You can find serenity in learning that it can be really fun to create a family game. In most areas around the country, the new school year has either started or is about to start. At the same time, many families enjoyed the closeness and fun of the bonding and fun of summer vacation. One way to keep the fun going throughout the school year is to create a family game.
The great thing about a family game is that you do not have to create something with mass appeal. The only people who need to like the game are your family members. It also doesn’t have to be fancy. The game doesn’t even have to be creative or innovative. For example, if your family likes Monopoly. Get out your Monopoly board and some small post it pads. Change the names of the squares to names of places in your neighborhood, places your family has gone on vacation or things you want to do. Do that changes by writing the new names on post it paper and sticking it on the original board. This way when your family plays the game you are playing with memories and dream. The game becomes real, personal and a place to relive or create some great memories.
If your family is artistic or creative you can design your own games from scratch and keep those new games in the family game night rotation. It is also fun to adapt existing games with house rules. At our house for example we have:
- Used Uno cards to play poker
- Played Little Alchemy tag-team style
- Used magazines for Pictionary
- Played checkers with chess pieces
- Pretended to go Hunger Games for the remote
All of these things may sound completely silly and ridiculous to you and your family. That is okay. Our family has the best times, and the most laughs playing these games and dozens of other silly games. The important thing is that we relax, laugh and have peaceful evenings doing these things.
The conversations can and do take place during family game night over soft drinks and soft pretzels. While we play games we talk about life. We teach our children what we expect of them from them and how they should conduct themselves. While playing games the children are at ease and don’t realize how much we have taught them over a card game, chess board or hula hoop. We learned that all of life’s lessons don’t have to be done in a serious stressed out manner.
Sit back now and think about how much fun it is to play games, be silly and just enjoy your spouse and kids. How much more fun would it be if you made up your own games or changed the rules of the games you already enjoy to suit yourselves. Talk with your family now, this very day and either create a game or adapt a game to play on family game night at your house this week.
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In conclusion, you can find serenity in learning that it can be really fun to create a family game. So, the question for you this serene day is, what new thing can you try for family fun?
My son is just starting to get into games! I love playing with him!
You seem such a warm-hearted person, I love your ideas! I love to play Monopoly with my family and we’re all highly competitive 🙂
These are really great ideas. Our family has been very interested in Monopoly lately.
We really enjoy Draw Something. Our whole family plays even my parents when they are in Florida. It is always fun making up new games with the kids but we never thought of using the UNO cards. Thanks for sharing.
we just bought new uno cards last weekend. we love to play board games.
My kiddo is just now getting old enough to play games. We love doing fun stuff outside!
Love these ideas! I can’t wait until our daughter is old enough for family games!
These are some fun ideas. My kids are just getting old enough to enjoy family game night.
Maybe your kids can have game day with you and game night with dad? We have also had fun playing games over the phone, via Skype and Google hangouts.
I love the idea of renaming the monopoly properties, my kids would love that!
What a fun idea to make up your own games. We host game night at our house every Sunday night. A bunch of my sons friends come over.
What a fun idea! I love the concept of making your own game up! I guess we kind of did that growing up with “Rummy”- we just made it up as we went. LOL
You know, I have never played Alchemy. Thanks for the game suggestions. I will try some of them out soon.
We love family game night over here. The game of choice is usually Monopoly because everyone loves it. I think it’s entirely necessary to be silly ever so often…it doesn’t at all sound crazy to me. I love our silly times…with my family and my students…I cherish those moments.
I would love to have family game night. But I work nights and my husband works days. I really enjoyed game night when I grew up.
It really is fun. The best part is that the kids don’t care what the game is, they just want to have family fun!
We need more family game nights! We haven’t in a while so I really would like to make an effort to do it more often!
We create silly word games while watching TV… like quack every time you hear a specific word. We are usually super busy and active, so sitting down to watch TV is a rarity and FUN!
We have family game night often. Never though to make our own game – great idea!
I have never thought about making our own game – fun idea. We will give that a try.
Our family makes games out of lots of things and we have so much doing it. I hope my kids do the same thing with their own kids someday!