Looking for something new to play on your family game night? We love playing a variety of games with the kids and adding to our collection of board games. Regular family game nights are a great way to spend quality time together. Plus, they provide an opportunity for kids to build social skills such as taking turns and good sportsmanship and other skills such as math and reading.
Family Game Night Gift Guide
Some of the games on this list we've previously received to review, but we continue to enjoy playing them! This post also contains affiliate links which means we earn a small commission if you make a purchase.
Happy Salmon
Happy Salmon is a fast paced card game comes in a cute fish pouch and is super simple to learn. Everyone has 12 cards and you do one of four matching actions with another player. The more players, the crazier it gets! The kids think it's silly and fun, plus they have the green light to get loud. Occasionally younger players may get upset when they don't win (or is that just at my house?) but there are different variations you can try including playing SILENT!
Why we love it: We can all play and modify it slightly for our five year old as needed. It's more fun with all four of us, but it can be played with three players.
Clue Junior
Help solve the mystery of who ate the cake, what time they ate it, and what beverage they washed it down with in Clue Junior! If you are familiar with the classic game of Clue, this is a fun kid-friendly version. While we've all played it together a few times, our daughter loves playing it more than our son. She was six when we began playing it and he was four. He likes to try, but he does better when partnering with mom or dad.
Why we love it: It's lots of fun and can be played in about 20 minutes! Plus, it's a great way to work on deductive reasoning skills.
Cauldron Quest
Can you get all of the needed ingredients into the cauldron before the wizard blocks you? Cauldron Quest is a cooperative game where players work together to win against an evil wizard. It encourages team work and is great for younger players. The game play changes enough so it's not boring to play it several times, plus the game only takes 15-20 minutes to play.
Why we love it:Â It's quick to play and keeps the kids focused on having fun playing the game rather than getting upset about who wins or loses.
The Fairy Game
Cooperative games a big hit in our house and The Fairy Game by Peaceable Kingdom is another one to add to your board game collection. Players work together to remove the flower gems before Mr. Winter freezes the garden. The kids enjoy working together to play against the game itself, which keeps the focus on having fun as a family. This game can easily be played in 15-20 minutes.
Why we love it:Â The outcome of the game is based a lot on the luck of the draw, but also on working as a team. Our whole family likes playing this one!
Dinosaur Escape
I'm telling you, cooperative games are perfect when you have 4-7 year olds playing together. In Dinosaur Escape, you have to move each dinosaur into the area where it's matching token is found. There is an element of playing Memory with the tokens, though you can choose to leave them facing up to modify game play difficulty. But hurry! You must rescue all three dinosaurs before the volcano erupts.
Why we love it:Â The kids work well as a team to help save the dinosaurs and it can be played in about 15 minutes.
Katamino Family
Race against the clock or each other to solve the puzzle. Can you arrange all of the selected pieces into a square? a rectangle? There are different difficulty levels and activities to challenge you with Katamino Family.
Why we love it: It's an educational learning game that makes everyone use problem solving skills.
Yogi
How long will you last? You might just end up twisted like a pretzel while playing Yogi. It's an easy to play party game with family friendly actions on the cards. You have to do what the card says and continue adding on to your poses! You may end up balancing a card on your head while touching your armpit and standing on one foot.
Why we love it: The game is portable! You can take it anywhere for a round of clean family fun and it's easy to include several players.
Not Parent Approved
The best way I can describe Not Parent Approved is by mentioning a couple other games… think Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity BUT focused on kid situations and clean language. This one is a favorite of my daughter's and does require reading. She cracks up so much when we play this game!
Why we love it: It introduces her to another style of games and gives her reading practice. Plus, it gives us insight into what she thinks her principal dreams of doing after school and what would embarrass her the most at a slumber party. Total win-win for everybody.
Ticket to Ride: First Journey
Ticket to Ride: First Journey is a great kid-friendly introduction to strategy games. It's simple enough for our 6-7 year old to play while still offering a fun challenge to adults. It helps kids to think ahead on their moves – do they wait and try to get another red card to take this track or do they take a risk using yellow to go another route?
Why we love it: The length of game play is just right – not too long, but not too quick. Plus, it feels like a great stepping stone towards more complex games.
Slamwich
This fast paced card game is all about making sandwiches. We giggle about the interesting order of cards and the kind of sandwiches they make. While the correct sandwich order is a game of chance, it keeps the kids engaged. When we're playing Slamwich, the kids have to pay attention to what's been placed in the pile before they can slap it and take the cards.
Why we love it: It's a quick game that we can all play!
We'd love to hear what you enjoy playing on family game night – let us know in the comments below! Make sure to save this post on Pinterest or bookmark it because we'll continue to add to it.
