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Summer time is a great time to shut down the devices and play real live, screen-free games.
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It’s taken a few weeks, but I “think” that we’ve reigned in the gaming time. I was real busy at the beginning of summer with book edits, so the kids got a little carried away with screen time. For the last few weeks, however, we’ve limited screens to one morning hour and one afternoon hour.
The result has been that my children are reading more and figuring out more inventive things. It’s just like the good old days!
Playing screen-free
They’ve played with the neighbors, had water balloon fights, gone hiking in the neighboring hills, decorated a huge cardboard box, and broke out the real-live, screen-free games.
I’m holding my breath. I know we could backslide in a heart beat, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts.
The boys played a marathon Monopoly game late last week. The girls weren’t included, so they, with some prodding from FishMama, got creative:
They busted out Monopoly Junior, used Merida and Elinor figurines for their characters and made up their own version of Monopoly.
Another confession: The games that I really don’t like or that kids can’t play on their own are stored in the garage.
One of our very favorites this summer is Spot It, in its various forms. I received the original game last year to review. I’ve since gone on to buy other versions: Alphabet, Basic French, and NHL, of course.
We’ve found that these games are great ice breakers for new friends and shy cousins and that play can span a large range of ages and generations. An added bonus is the compact metal storage tin that’s easy to pack for the road.
Playing real live, screen-free games is currently a highlight of the summer. It’s not without its challenges, but we’re figuring out how to play board games and card games peacefully. And having a good time, too.
Got a favorite board game or card game?
This post is part of the DIY on a Dime: Summer Fun series. For more ideas on how to enjoy the summer holidays on a budget, check out the list.
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Never heard of Spot It. Looks good. Our favorites are Settlers of Catan (with all the expansions when we have the extended time) and Ticket to Ride. Puerto Rico is a good one too. Our latest different additions are Batman’s Gotham City Strategy Game which you play the villains, and secondly, Pandemic where you have to stop the spread of epidemics—can you tell we have teen boys? Farkle is good pick up game (dice) which was a great choice when we had some Chinese college students over—no lingual skills required, just basic counting and willingness to take a risk. Trouble, uno, skipbo, “In a Pickle” and Racko are some of our other stand by games. I want to get Constitution Quest, maybe we’ll put it on the wish list for family pestering for Christmas idea. Or saving grace with game time is we will play for an hour-ish at a time on games that they boys take forever on their strategy–keeps frustrations at bay to play over the course of the day or even weekends on those longer games.
How funny! I don’t think we have a single one that you named. Will have to add them to my Christmas list. The price of Settlers of Catan always kills me. Is it worth it?
I’d say yes. We’ve been playing settlers since the youngest was 9. Once we got that down we added cities/knights, which makes it more interesting/challenging/competative—we keep it to the original when short on time. We’ve added the others over the years. The oldest takes it when meeting with the kids from the youth group—-and the game is still in EXCELLENT condition. The materials are quality pieces, wood, etc. My mom always asks for board game suggestions for a family gift so that has been helpful in acquiring these more expensive games. Again, these are not cheap plastic tokens. Even the boxes have held up all these years-even with a teen boy taking it to play with other teens (now he is under threat of having to replace it, but still).
My husband and I have a weekly game night. Some of our favorites are Phase 10, Quiddler, Scrabble, Blokus, and Dominion. (All able to be two-players). With the children we like Caribou Island, Twister, Super Why ABC, checkers, go fish, and Don’t Break the Ice.
Our family has recently discovered Tickey to Ride and we really enjoy it. Everyone down to the 8 year old can play it. The almost-6 year old doesn’t get it, so she just watches. We also play a lot of Yahtzee, Cribbage (the 8 year old has learned great math skills through these 2), States and Capitals Sequence, and many more.
Our family loves Skip-Bo, Armor of God, Hangman, Apples-to-Apples Jr, Battleship, and toss-up. My daughter loves Monopoly so my hubby plays that with her a lot. One game that I am on the look for is Mancala. My kids love that game and we do not have it so I am on the hunt for it 🙂
In addition those already mentioned some of our favorites include Parcheesi, Chinese checkers, dominoes, and multiple versions of Memory. No game night is complete without a hand or two or 10 of Go Fish, Old Maid, Slap Jack and War.
Never heard of Spot It. Looks good. Our favorites are Settlers of Catan (with all the expansions when we have the extended time) and Ticket to Ride. Puerto Rico is a good one too. Our latest different additions are Batman’s Gotham City Strategy Game which you play the villains, and secondly, Pandemic where you have to stop the spread of epidemics—can you tell we have teen boys? Farkle is good pick up game (dice) which was a great choice when we had some Chinese college students over—no lingual skills required, just basic counting and willingness to take a risk. Trouble, uno, skipbo, “In a Pickle” and Racko are some of our other stand by games. I want to get Constitution Quest, maybe we’ll put it on the wish list for family pestering for Christmas idea. Or saving grace with game time is we will play for an hour-ish at a time on games that they boys take forever on their strategy–keeps frustrations at bay to play over the course of the day or even weekends on those longer games.
How funny! I don’t think we have a single one that you named. Will have to add them to my Christmas list. The price of Settlers of Catan always kills me. Is it worth it?
I’d say yes. We’ve been playing settlers since the youngest was 9. Once we got that down we added cities/knights, which makes it more interesting/challenging/competative—we keep it to the original when short on time. We’ve added the others over the years. The oldest takes it when meeting with the kids from the youth group—-and the game is still in EXCELLENT condition. The materials are quality pieces, wood, etc. My mom always asks for board game suggestions for a family gift so that has been helpful in acquiring these more expensive games. Again, these are not cheap plastic tokens. Even the boxes have held up all these years-even with a teen boy taking it to play with other teens (now he is under threat of having to replace it, but still).
Rummikub and train dominoes are favorited here…we’ve gotten out of the habit. Must get back into it
My husband and I have a weekly game night. Some of our favorites are Phase 10, Quiddler, Scrabble, Blokus, and Dominion. (All able to be two-players). With the children we like Caribou Island, Twister, Super Why ABC, checkers, go fish, and Don’t Break the Ice.
Our family has recently discovered Tickey to Ride and we really enjoy it. Everyone down to the 8 year old can play it. The almost-6 year old doesn’t get it, so she just watches. We also play a lot of Yahtzee, Cribbage (the 8 year old has learned great math skills through these 2), States and Capitals Sequence, and many more.
Our family loves Skip-Bo, Armor of God, Hangman, Apples-to-Apples Jr, Battleship, and toss-up. My daughter loves Monopoly so my hubby plays that with her a lot. One game that I am on the look for is Mancala. My kids love that game and we do not have it so I am on the hunt for it 🙂
In addition those already mentioned some of our favorites include Parcheesi, Chinese checkers, dominoes, and multiple versions of Memory. No game night is complete without a hand or two or 10 of Go Fish, Old Maid, Slap Jack and War.