There’s nothing like spending time playing a great board game over vacation. Puzzles are not really my thing, but the rest of my family gets into them. Set me up with a good board game and I’ll sit for hours. With the holidays rapidly approaching and a long vacation in the not to distant future, I’m predicting hours of entertainment will be needed.
Here are a few of our favorite board games
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There’s no doubt a good board game makes a great holiday gift for the entire family. And an added bonus: they’re guaranteed to keep your kids away from their screens for a while.
For many years we played Monopoly Junior and now we’ve finally graduated to the real deal: Monopoly. This board game provides hours of entertainment. And I mean hours. There are many versions out there, but I’m a classic monopoly fan.
HedBanz is a pretty hilarious game for all ages, although the 8-12 age group seem to really love it. Everyone wears a headband with a card on it facing out. Ask “yes” or “no” questions to figure out if the cartoon on your head is an animal, food or man-made object. Be the first player to guess what you are and win.
COMOTION: The Competitive Game of Simultaneous Charades
CoMotion is a great game for the entire family. Think charades with some added twists. Players throw the dice, pick a card and act out a word or phrase. It’s a race against the clock and you could end up acting out words at the same time as the other team.
We’ve been playing this one for a few years and it never gets old. As each player adds a piece to the board each new piece must touch at least one other piece of the same color, but only at the corners. Play with up to 4 players.
The Settlers of Catan board game is a popular choice with my three boys. I have to admit that I’ve never played. Players try to be the dominant force on the island of Catan by building settlements, cities, and roads. It’s a trading and building game with a fairytale theme. Players have to gather resources to build settlements and cities.
Colorku Solid Wood Game is a Sudoku-like wooden board game with color marbles instead of numbers.
QUORIDOR Classic Game of Strategy
Quoridor was a big hit on the beach last summer. Quoridor is a fast-moving strategy game that is similar to chess insofar as players move pawn-shaped pieces across the board. The difference is that there are wooden fences one erects to block the progress of and force a different route upon an opponent.
If you like the game “telephone” you’ll love Telestrations. Telestrations has players draw what they see then guess what they saw. You can only imagine where this ends up. Hilarious fun!
Sort It Out is on my list to try this year. Players are asked to arrange lists of measurements, events, weights, and stages into the correct sequence. Everyone plays on every turn so there’s no sitting around and waiting. It just won the “Game of the Year” award at the TOTY Awards.
Wits & Wagers takes Trivial Pursuit to the next level. It’s a trivia game that lets you bet on anyone’s answer. It allows you to guess the answer you think is the closest to the choices you are given. This board game can accomodate anywhere from 4 to 20 people.
What are some of your favorite board games?
Looking for a few fabulous gifts for a boy ages 8-14? Here’s my list of 20 Holiday Gifts for Tween Boys. Also check out my 15 Tech-Free Gifts for Tween Boys.
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