I have a reputation in my mom's family as a quitter when it comes to games and it's somewhat true. I don't like long, drawn out games like Monopoly and I can only occasionally finish my family's favorite card game, Rummy Roulette without falling asleep at the table. I guess I get bored too easily (and yes, I admit it, I hate to lose). I like quick, to-the-point games with the thrilling possibility of a sudden win. What it boils down to is that I like games made for 8 year olds.
In the past year or two we have officially left Candyland in the dust (wahoo!) and moved into a new stage of gaming. I actually look forward to playing games with my children now. Probably bad to admit this but Chutes and Ladders felt a bit like an endurance task. The transition started with UNO. Noah loved it and Camille quickly picked it up so we played it a lot until that got a bit tedious for all of us and we broadened our gaming horizons. It is so nice to have entered a stage where we can all play games together regardless of age, reading levels, math skills, and all honestly enjoy it.
The latest gaming craze in our house is
Chickenfoot. It's a dominoes game that I learned to play while working at
Rainbow Trout Ranch. The game was invented and actually made down the road at the
little store in Antonito, Colorado. I have such fond memories of munching on Dorritoes,sipping red Kool Aid, and playing Chickenfoot at the Ranch. In fact one of the nicest surprises I ever got was our beautiful little set of Chickenfoot dominoes. My friend, Summer, who also worked on the Ranch with me sent them to me when I was pregnant and on bed rest. Funny how time flies by and now I get to watch my own kids get a kick out of Chickenfoot. Good for math skills, good for siblings, and most importantly just good old fashioned fun. So in addition to Chickenfoot, here are a few of the other games we have been enjoying as a family:
What's popular in your house these days? Would love some ideas for upcoming holiday gifts And speaking of new games, Adam has just returned from the States and brought back one involving small plastic pigs...off to give that a try. Happy Gaming!
Sadly monopoly is the favorite. I hate it! They also love UNO. I can handle that one. Never heard of chickenfoot.
This cracks me up, because I have been notorious around my house for buying games and then never, ever playing them (case in point: a game involving plastic pigs, though not the same as the one you mention). When my kids were a bit younger, I was known to bring home gorgeous Ravensburger games from thrift stores. Actually, most of those did see a fair amount of play, now that I think of it. These days, we bought (yes, we) Apples to Apples and play it pretty frequently as a family. As far as dominoes go, I love both Chickenfoot and Train but haven't played either in a long time.
Hi there, My kids are having a chess revival of note - major tournaments on the go!!! Otherwise we play Uno quite a lot ... but the games that are taking our home by storm right now are apple letters and bananagrams - they are super quick and fun!!! You can team up with weaker players so as not to die of boredom!!! and we play a couple of rounds every single day!!!
You know we would have Pass the Pigs--it's fun for all ages!!
Thanks for the ideas! I know something fun we'll be getting for Christmas :)
LOVE some you mentioned - Rummikub, Guess Who and Rush Hour are favorites over here. I also love playing Skip Bo with my big two - they both beg for me to play with them. Other favorites: Gamewright's Castle Keep, Mancala, Gobblet (we play the junior version but the grown-up version is fun too), and Hey That's My Fish!. Zooloretto and Coloretto are similar games - Zooloretto is a more involved but really fun board game and Coloretto is kind of a card-game version. My kids probably like Coloretto a little better but we've played Zooloretto a lot too :) Can't wait to see what treasures you decide on!
Good! I knew I could count on you guys to give me some good suggestions...love banagrams so I bet we will love apple letters. And Corinne, so many good new-to-me games to check out. Thank you! Thank you!
Thanks for sharing the post. It is not necessary one can win all the time and in games both win or lose is possible.
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