertainment. Sadly we seem to have forgotten the things we once did around the kitchen table, snuggled on the couch or lying on the family room floor.
It really doesn't matter where you play a game of Scrabble or complete a puzzle. While most houses don't have a family play room, I've often suggested that unless you use your dining room every week, it's the perfect place for double duty. In my home, our dining room was an arts and crafts center for my younger son.
What's important is spending time together as a family. Most families don't have dinner together every night, so family fun night is another time where everyone can share how their week has gone. So we'll focus on family night activities that encourage talking among family members.
Family Game Night with Board Games
Inspiration for gathering these ideas started with an article on The Benefits of Playing Board Games, shared by a family that homeschools their children. What I loved was their list of ways in which you and your family can benefit from creating a family fun night at your house. For the full story and complete list of benefits, click here.
- Build memory and problem solving skills, which is lots of fun with my five year old granddaughter.
- Develop verbal communication skills to offset today's dependency on digital communications.
- Enable everyone to make decisions and learn how to handle consequences.
- Teach teamwork, taking turns and compassion for differences in age and experience.
- Learn how to laugh and relax after a tough day/week.
So what are your favorite board games? Here are my family's favorites starting with Chloe's current favorite, Who Is It.
Who Is It? … lots of giggles.
Risk offers a view of the world!Who hasn't played Scrabble?
Family Fun Nights with Puzzles
As your kids get older it's hard to juggle all their schedule demands. That's when lots of parents adopt one-on-one times where you can spend an hour with each of your children each week. Sometimes you'll go for a bike ride or out for ice cream. Other times you'll just want to sit and relax at home.
Puzzles are a great family game night idea because everyone can work on the puzzle, or just one or two people. They're great to help children focus on a goal. They're also relaxing for adults who want to slow down and relax. My best friend always has a puzzle going somewhere in her home and she still prefers that to sitting at the computer (that's me).
Family Cooking Nights
We're all so busy that we're constantly searching for ways to speed up meal preparation. The best solution might be right in front of you. Get your kids involved in helping prepare meals as young as four or five. If you wait too long, they might think of it as work but when they're that young, they love feeling all grown up.
Yes, it will take more effort on your part to get the meal done but you'll quickly realize you're spending time with your children and enjoying it more. Just look at these photos of kids helping … bake cookies and peel sweet potatoes. These are family experiences that you'll both remember for years to come.
My kids (who are now all in their thirties) and I loved growing up with game night. And now we are continuing it with our grandchildren! Just last week, my son, his wife, their two daughters, my husband and I all played the board game called “Life”. Do you remember that one? The four-year-old won! It seems that we always have at least one good belly laugh when we’re all together at the game/puzzle table.
Nance, So glad to hear you’re still playing board games with your kids & grandchildren too!