First Family Game Night

Last Friday we held our first family game night. It's a perfect day for us, as it's my night off from cooking supper, thanks to our local pizza delivery service, and we're not as concerned with the boys' bedtimes.

Our sister-in-law is a big board game fan. Whenever our families are together, and the boys are in bed (or being looked after by an older cousin), she pulls out a game for the adults to enjoy. And she always has some really fun, different games. No Game of Life or Monopoly for this lady. She's more likely to pull out Ticket to Ride, Apples to Apples, or for the marathon board gamers, Settlers of Catan. Without fail a good time is had by all, and a lot of great conversations have taken place while we play. After witnessing this once again over Christmas holidays, I decided we needed to start bringing this into our boys' lives, hopefully lighting a flame within them that glows with the memories of quality time spent with family and friends.

For Christmas this year, my parents gave both boys their own games. They have other games, which will definitely get pulled off the shelf more often now, but we decided to start with the new ones.

S received Chickyboom. This is a fantastic game. This is our fourth Blue Orange game. I love them. They're wooden, painted pieces, and the games are fun for the whole family, but simple enough that when the kids are only 4 years old, they can understand the rules and play. And there's a level of education too. Chickyboom, for example, is a balance game.

E's game was played after S went to bed. Hubs is a chess player, and since E started reading Harry Potter, he's wanted to learn how to play chess. So, my folks found this Quick Chess game. One side is a smaller board (less squares), for faster games with less pieces, to get the new player used to how the pieces move. E beat Hubs his first time out. The other side is a traditional size, for longer games. E was able to focus for about 45 minutes on this one, which is pretty good for a 6-year old not playing a video game.

I have to say our first family games night was a success. The boys thoroughly enjoyed their game, and as adults we were able to let go of always being in control a little bit, and truly enjoy the evening for what it was, not what we hoped it would be.