I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to find games that are fun for kids and do not annoy the heck out of parents. Am I right?! Maybe it’s the former fifth grade teacher in me, but I also think that games should be educational. We are HUGE on family game play around here. The other day I was playing Rush Hour {shown below} and couldn’t put it down. It helped pass the time while I have been sick in bed. So it occurred to me that I should share our top five picks. I love each and every one and have just as much fun as the kids do. Each of them offers great educational value as well. Hope this helps if you are on the lookout for fun ways to do up some family time. 
Think Fun Rush Hour I can not say enough about this game. It is more along the line of a brain teaser. While it really is played by one person at a time, you can compete base on time if you would like. This game is AWESOME. I can play for hours and both of my kids {ages 5 and 7} love playing and figuring this out. Think Fun is a fantastic brand that is all about keeping the brain sharp at any age. Word. 
Mancala This game is new to us this year thanks to my daughter’s fantastic second grade teacher. She sees the value in children learning strategy and math concepts by playing games. This one is a keeper. I have yet to win against my daughter. Not joking. Well I won once, but she told her dad she let me win. Awesome. Papa came over the other night and is now “training” at home to play against the Mancala Queen in our home. So much fun. 
Snap Circuits While this is not a game, it is fantastic. Our daughter received this from Santa. She is super into science and engineering . . . dreamy. This has been fun for all of us. You can build so many different projects. I love that open and closed circuits is normal for the kids to talk about around here. 
Battleship An oldie but goodie. Great game to teach children all about grids. They learn to read them, visualize them, and strategize. I love playing just as much as they do. 
Monopoly Jr. We stared playing this when my son turned five. WE LOVE IT. So much going on here. The kids learn to count and deal with money and have a blast. It has also been fun to watch my son learn to read over time and now he can read the cards himself. We are super competitive around here and love racking up those properties. The BEAUTIFUL thing about Monopoly Jr. is that the whole game takes about 30 minutes. It actually comes to an end, unlike the real one! This is a great after dinner game to play before the kids go off to bed. 
So that is a round up of our tried and true favorites. We are often hanging out in our family playroom with one of these. Oh, and seeing the checkerboard table above reminded me that checkers and chess are big around here, too. And let’s just say we have passed on our competitive nature to our little ones. Every man for himself {all in good fun, of course}. What about you? Any favorites to add to the list. Please do so in the comment section.
This is a great roundup and some surprises are in there! I have never heard of Rush Hour! Going to have to check that out. I have an 8 and a 5 year old. They received Battleship and a game of checkers this year, and are enjoying playing with both. I am enjoying watching my 5 year old's strategy with checkers. He is getting better with every game. The circuits are cool too. Great that your daughter wants to be an Engineer!
I need to look for Rush Hour! I think the boys would love that one. One of our faves is Headbandz!
Thanks for the ideas!
I need to look for Rush Hour! I think the boys would love that one. One of our faves is Headbandz!
Thanks for the ideas!
Another really run game is Spot It. We were given it as a Christmas gift (well, my 6 year old was) and it is SO fun for everyone. We ended up with three generations playing (loudly!) on Christmas night and all had a blast.
Incorporating family game night is so important. We need to get better about it. Our boys are 8 and 3, so it's challenging to find a game for all of us. Oh, and now a little girl on the way in May…lol. I got Battleship a while back and we need to pull it out more. Monopoly was always a favorite too.
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We LOVE Spot It! There are different versions you can play but it is super fun. We also love Tenzi, which is a dice game, a little similar to Bunko, except the rounds are short and there are many different ways to play!
We have (and play) all of these, except Snap Circuits. I never heard of it before, but think my boys will love it. WE also have Spot It that we bought on a rainy day this past summer vacation, and I agree with another comment that that's a good one too. Thanks for the recommendations! – Holly
Great round up! My kids just got Mancala for Christmas and we love it! I have never heard of it before and it's so fun! 🙂
I love mancala! You don't even need kids to enjoy playing that!
Quiddler is a great word game.
I got our son Battleship for Christmas, because I love it. 🙂 Some of our faves are Aggravation, Uno, Sorry, and Spot It. I can't WAIT until they're old enough for Boggle.
Rush Hour is the bomb! We played that endlessly when our kids were growing up and now we can play with our grandchildren who are 7&9. Love this post. Now I know what games to buy for our vacation house. Thanks!
Great suggestions. I totally forgot about Rush Hour, and will need to add that one to our collection.
The favorites at our house are Battleship, Spot It, Connect Four, Uno, and Sorry. A really recent favorite is Master Mind. My 7 yo son got it for Christmas and begs to play it all the time!