Cold Weather Fun (And Possibly Some Really Great Last-Minute Christmas Gifts for the Kids!)

We are big board-game players here in our house! Especially this time of year. Almost every day we play one or more board games.


Board games are great because they draw the family together. They also present some great opportunities to teach your children about winning and losing gracefully.


I thought I'd share a few of our favorites...

Farkle - Easy, simple, and fun. All five of us can play this.

Good old checkers. I just started teaching Lily how to play a couple of weeks ago. Everyone else already knows how to play. I found a really cool oversized rug Checkers game at Cracker Barrel last year that we gave to the kids for Christmas. I found this one on amazon and I think it's the same as the one we have: Jumbo Checker Rug Game


Settlers of Catan - Fun for the older ones in the family. Ian actually just played this for the first time solo a few weeks ago, and did pretty good. Lily is still too young to understand the concept since it is a strategy game.

UNO - a classic; this game was a hit when we were in Ukraine

Perfection - Does anyone else remember playing this as a kid? I LOVED this game! This is the first year that I've seen it out in the stores. My mom recently bought a travel-sized version and the kids have really loved it. Shhh... Don't tell. I ordered the full-size original version for Christmas!

Scrabble - This is always the game Brad and I play together. I just recently downloaded the Scrabble app on my ipod and Sergei and Ian have had fun playing it that way.


Chess - I really kind of stink at chess. But only because I don't play it enough to remember what pieces can move where. But Brad, Sergei, and Ian really enjoy this classic board game.

Monopoly - Ian loves, loves, loves Monopoly. Great for teaching math skills.

Yahtzee - This one's great when you don't want to have to play a real strategic game like checkers, chess, or Catan.

Connect Four - Great game for younger kids.

Trouble - This game is another flashback to my youth. My sisters and I played this all the time!


Games that are great for the youngest ones:

Chutes and Ladders

Candy Land

Life on the Farm

Cootie


And I also purchased a few more games for Christmas this year: Bananagrams, Scrambled States of America, Blokus (a lady at Walmart told me this was a really fun game for her eight-year-old grandson and her to play), Dutch Blitz

In my mind, one of the perfect evenings on a winter's night is huddling in to our warm home with candles lit, classical music playing softly in the background, and the family gathered round a game board in the middle of the living room.