Saturday, January 31, 2015

How to Get Little Kids to Play Big Kid Games

Many years ago, soon after we moved into this house, we were all playing a game of Outburst.

In this game, a team is given a category, and the team must give a specific ten answers in a short amount of time.

During one round, the category was "Natural Disaster".  Our team immediately started shouting. 

"Tornado!"

"Earthquake!"

"Typhoon!"

After a few seconds, there was a lull in the shouting.

Until 6 year old Buttercup broke the silence.

"THE PLAYROOM!"

This.

This is why we play games with our kids.

Sure, game playing teaches them all sorts of skills they will need for school and throughout their lives.

There's counting and letter recognition and problem solving and turn-taking and good sportsmanship.

But first and foremost, there is fun.

So much fun!

Now, when there are 6 kids in the family, and the age range is wide, playing games as a family can get tricky.

But it is not impossible.

In fact, it's actually quite doable.

The family just needs to make adjustments.

Of course, there is always the option of the big kids playing the little kid games. In our house, this usually happens when it's just one little kid wanting to play with one specific big kid.

Cuckoo and I have played approximately 340 games of this in the last three weeks. I don't mind. It's a quick, good game, unlike it's wicked stepbrother, the exhausting Monopoly.

We then move up to the slightly more complicated games to keep the big kids involved but are still easy enough for the little kids to grasp.  Card games fit this bill perfectly.

We happened to be playing "Golf" that day.

At some point, the games requiring more thought come out. At first, the little kids don't play, but are given jobs to help the game along. For example, when playing Apples to Apples, the non-reader can be the dealer or the partner of one of the big kids. Eventually, the little kids learn enough to be able to play on their own.

In this photo, Cuckoo is marking his Clue sheet. He can't read, but he uses clues (ha! Can't think of a different word.) to figure out what he's marking. For example, he can recognize the alphabet and matches up the word on the card with the word on the paper. He's all scrunched up because he doesn't want anyone to see which cards he has.

We played Boggle the other night. These are Cuckoo's words for three different rounds. (In our house, anyone 6 or younger gets to use 2-letter words.) I wrote the vowels on the top to help him remember that all words have to have at least one of them. (The letters that look like z are actually s.) The crossed out words are ones other people had or weren't really words. 
Finally, the younger kids will get so good at playing big kid games, they even beat their parents.

Mancala is Cuckoo's new favorite game. He's only been playing it for about a week, but he has already whooped me several times. No joke. And believe me, I do not let my kids win games. They have to earn that win. 

This post was prompted by PJ, who blogs at A 'lil Hoohaa. This month's photography challenge was "Games".  Head over to see what other people did with the prompt.  

If you would like to get in on future linkups, join his Facebook page. That's where he announces the new theme each month and reminds us to get our posts ready.

So, do you have any games which can be adjusted for little kids? We love to find new ones!

Have a lovely day!


33 comments:

  1. I love board games but in this age of technology i was told that they boring - but once we start the one that is bored (James)usually wants to join. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it can be a challenge to get kids to choose board games over video variety, but I've found that once they do, they enjoy themselves.

      Delete
  2. Tsuro is one we've recently been introduced to. It's quick, it's fun, and doesn't require reading.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Giant got that game for Christmas! It is a great one, too. We've played it lots of times.

      Delete
  3. I LOVED it when my boys were little enough to enjoy Junior Monopoly. Awesome for learning simple addition and subtraction as well as not taking FOREVER. Once they graduated to regular Monopoly I'd sometimes find myself trying to persuade them to play Junior Monopoly, just so I could get something else done that afternoon! Now that they've graduated to video games, I long for the days of regular Monopoly. Fortunately, I still regularly have good luck talking them into a few rounds of cribbage.

    Wonderful photos and enjoyable commentary to go along with them. Glad you joined in this month and looking forward to seeing what happens in your chicken coop next month!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We play Monopoly around here sometimes, but not too often. We have had many different versions of the original, but I like the SpongeBob version the best. It has a "cheat" that when anyone rolls a one, Plankton moves to the next square. When Plankton gets around the board one time, game ends.

      Thank you!

      Delete
  4. Nice pics! I like the overhead shot of the card game! :D It's blurry and grainy, but it gives the shot personality and life.

    As far as kid friendly board games, you might want to check out Spot It. I'm actually more into the "serious", more complex board games but I really enjoy Spot It with the right people. It's got various "modes" to play and they're all pretty fun. Best of all, the game is cheap and readily available at pretty much any place that sells board games. For more of an actual board game, you might be interested in Ticket to Ride. It's simple and straightforward, but it has potential for pretty interesting strategy and player interaction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you like it. I have to take most photos with my camera. My smaller lens on my real camera broke, so I'm limited on the real camera front until I get a new one.

      We don't have the full version, but we got a sample version from somewhere. It was a good game. I don't know why we never got the full version.

