I'm a big fan of board games and am succeeding in passing on my enthusiasm to the girls (I think!)
S favourite game to play whenever any of her friends comes over is children's dumb charades. There are picture clues for young children and written clues for slighter older children. The picture clues are pretty easy things like animals, actions like sweeping, aeroplane etc and now S has done them so many times she knows how to clue each thing by heart. A long long time ago I had also mastered all the taboo cards in the taboo board game and it was such fun playing when you already knew all the clues. And if the people you've been playing with are on your team then you just need to say one word and the clue is done. A very similar thing happened two days ago. S best friend M had come over for a playdate and each time she comes over both like to play dumb charades. There are limited picture cards and they both knew all of them. So the moms watched amusedly while the kids stood up to clue and before they could complete the action the other kid had guessed. Even A was guessing some of the clues! Need to buy more picture cards
S other favourite is tumbling monkeys. There are monkeys hanging on sticks and you have to pull sticks so that least monkeys fall. You roll a colour die to see which colour stick you have to pull and players take turns till all the sticks are pulled. Of course S is most excited when she gets to pull a pink stick but understands the concept pretty well and looks for the stick with the least monkeys. For A its enough if she can match the stick colour with what's rolled on the die. How many monkeys fall is of no concern. In fact the more the merrier.
A's favourite is incy winsey spider. You roll a die to make the spider climb up the wall and then you have to spin a wheel pointing to either sun or rain and if its sun the spider continues at its position (towards the top) and if its rain the spider gets washed down all the way to the bottom. A finds the rain very funny and each time her spider has to go down she playacts crying loudly (of course she learnt this from me, S if course pretty upset every time her spider goes down- initially she used to cheat and move the arrow only to sun and i used to let her get away with it when she was playing with me, but now that she plays with other kids i try to ensure its fair and square and she gamely spins the wheel). This game has the potential to never end so after a few turns I somehow ensure (don't ask how!) that somebody wins.
S has started playing snakes and ladders. The problem is that she is not that familiar with larger numbers so after a point she starts moving the marker along any line. A of course starts from any point and goes to any point so I have to sit with them and move the markers for them. It is a pretty long game and they get a bit bored after while so its maximum one round of snakes and ladders each time
Colourful snails. You pick your favourite coloured snail (no guesses for which!) You line up coloured snails at one end of the board. Then you roll two coloured dice and move those coloured snails forward. The first to reach the other side wins. This is a SIMPLE game. Requires minimal supervision and therefore my favourite when S friends come over. Luckily they have now stopped fighting over who gets to pick the pink snail.
Animal memory game. This is the usual memory card game with animals instead of numbers. S likes this and can play by herself if it set it up for her. I usually play along and I try to involve A also (i tried to palm off some of the animals cards to her to play with but she got pretty adamant and insisted on having a go) and sometimes i am pretty suprised to find she remembers where things are!
Am waiting for the time they learn to play ludo (my favourite) monopoly (another favourite) and then of course onto cards. Teen do panch here we come...
S favourite game to play whenever any of her friends comes over is children's dumb charades. There are picture clues for young children and written clues for slighter older children. The picture clues are pretty easy things like animals, actions like sweeping, aeroplane etc and now S has done them so many times she knows how to clue each thing by heart. A long long time ago I had also mastered all the taboo cards in the taboo board game and it was such fun playing when you already knew all the clues. And if the people you've been playing with are on your team then you just need to say one word and the clue is done. A very similar thing happened two days ago. S best friend M had come over for a playdate and each time she comes over both like to play dumb charades. There are limited picture cards and they both knew all of them. So the moms watched amusedly while the kids stood up to clue and before they could complete the action the other kid had guessed. Even A was guessing some of the clues! Need to buy more picture cards
S other favourite is tumbling monkeys. There are monkeys hanging on sticks and you have to pull sticks so that least monkeys fall. You roll a colour die to see which colour stick you have to pull and players take turns till all the sticks are pulled. Of course S is most excited when she gets to pull a pink stick but understands the concept pretty well and looks for the stick with the least monkeys. For A its enough if she can match the stick colour with what's rolled on the die. How many monkeys fall is of no concern. In fact the more the merrier.
A's favourite is incy winsey spider. You roll a die to make the spider climb up the wall and then you have to spin a wheel pointing to either sun or rain and if its sun the spider continues at its position (towards the top) and if its rain the spider gets washed down all the way to the bottom. A finds the rain very funny and each time her spider has to go down she playacts crying loudly (of course she learnt this from me, S if course pretty upset every time her spider goes down- initially she used to cheat and move the arrow only to sun and i used to let her get away with it when she was playing with me, but now that she plays with other kids i try to ensure its fair and square and she gamely spins the wheel). This game has the potential to never end so after a few turns I somehow ensure (don't ask how!) that somebody wins.
S has started playing snakes and ladders. The problem is that she is not that familiar with larger numbers so after a point she starts moving the marker along any line. A of course starts from any point and goes to any point so I have to sit with them and move the markers for them. It is a pretty long game and they get a bit bored after while so its maximum one round of snakes and ladders each time
Colourful snails. You pick your favourite coloured snail (no guesses for which!) You line up coloured snails at one end of the board. Then you roll two coloured dice and move those coloured snails forward. The first to reach the other side wins. This is a SIMPLE game. Requires minimal supervision and therefore my favourite when S friends come over. Luckily they have now stopped fighting over who gets to pick the pink snail.
Animal memory game. This is the usual memory card game with animals instead of numbers. S likes this and can play by herself if it set it up for her. I usually play along and I try to involve A also (i tried to palm off some of the animals cards to her to play with but she got pretty adamant and insisted on having a go) and sometimes i am pretty suprised to find she remembers where things are!
Am waiting for the time they learn to play ludo (my favourite) monopoly (another favourite) and then of course onto cards. Teen do panch here we come...
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