Game Night: Fun, Family, and Memories
Reading Time: 7 minutes Roll the Dice on a Night to Remember
In our fast paced, activity laden days, it can be difficult to carve out special times for family.
When you are able to designate these unique times, it is crucial that you plan something the whole family will love.
My favorite, for so many reasons, is family game night!
Why Family Game Night?
I have spoken to the many benefits of family game night in several of my other blogs, but here is a quick run down of why you should make gaming together a priority!
- Strengthen family bonds: Spending quality time together strengthens relationships, opens lines of communication, and fosters trust.
- Teach important life skills: Games often require strategy, cooperation, and patience.
- Encourage teamwork and communication: Many games require players to work together, share ideas, and make decisions collectively. This promotes collaboration and understanding.
- Unplug and be present: Family Game Night encourages everyone to put away their devices and be fully engaged with one another.
- Create lasting memories: The laughter, playful competition, and inside jokes that emerge from these nights will be fondly remembered for years to come.
- Stress Reduction: Engaging in activities with loved ones can help alleviate anxiety and stress symptoms by releasing endorphins, also known as “feel-good” hormones, which promote relaxation and happiness.
- Self-Esteem: Games create a supportive environment where children feel comfortable expressing themselves.
Regular quality time with family also plays a significant role in shaping a child’s identity and self-esteem. - Non relevance: This seems odd, but is probably the most important benefit from family game night: you are all interacting and talking with each other about nothing important! There is no “did you” “you should” “don’t forget” etc.
You are all simply laughing together and having fun.
Choosing the Right Games for Your Family
My number one piece of advice for you is…don’t make this too complicated!
The benefits of playing games together as a family are too numerous to get sidetracked or delayed by complicating factors like, “my children have too big of an age spread” or “some people don’t play nicely” or “I don’t know of many games.”
I totally have you covered!
I am going to include a pdf that will break down favorite games by age group/difficulty and whether they are competitive games or collaborative games.
There are many different game categories.
I am purposefully leaving video games off of my list, as I do not want children on screens-I want them engaged with the family.
1. Classic board games: Monopoly, Scrabble, and Clue are timeless favorites that promote social interaction and friendly competition.
2. Party games: Games like Apples to Apples, charades, and Kids vs. Parents offer a fun, lighthearted atmosphere and encourage teamwork and creativity.
3. Strategy games: Chess, Ticket to Ride, and Settlers of Catan require critical thinking and planning, making them ideal for older children and adults.
4. Cooperative games: Games like Forbidden Island, Hoot Owl Hoot!, and Pandemic promote collaboration and teamwork, teaching players the importance of working together towards a common goal.
5. Educational games: Games like Cranium, Math Island, and Exact Change combine entertainment with educational value, teaching new facts and concepts in a fun, engaging way.
6. Card Games: There are a number of games that can be played with a traditional deck like: Snap, Spoons, and Speed.
Then there are fun card games that have cards designed for the game like Old Maid, Uno, and Skip-Bo, which has a little more strategy in it and our family loves!
7. Dice Games: We did not play a lot of dice games, but we did have our favorites.
We played a lot of Farkle, only we called it Bones.
This is one of the first games we played as a family that all ages, from 5 up loved.
We played a little Yahtzee and my nieces loved Left Right Center when we went out to eat!
This was a game I could just pull out of my purse and the girls, when they were young were entertained until the food came.
How to choose a game:
1. Age or Skill Level: I am hesitant to use “age” because I have seen 8 year olds in game playing families who are much more skilled than 15 year olds in non game playing families.
There is an awareness, problem solving, and strategy building that happens to kiddos who regularly play games.
When choosing a family game, you will want everyone to be included.
I started entire family games when my younger son was 5.
I have a five year spread between my boys, so my older child was 10.
He, the older son, would have been bored to death if we had always played Candyland or Chutes and Ladders, so these are games I played with the younger son alone.
2. Number of Players: The boys liked Mancala when my younger son was 9.
This game is designed for two players, so we simply turned this play into a round robin tournament style of play.
You will need to know how many players are ideal for a game and if you do not have that, but still want to play, how you can adapt it.
3. Duration of Game: This is crucial, especially when children are younger.
Few kiddos like to sit still for very long, even when playing game.
When you introduce games to your family, choose games that can be played quickly and are easy to understand.
As your family warms to game night, start introducing longer, more complex games.
Apart from type of game, skill level, duration, and how many players, you need to decide if your family plays nicely together.
There are games that are specifically designed to encourage teamwork, not competition.
These are called collaborative or cooperative games.
I wrote an entire blog on collaborative games, but to give you a quick snapshot: if you have family members that do not win or lose well, try a collaborative game.
These require the family to work together as a team to beat the game.
This helps those with beginning skills learn more advanced strategies, as they are all discussed before opting with any one plan and for everyone to feel part of the “win” or “lose.”
Your first decision will be whether or not to introduce a game that encourages teamwork or competition.
There are benefits to both.
Children should learn to lose and win gracefully.
They should also learn to listen to other’s opinions and as a team decide on the best course of action.
I do not encourage “letting your child win.”
How to Make Family Game Night a Priority and Regular Occurrence
Making it a regular occurrence is key to maintaining the excitement and bonding experience of family game nights.
To ensure consistency, consider scheduling regular game nights into your family calendar.
We play, sometimes three times a week-but this is our family outlet for fun.
Try to do once a week, for just 45 minutes to begin.
1. Set a Regular Date
Consistency is key to building lasting traditions.
Choose a specific day or night of the week when everyone can gather, and mark it as “game night.”
This dedicated time ensures that it becomes a priority and something the whole family looks forward to.
2. Create a Comfortable and Fun Atmosphere
Set the scene for relaxation and enjoyment-whatever that means to your family.Create a cozy space with snacks, drinks, and comfortable seating.
You could even theme your game nights—like a pajama game night or a game-and-pizza night—to make things even more special.
3. Celebrate Wins and Losses
While friendly competition can be fun, it’s important to emphasize that the goal is not necessarily winning, but spending time together.
Celebrate the effort and enjoy the funny moments.
Notice the improvements and each person’s unique skills, for example, my younger son seems to have a photographic or “one time” memory.
When we play Settlers of Catan, he can remember everyone’s numbers and resources; he makes an excellent resource “banker.”
In the end, the true value of Family Game Night lies not in the games themselves but in the time spent together.
The memories you create will far outlast any game piece or card deck.
The time you all spend laughing, strategizing, and playing together will help reinforce the sense of belonging and love that’s so essential in family life.