      We have two versions of Ticket to Ride. It is a fun game, for sure.

      Delete
  5. Family games are so fun. We don't play them often, but when we do it is better than a circus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our game playing time depends on the time of year. In the winter, there isn't too much going on, so we have plenty of time to play. Soccer seasons? Not so much.

      Delete
  6. I loved to play games but don't anymore. Hubby hates to play games. I miss them, but it's okay. I'm not going to make my wonderful husband do anything he doesn't want to do.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, you can't make him play if he doesn't want to. Wish we could come out and play some games with you!

      Delete
  7. Board games are a big part of life here. I never thought to post about that... We just love them and Zilla does, too. These are great tips for bridging the age gap.
    Is Monopoly Jr. worth the purchase for her if she's six? Trying to remember when I started playing regular Monopoly. I don't think the junior version existed back in the dark ages.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. While she would probably enjoy it now, she probably won't for more than a year. I guess it depends if it is worth $20 for a year's worth of play. It most certainly would be if you had someone to pass it on to after she outgrows it.
      There was no junior version when we were kids. Cuckoo and Turken both play regular Monopoly, too, but the Junior version is better suited for 2 or 3 people.

      Delete
  8. So happy to see you back for the challenge this month. Besides the photos, I always love the story surrounding them. The playroom comment during a game made me laugh out loud. The images, I love. The Monopoly Junior is cool because it tends to show age of a game (from the original Monopoly to where it actually has grown to now with so many different versions). I like the personal images of Cuckoo getting up close with his sheet, as well as the Boggle sheet. Love that marble shot, too.

    Great job and hope to see you in future ones some more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We laughed for a good long time about the playroom. I guess I got it across that I considered the playroom a disaster! :)

      While having Cuckoo play makes the game take a little longer, we always let him. He is always so worried about other people seeing his cards.

      Thanks! I'm already trying to plan my winter post for February!

      Delete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Re-typing my original comment as there were a couple of mistakes which I didn't notice until it was published - and I HATE making spelling mistakes! lol

      Buttercup's comment about the playroom made me laugh - in fact 'natural disaster' could well describe my son's room on the occasions he comes to stay :)

      I love that Cuckoo likes playing Mancala, it was one of my favourite games to play with my mom when I was young :)

      Delete
    2. Ha! I appreciate your diligence. :)

      The game all but ended when she shouted out playroom. I guess I had been getting on them for leaving the basement a "disaster".

      We played it quite a bit with the older kids, but the younger ones are just discovering Mancala. We even have a version for 4 players which really helps shake things up.

      Delete
  10. I LOVE mancala! Somewhere I even have a nice, carved board. Niece and Neff love to play marble solitaire, and Husby's really good at adapting his toy soldier wargames so Neff can play. They both like Snap! and Jenga and pick-up-sticks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have never even heard of half the games you mentioned! Marble solitaire? Snap!? We've never gotten into Jenga, but pick-up sticks is fun!

      Delete
  11. Violet got Junior Monopoly as a gift over the holidays, and it's become a new favorite game to play with the kids! I agree, playing games is so much fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I normally don't like junior versions of games, but this one is great!

      Delete
  12. I used to work in a group program for adults and we played this one game that I tried at home with my kiddo and his friends. We had a blast. Its called spiderweb. You string up (literally) we used yarn strands of yarn across an open doorway (like a wide one...the livingroom worked great for us). We just used tape to secure the string to the sides of the moulding . Until you have a criss cross (no pattern) of different shaped holes big enough for a kid or adult to get through but not so easily... then you tie a few jingle bells to each of the lines. You make teams and each team member has to get through to the other teams side without ringing the bells. If you ring the bellsyou and another team member have to go back and start again. You can help each other through but you cant hold the strings apart. So you can lift each other or give a boost to a higher spot. Hope that makes sense... its a lot of fun but you have to be careful not to make it too high so no one falls.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds like a whole lot of fun! We may have to try that out on our next snow day or the next time someone suggests they build a fort.

      Delete
  13. I love the overhead shot of the card game! My boys enjoy playing cards. specifically FLINCH. ~Cat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never even heard of FLINCH!

      And thank you! :)

      Delete
  14. Ha...I LOVE that playroom comment! So funny/

    We like to play Apples to Apples, Monopoly (the regular version but we just stop playing when we are tired to make it kid friendly) and spoons. Everyone loves spoons!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny, but mostly because it was accurate. :)

      Apples to Apples is a good one! Oh man, I haven't played spoons since I was a kid and we had hours and hours of time to kill at the community pool. I've never introduced it to my kids. I don't even know if I remember how to play!

      Delete
  15. Great photos. I particularly like the clues one. They way he's all bunched up and diligently working.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is just too cute, trying to keep all prying eyes off of his paper. :)

      Delete
  16. I very much enjoyed seeing your five for the challenge. Love the perspective on the first and last shots!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you're thinking!