When Kids Can Finally Play Board Games!
So finally your child has reached an age where they can play games. ANY kind of game really that isn’t you hiding and them never finding you. Or them hiding and you realising they’re just standing in the middle of the lounge with their eyes closed.
Any kind of game that ISN’T on a device.
FINALLY you can actually crack out the board games; you can crack out the classics.
When you first start introducing board games to kids, it can take them a while to pick up the rules. So patience will need to be had when teaching them. Remember that they’re only young, and that you’ll probably have to repeat yourself a million times.
FIRSTLY here are OUR guidelines with board games …
- No electronics (phones, tablets, TV, etc etc)
- Everyone has a go, and if necessary we all help each other
- Snacks
- Have fun
- Try not to fight (this is a hard one with young kids)
Now whether you decide to have a games night, or just pull out the game to help change it up a bit at home, here are my three favourite (and probably the most classic) board games.:
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Operation
We LOVE Operation in our house as it is simple to understand and provides lots of fun for the kids. We all giggle and laugh when the buzzer goes off, and reassure each other that it’s ok if we don’t get it the first time. I’m not going to lie though – the kids do fight a bit about how to play it, but that’s an age thing. The game is aimed at children 6+, so technically my kids are a little young but they still enjoy it!
Operation is about extracting organs from a body without touching the edges of the body – if you touch the edges it makes a buzzing sound and it’s the next person’s turn. Operation is such a classic – just have to remember not to lose the pieces.
TIP: Keep the pieces in a snap-lock bag rather than just add back to the box loosely. I have found my kids randomly opening the box just to make the buzzing sound, and the pieces can get lost if not in a secure place.
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Twister
Twister is SO much fun with the family. We usually save this one for the Friday Night Games Night, because we end up falling over in fits of laughter.
With Twister you spin the wheel and put your hand/foot on the corresponding colour/spot that the marker lands on. You keep doing this until you fall down. Again, the game is aimed at children 6+, so technically my kids are a little young but they still enjoy it!
It’s a little harder for the kids to reach some of the colours/spots, but it’s all about having fun so don’t stress too much about that!
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Connect 4
The biggest issue for us with Connect 4, was that the kids didn’t fight over how to play it. Ronan (3) always wants to just line all of the colours up, whereas Chloe (5) understood completely that she had to connect four in a row.
Connect 4 is super simple – each person takes a turn with their colour chip, and drop it into the chosen slot. The first person to line up four chips in a row (of their colour) wins! It’s that simple!
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Hasbro have lovingly sponsored this post to help us all understand that getting kids off devices and playing games is SO much fun. We LOVE it in this house, and having the classics Connect 4, Twister and Operation really help make it easy to put those devices down.
These games are great for the WHOLE family!
Have your kids started playing board games yet? What do you play?
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