One Word At A Time: Games
Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 7:00AM MAD21 By Ginny (MAD21)
I've written before about how you can use games to teach your kids. But in general, I love to play. When it comes to family entertainment and children's ministries, I am commonly known as the "game keeper." It probably has to do with the fact that for years, whenever there was any kind of gathering whether family or ministry, you would usually find me playing with the kids. Generally it has always been where I felt the most comfortable.
I was the recreation director at a summer camp for seven years where I spent the week doing such things as filling water balloons for a wet version of sharks and minnows, playing caterpillar kickball, and providing an afternoon of fun on a 100 foot slip-n-slide; we had an annual kid's night out at our church where I built a maze out of about 12 rolls of duct tape and 24 wardrobe boxes that filled our sanctuary (it even had dead ends!). I could go on and on about all the fun I've had over the years in ministry. But honestly, even though it was a great time, the bottom line was that playing games with the kids helped to build relationships and trust between themselves and the leaders.
The same is true with family. I have found that the more time I spend just playing and talking with my kids, the more likely they are to listen to me, and the better they treat each other overall. We all learn about patience, taking turns, and being a good sport. The more face-time we all get, the better.
We have games that we enjoy playing on the Wii together like Just Dance, Rock Band, and Wii Sports, but honestly, we have way more fun playing regular games without electronics (ya, I know, what a novel idea!).
Here are some of our favorite family games to play:
Zingo (similar to bingo but way more fun)
Tumblin' Monkeys (this is similar to HoneyBee Tree and Kerplunk but we love this one because the monkeys actually hang on the sticks which makes things a little more challenging)
Sequence (regular and "for kids" versions)
Slap Jack (card game... use old cards!)
And here are our top three favorites for older kids and adults:
Settlers of Catan (along with expansion packs, we like Cities and Knights)
What are some games your family likes to play?
This post is a participant in a blog carnival over at Peter Pollock's place.
Be sure to go and check out what everyone else wrote on: Games.
Family Life, Fun, Games, One Word At A Time in One Word At A Time
Reader Comments (7)
Our fav games run from Axis and Allies to Pictionary and a lot in between! I'm not much a of a board game guy but playing as a family does make it fun!
I don't think I've ever heard of Axis and Allies. I'll have to look that one up. I don't like board games that last forever. One of the things I love about playing with little kids is that there are so many games out there that aren't actual board games, or at least they include more than just your traditional board with pieces (like Candyland).
Oh, another game we love that I forgot to list is Pictureka. Awesome, awesome game. Even though this game is generally for older kids, I have to say that when my youngest was three, she was totally able to do this game as part of a team. Most of the time she was able to find the picture before anyone else! But I love it because we can play it with teens and little ones at the same time and it's equally challenging for everyone.
(http://www.amazon.com/Parker-Brothers-40202-Pictureka/dp/B000S4BF4I)
I should also mention that playing an insane game of Spoons is definitely one of my favorite games to play with the teens in my life, along with the other adults around me who are equally as crazy as I am.
(http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Spoons-%28Card-Game%29)
I LOVE Settlers and Carcossone.
I'm a huge game player. :)
-DS
I was reminded of a few games we played as kids. Do kids still play them? Jacks, marbles, pick up sticks.
Good post and games do build relationships!
We love Spontuneous. The games don't last long, there's not a lot of pieces or complicated rules either-everybody writes up a list of trigger words, and the other players try to sing songs with that word in them. it always provokes laughter and discussions!
DS... Yes, you are a player. Haha
Hazel... Yep, kids do still play them, at least mine do! If fact they got a new set of "Pick up Sticks" for Christmas. The girls are just now old enough I think they might be coordinated enough to learn how to play jacks. Just for you I'm adding it, and marbles to our summer bucket list.
Stan... Spontuneous looks like it would be a lot of fun to play with our favorite teenagers! I'll definitely be checking it out. Thanks!