Over the past couple of years, we’ve slowly transitioned into giving family gifts for family and friends, exchanging gifts with one another including a gift that everyone in the entire family can enjoy.
The gifts have ranged from gift cards for local experiences, movie tickets and events, even concert tickets or something the family can use to bring some fun to dinner time (like this awesome s’more maker from London Drugs).
This year, I wanted to do something different with one of the families that we exchange with. This year, I wanted to create an experience that was going to pass on one of our family traditions to them. Everyone has the traditional Monopoly or Yahtzee at home, but we wanted to share some of our favourite games that shy away from the traditional board games you think about playing on Family Game Night.
The Gift of Family Game Night
We’ve been playing board games with the girls since they were three. Violet’s got the hang of at least ten of them - impressive for a three year old. You’ve also got to keep your eye on her, because she cheats with the best of ’em and will take your pieces of Ravensburger Dream Cakes while you’re not looking.
For little kids: Educational Insights and Learning Resources Games are our go-to. You’re going to learn something in each game, whether it’s shapes or colors, and letters. A few of our favourites to include for little kids are: Food Truck Frenzy, Pancake Pile Up and BBQ Blitz.
For older kids: For kids 6+, there are some great games out there that are also going to be just as entertaining for the adults. Exploding Kittens, a hilarious card game, is one of our top gifts of the year and should be included for families that love a laugh. Games like Wonky, bring about the competition, and is just as fun the adults playing. Finally, Crowded Waters creates those beginning thoughts about strategy in game.
These games range between $15-25 on sale, and you can often find them for even less shopping on Amazon.ca. That way, you can stay under budget for the family gift while introducing families to games that they may not have experienced as a family.
What do you think? Will they love it?
