Our Favorite Board Games for Family Night

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As my kids get older, and they are sucked into devices more, I have found myself longing to go somewhere where there is no wi-fi, and we are forced to talk and play games together. After chatting with my hubby about it we agreed to strive and do one game night a month. This list is our favorite board games for family night.

It took us a while to actually start to play games. We decided that we needed to be able to connect as a family with some fun board games or card games.

On family night, I make sure that I have lots of snacks, cookies or brownies, and some good drinks and a bottle of wine for the game.

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We started teaching the boy’s card games because a deck of cards is so easy to travel with. We just pack a deck in the car and we can play at a restaurant while waiting for food, or at a coffee shop or even at the pool when they get tired of being in the water but don’t want to go home yet.

Card Games

We also moved on to other card games like Uno and Phase 10. Those are a ton of fun when we have extended family around.

Deck of cards– We use cards to play, Speed, War, Rummy, Slap Jack and many more games.

Uno– This is a great game that teaches kids strategy and number order.

Phase 10– This game teaches a lot about sequencing and how to persevere when you get stuck on a phase.

Board Games

When it is just the four of us, we play real board games. Depending on what time we start. These are the ones we like best and I put them in the order we play from top to bottom.

Monopoly– This is our top family board game. As a parent, I love that it teaches my kids how to count money, how to pay someone for something and strategy on how to win the game.

Clue– We love this game because it can go fairly quickly. It’s great when we want to play a game but don’t have a ton of time to play games.

Jenga– This is my kids favorite. Learning to have a steady hand and not knock it down is hard. But the kids love it!

Taboo– We love playing this game when we have lots of people over and we pair up in teams. SO MUCH FUN! Lots of laughter and community building with this game.

5 Second Rule– We play this game when we have lots of people over. Lots of fun and laughter.

Trouble– This is a game is not the quickest game out there but it is fun. I try not to send my kids back home too much but they love getting me!

The Game of Life– When we have a long time we play this game. It does take longer and sometimes we lose interest in the game before it is over. But it is fun to help teach kids about owning stuff and using their money to pay for stuff.

Watch ya Mouth– An evening of pure laughter.

Risk– Strategy. This game is all about strategy and it teaches kids how to think which is great. They need to be able to figure stuff out.

Pictionary– We have the original from when I was in college. This game is awesome! We use a whiteboard now to draw but it’s another one of those that we play often when we have friends and family over.

2 Player Games

We do play a couple of 2 player games. Those are for the nights when I want to just connect with 1 child or I only have one child home with me.

Chess– Love this classic game. I love teaching my kids how to play and learn a strategy to capture the King.

Battle Ship– You sank my Battle Ship. Sometimes you have to have a game that the kids can play that isn’t a device. This is the game they play when we say enough with Fortnite.

Dice

Dice games are a ton of fun too. They also travel-friendly so we have found that we take them with on trips too.

Story Cubes– I have been taking these to restaurants with me lately. The only thing I don’t like is how loud the dice can be. But my kids and I love to create a quick story about random stuff using just a word that is prompted by the dice.

Yahtzee– I love Yahtzee because it’s a fun game that is really based on chance. You can’t control how the dice are going to land and that is fun.

That’s our go-to list for the family game night. What are your favorite board games for family night? How often do you have a family night? If you don’t have one, I would love to encourage you to start! They are some of the most fun evenings of the month!