Board Not Bored
We are total gamers in my house and I don’t mean video games. We love playing card games and board games — anything that requires a little strategy to claim total domination (just kidding, I’m a good sport).
When the pandemic started my kids were 3 and almost 5. We certainly played games with the grandparents or on rainy days, but once our options for getting out the house became very limited, I explored all sorts of things to help occupy our time.* One thing we typically had to do in order to get the kids to focus on eating their breakfast was to read a book. I could do a whole post on all of the breakfast books we read those years. Then we started to play games, and we mixed up the morning read with playing card games, scooping food in their mouths between hands.
At age 3-5, games like Go Fish, Uno and War are great. The cards are big and easy to hold. There’s also card holders for small hands (link below). Because my husband and I had to play these games too, we challenged the kids with a few rounds of Phase 10 — the kids might have been 5-6 years at that point. They handled the challenge well and so we kept introducing more games. Another breakfast favorite was Dominoes.
We have played games like Candy Land and Sorry, but again the game has to be fun enough to keep my husband and I engaged too. In my quest to find the best games, I did realize that there are a ton of made-for-kid versions of games that are even more complicated than they need to be. Now that my kids are 6-8 years, I definitely just look for the original game.
Last Thanksgiving we went to Costa Rica with my parents and had a blast! It was an incredible experience, but sometimes waits at restaurants could take a while. Well grandma was ready to go with Skipbo. If you’ve never played, it’s a little like double solitaire. It’s easy for the kids to play. Watch out, they could just beat you!
Costa Rica - Thanksgiving, 2022
Life is more fun if you play games. -Roald Dahl
A few game I’ve bought and no one liked: Trivial Pursuit Jr, Clue Jr, Burger ASAP, Sushi Go
Favorite games for all ages
Uno Phase 10 Combo of Card Games Skipbo TacoCatGoatCheesePizza Spot It!
Operation - this is a great game the kids can play on their own
Memory - the kids will put your memory to the test and make you feel senile
Scrabble Junior - this “junior” version works, but if the kids are starting to spell, may as well start with the legit scrabble board
Games for kids a little older (5+)
Genius Square - an all time favorite for adults and kids. You can play with an opponent or work on your skills independently. It is a bit like tetris or a puzzle.
Monopoly - our current obsession. It’s good for the kids to practice making change. Also teaches them the important lesson: “You have to have money to make money” but not all investments are wise — totally kidding, I’m not feeding them capitalistic propaganda yet.
Cassia Age 4
March 21, 2020
*Beaches were closed from mid March, 2020 until about mid-May, 2020 and then also typically closed on holiday weekends to mitigate spreader events.