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Favorite Family Games

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Favorite Family Games to play with your kids! @ AVirtuousWoman.org

Favorite Family Games

Games are a part of the Ringstaff family tradition. We love games. We have an entire huge closet just dedicated to crafts and board games.

Favorite Family Games @ AVirtuousWoman.org

 So, I’ve been wanting to share some of our ALL TIME FAVORITE GAMES with you for quite some time now. There are quite a few that we play on a regular basis.

Games really bring a family closer together. Games are a great way to strengthen your family bond and teach your children how to play fair and be a good sport. There’s something about a little friendly competition and a lot of laughter that helps siblings and parents learn to love each

I’ll start with games that are appropriate for kids of all ages and work my way up to games you can play only with older kids.

Games for Young Children

I remember playing so many fun games with my kids when they were little. These were some of my favorites.

 Apples to Apples Junior

My youngest child is 11 years old now, and we still enjoy playing Apples to Apples Junior. What makes Apples to Apples so much fun is that it’s so random and you never know who’s going to get their card picked – because it’s really up to the judge! If you have non-readers, you can purchase Apples to Apples Big Picture. These games are sure to get a lot of laughs!

Settler’s of Catan Junior

Settler’s of Catan is one of those games that, well, if you’ve ever played it, your going to be hooked. We love this game series so much that we had to buy the Junior addition.

Clue

I have wonderful memories as a girl playing this game. My kids enjoy it just as much as I did! We also own the Clue Jr. game for younger kids.

Masterpiece

Masterpiece is a classic game. Unfortunately, it’s not available anymore unless you buy it used. It’s a fabulously fun game – all of my kids have loved this game over the years and it’s just as much fun for adults!

masterpiece

You can purchase it on Amazon.com for no less than $129.00! You might want to try Ebay or Craigslist!

Settler’s of Catan

So this game is one of my all time favorite games. Ever. It’s serious fun. The games can go on for hours. So, if you start late in the evening – be prepared to stay up late. We’ve had many  really late nights playing this game.

One of the things that makes this game so much fun is that the board game can be different every time you play. Nothing is ever the same and so you never know how your luck will play. See, the board game is in hexagon shaped tiles that you fit together and if you buy some of the extention packs, the possibilities are endless. We own several of the extention packs and my step-son even had a large piece of clear plexi-glass cut to place over the tiles once they are in place. So that’s what we do when he’s playing. Otherwise, the girls and I just set up the board and get to playing as is. We already own several of these expansions {below}, and the rest are on my wishlist!

Favorite Family Games to play with your kids! @ AVirtuousWoman.org
Playing a game of Basic Settler’s of Catan with my girls.

This game is a little pricey, but completely worth it! 

Munchkin

This game is fairly new to our family, but it was instantly a hit. We were introduced to this game by my son’s girlfriend. Just like Settler’s of Catan, this game is well thought out, loads of fun, and comes with expansion kits.

You don’t necessarily need the game board that comes in the Deluxe version, but I like using the board. You can purchase the game without the board. This game is all about getting the most point, killing “monsters” and stealing treasure. It’s sort of like a funny medieval barbarian theme. So, if that offends your sensibilities, you’ll enjoy Settler’s of Catan more.

Favorite Family Games to play with your kids! @ AVirtuousWoman.org
Playing a game of Munchkin with the game board.

In my opinion it’s all in good fun and the kids had a blast with the Apocalypse expansion pack. You can purchase a number of expansions for Munchkin which will give this game lots of possibilities and encourages lots of friendly competition.

Scrabble and Other Variations

scrabble

Scrabble is a great game for building your thinking skills and for expanding your vocabulary. We usually get out the Oxford Dictionary and go to town looking up crazy words. We own the Classic Scrabble game, UPWORDS, and Bananagrams.

Bananagrams

Banangrams is similar to Scrabble, but it comes in this super cute banana zipper pouch – which makes it great for traveling! You can even purchase a few different game books for Bananagrams. This game is also great for homeschoolers!

My Favorite Card Games

Favorite Family Games to play with your kids! @ AVirtuousWoman.org
Dealing out a game of Rook.

Card games are always fun. At our house, we play several different card games on a regular basis. The kids have loved UNO since they were little. Dutch Blitz is one of my favorite games to play with the girls. It’s fast paced and there’s always lots of laughter! Phase 10 is lots of fun too and Rook is always a hit at our house – including several of it’s variations.

Games I Like to Travel With

Since we are on the road nearly every month for a weekend or more, I always travel with a few games in my suitcase – perfect for playing in the hotel room, in the lobby while waiting for Dad to get out of meetings, or by the pool.

 Other Games We Own and Love

What game or games would you add to this list?

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8 Comments

  1. I am fond of a game called Pandemic. You have to all work together to defeat the game and stop the pandemic (which is very challenging to accomplish). A lot of strategy and working together.
  2. Hello. I am new to avirtuouswoman. My name is Sarah Parker. I am married to my wonderful husband Garrett who is a Children's Pastor. We have four awesome children who keep us very busy. Before my husband became the children's pastor, we were outreach pastors for two year. (Outreach is our passion). Now we are in the middle of getting a children's home open. We will be the house parents and can have up to 8 extra children in the home!!! We are very excited
  3. You need to try Ticket to ride. It has a ton of versions and expansions so it can really be different each time. It is about creating a railway and connecting different destinations. Like settlers, it is a bit expensive, but worth every penny. My husband and I have been playing it a lot lately after our kids go to bed, since it has small parts and they are still babies, but it is great for kids 8 and up, and teaches geography.
  4. Munchkin is so much fun! Another one we really enjoy is Smash Up. There are several different factions (zombies, dinosaurs, pirates, aliens, etc.). Each player chooses 2. Then, they compete to take over bases, and the winner takes over the world! It's similar to Munchkin, but it's less complicated.

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