Family Game Night Brings Family Bonding

In today’s culture, it is always amazing how we pride ourselves on being so connected yet find our most personal relationships can become so disconnected. With more and more of our culture being tech-driven it is so easy for parents and kids alike to be in the same room yet be miles apart. We easily get sucked into our favorite game on our tablet, the latest song on our mp3, texting a friend, or even the “can’t miss” movie or ballgame on tv. As a result, though we may be in the same location, we often lose touch and communication with those we love most.

There are few things that can bring a family together like a family game night! It can be super entertaining while also being used as a teaching tool! Think about it. Depending on the game, skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, basic math skills, and general knowledge can all come into play! Most of all, with the family together at the dining room table, offers mom and dad a chance to communicate and connect with their kids through conversation, teamwork, and a few laughs along the way as well!

Cranium Cadoo

Cranium Cadoo will have your whole family laughing in no time. Definitely one of those games that you will want to take out when everyone in the home just needs a little extra laugh. (We all have those types of days that we need a pick-me-up.)

Between the puzzling, sketching, sculpting, acting, and code-cracking, this is not just an entertaining game but also a great game to encourage learning and the love of art in your child… all while having fun.

Cranium Cadoo is marked for ages seven and up. Younger children can always pair up with one of the adults! You can play with just two players… or more.

Includes:

Game board
2 decks of Challenge cards in card boxes
1 custom die
40 plastic scoring tokens
Special red decoder mask
Cranium modeling clay in a plastic zip bag
Sand timer
Sketch pad
Illustrated instructions

One thing I really love is that one side of the card boxes is marked “discard”. I am not sure if it is just our family, but we always wind up mixing the draw cards with the discarded ones. Sometimes, it is just the little things that make such a big difference.

Pictureka!

Pictureka! is a great game to bring along on trips, to a friend’s house, or just to your very own kitchen table. The game is very versatile with four different games in just one deck of cards.

Games Include:

ALPHABETTI: A find-it-first frenzy. Find a picture starting with a letter. The letter is “A”. Can you find a card with an Apple or Airplane? As soon as anyone spots something, shout “Picture”!
MATCHUREKA: Find 2 cards that match the mission. “Something from the sea” – find a shark on one card and a boat on another. “Picture!” you’ve done it!
8-Away: a rousing race of a game that gets everyone flustered! Get rid of all 8 of your cards by spotting mission pictures on them. The first to run out of cards wins. Everyone plays at the same time.
COW’S CREATIVE COMBO: combine cards to complete your mission. Your job is to match 3 picture cards to either one of the missions on your mission card. You GET to choose which one!

This game is recommended for ages six and up but we have made up our own little games for our four-year-old using the Pictureka cards. They are GREAT for the little ones to play “I Spy” with!

Pictureka includes 78 picture cards, 32 mission cards, and illustrated instructions. You can play this game ANYWHERE!

Nibbled

How many of you have little ones? The last couple of games I mentioned is more so for a little older children. Nibbled is for ages four and up, however, if a child knows colors, they can play this game! They will LOVE getting to clip and unclip the fish!

All they have to do is start with X amount of fish clipped to them (quantity depends on how many players are playing). They can clip them anywhere visible to others. Choose a color and flip the card. If the color you picked is shown on the card, you get to unclip the fish from yourself and choose someone else to clip it to. Revenge at its finest 🙂 The first person to get rid of all their fish wins the game!