Games to Play with Your (Younger) Kids that WON'T Make You Pull Your Hair Out!

Many of us have been there before. You know, you've just played Candyland for the 20th time and are thinking that Princess Frostine and Lolly might have an unfortunate accident if you have to play for the 21st time. How to avoid the untimely death sugared up cartoon characters? Have lots of fun game options that your kids will love, and most importantly, you will too!

This group of games will include some that you will only play with your kids and some that you might actually pull out to play for a quick, fun game with another adult. None of these require any real reading to speak of, so most are appropriate for even kids as young as 4 years old. Some might require you to team your younger kid up with an older player, at least at first. Click on the name of the game to open another window and be directed to boardgamegeek.com where you can see more photos of the games, as well as detailed ratings and directions etc.

Games You Will Probably Only Play With Your Kids


Guess Who Extra

This is a new take on the original deductive reasoning game for two players. The basic premise of the game is that players ask each other yes/no questions to try and guess "who" their opponent is. The difference between this version and others is that this one has 6 different cards to choose from, so you can play many different variations. It also folds up into a nice neat hard laptop looking holder.  This game might be best played with an adult or older child on a younger child's team since the reasoning involved can be difficult at first.

PROS: teaches deductive reasoning, very fun for kids and not too bad for adults. Compact storage, well made, lots of options, available at mass retailers (WalMart, Target, ToysRUs)

CONS: lights and sounds are annoying (just don't turn them on), can be expensive.

I am going to try and make a superhero card to fit in the frame of this one. We will see how that works out!

Rat A Tat Cat

 Despite the fact it had been on my wishlist for a couple of years, this is a recent addition to our collection of kid's games. I am glad we waited on it (found it for $2 at a sale) because Coleman only had to play on someone's "team" one hand and from then on he had it down pat. This is great for 2-6 players and plays pretty well with all group sizes. Each player is dealt 4 cards which are placed face down in front of them. They are allowed to peek one time at the two on the outside, but the ones in the middle are a mystery. Through drawing and discarding the goal is to swap out your high cards (rats) for lower ones (cats). When a player feels they have the fewest points in front of them they knock on the table and say "Rat a tat cat!" and everyone shows their cards. It is nice because this is a game that moves quickly and you can set the number you will play to ahead of time- such as 3 rounds, or we will play until someone gets to 100 points.  

PROS: easy to learn the rules, cards are cute, good for memory skills, moves pretty quickly. Since the goal is to have lower numbers, younger kids can benefit from adding up their own score.

CONS: younger children might need to play on a team with an older player, at least for the first few hands.  It can be difficult to remember not to peek at your cards other than the first allowed time. Harder to find than some games (try Target or online)


If you did not read my post from 2007 about other great kid's games, click HERE for more great recommendations.

Games You Might Pull Out to Play Without Your Kids


Uno Attack 

This is one of a couple of variations of the traditional UNO game. There are a few new specialized cards, but since we picked up our version at a yard sale, I am pretty sure all the cards were not there. This was one of the occasions where that did not particularly matter since I just added the cards in with the uno cards we already had floating around our house.  Instead of drawing a card when you are unable to play, we simply hit the button and take whatever is given to us. The game is still simple enough for very young gamers and the kids LOVE to hit that button and see the cards fly out.

PROS: promotes matching skills, no real reading required, available at mass retailers, simple rules, everyone likes uno, can play with just about any number of players- just add another deck if needed. Kids love to push the button and see the cards fly out. Can be found at most retailers.

CONS: the card shooter can be tempermental, replacement cards (attack specific) would have to be ordered from the company, needs batteries, takes up more space than traditional Uno. Kids love to push the button and see the cards fly out :)

Sorry Sliders 

THIS is a fun little game. For serious gamers who can't stand the thought of spending an arm and a leg on a crokinole board there is FINALLY a reasonable alternative. The rules are simple but the game design allows for some variations to keep it from getting boring. 2-4 players sit around the table and roll their pieces (basically pawns with ball bearings in them) toward the center, either trying to hit or avoid certain spots on the board. Knocking your opponents pawns off the board adds to the competition. There are 4 different center board variations that change things up a bit. Lots of fun and very fast.

PROS: no reading required, great for all ages, plays fast, good for various skill levels, moderately priced, available at most retailers, lots of variety, easy rules

CONS:  none I can think of.

Blokus  

While Blokus is not really marketed to kids, we have found it to be a fun addition to our family game collection. It has a number of varities available,so if you find it to your liking you can really get a few different ones to keep the fun going.  Basically this is a game of spatial awareness (sort of like Tetris, but not really) that moves pretty fast and is simple to learn. For 2-4 players (or teams too I guess). Each person has a set of geometric pieces that they must place on the board during their turn. The goal is to fit all them on the board, but the twist is that each of your pieces must touch only at the corner. No reading or math is required.

PROS: no reading or math required to play, moves quickly, fun for all ages, very simple to learn, available at most retailers
CONS: expensive, rules for 2 or 3 people require that each player play pieces of additional colors which can be confusing.

There ya go. Hope I have helped save someone's sanity as well as helped them find a few new treasures to share with their family. Stay tuned for the next post which will discuss WHERE to find the best deals on games.