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Best games. Ever.


momsuz123
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I know there have been some threads off and on about different games, mostly math it seems, but give me all of your favorite, hands down, best educational games.

 

I have been incorporating a ton more games into our days, and everything is so much better. The girls are learning, I am less stressed, life is good. We have been doing some math games, and I have a few logic games. Any other games you all just love.

 

Right now, we are big on Money Bags, and Sum Swamp.

 

Thanks all.

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We love board games at my house. Here's some that are great family games for your ages.

 

10 Days series (Awesome. DH and I even play this all the time. Great for sneaking in geography but it's such a fun game you don't notice.)

 

Carcassonne (Fantastic family game. I recommend this to everyone. Very easy to learn.)

 

Ticket to Ride: Europe (Another great game and the rules are only slightly more difficult that Carcassonne.)

 

Blockus

 

Pandemic (A fun cooperative family game.)

 

Forbidden Island (A fun cooperative game that's a bit easier than Pandemic. The artwork is really pretty in this one.)

 

Dominion (Four player card game. Unlike any card game you've played before. Lots of expansions but just start with the base game and it'll keep you busy for a long time.)

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Rush hour, chess, and suduko.

 

I know everyone loves blockus and I thought we would, but it was a bust here.

Another new game we found on pinterest that we really like is Guess Who using Greek mythology figures. I made cards and put them in the frames. The original called for the presidents but you can substitute any historical figures.

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Strategy games are supposed to be excellent for math skills. We love Quixo and Quoridor here - check them out on Amazon. Gobblet is another good one. Chess is a good classic of course.

 

Fun games that my kids have been enjoying this week - Stare or Enchanted Forest. My son also likes Ravensburger Labyrinth a lot. Set is a fun card game!

Edited by tammyw
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Rush hour, chess, and suduko.

 

I know everyone loves blockus and I thought we would, but it was a bust here.

Another new game we found on pinterest that we really like is Guess Who using Greek mythology figures. I made cards and put them in the frames. The original called for the presidents but you can substitute any historical figures.

 

OOh, could you link to the pinterest Guess Who?

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Thank you all so much. Really, when I started hsing this last August, I was "too serious". Trying to always get the book work done, etc. Then I found out how much more my kids learn and how much more fun we could have with the addition of games. It has been a huge help to our hsing days. I am more relaxed too, bonus! We now make games a part of our day. I actually use the workbox tag "board game" or "math game" everyday.

Please keep adding, I love learning about new games I haven't heard of before.

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Go To The Head of the Class is really quite entertaining.

We love Taboo, too, because it helps with descriptive language production, and making inferences.

 

Can't beat good ol' fashioned Trouble for counting to six and one-to-one correspondance! (Your 3yo may be able to do it).

 

We like Zingo for matching, too.

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I love the game threads. I ordered a ton of games a few weeks ago from recommendations from the board (thanks!!).

 

We have not even opened all of them because Math Dice Jr., and Money Bags have been such big hits the kids beg to play them.

 

Another favorite here is Scrabble Slam. It is really fun, and dd8 and I play many times a day. It is also fun to play against my DH.

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I love the game threads. I ordered a ton of games a few weeks ago from recommendations from the board (thanks!!).

 

We have not even opened all of them because Math Dice Jr., and Money Bags have been such big hits the kids beg to play them.

 

Another favorite here is Scrabble Slam. It is really fun, and dd8 and I play many times a day. It is also fun to play against my DH.

 

 

Same here. We bought Sum Swamp (huge hit) and Money Bags (another big hit). We also got Camelot Jr and Color Code. I need to find some more great logic games that my kiddos can do independently for when I am working with the other. I love how simple Sum Swamp is so I can have my 2 girls play that while I am with their little brother (but feel like they are getting some good school in). Rat -a Tat cat was when that I bought after reading about from here too, the kids love that - I think it is fun too. Yes, we bought the Right Start card games kit. I think that is when I realized how much my kids can learn by just playing games.

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I bought my husband Lost Cities on a whim for Christmas and we all love it! It is a 2 player game but if you buy two sets you can easily play with 4 people. It is a great mental math/strategy game.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Rio-Grande-Games-124-Cities/dp/B00005UNAV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328746754&sr=8-1

 

My kids love all the games by Thinkfun. We have almost all of them now but Rush Hour continues to be a favorite.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I need to start doing this more. We used to have games days every other week, and loved it. We have all of the 10 day games, but have only tried USA and Africa so far. I have settlers of Catania which I hear is awesome and we've yet to play it. Now I just ordered carcassone, ticket to ride (original), Zeus on the loose, frog juice (same co. as Zeus ...) and pass the pigs. The last one wasn't mentioned here but in another thread as my youngest son loves pigs. I can't wait to get them and bring game days back.

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  • 2 months later...
I am not allowed to use fb and cant find too many other cool sites! That why I made my own facebook, sort of. Its where girls can hang out and chat but its a bully free zone! No meanies allowed. But its pretty cool. Check it out www.hey-bella.com

You get points just for hanging out and you can use those points in Bella's Closet to buy stuff like necklaces, makeup, jewelry, etc. Have a look, it wont hurt! :lurk5:

 

Bella

www.hey-Bella.com

 

Reported

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Zooloretto is awesome for kids. You are building a zoo and only have so many places to put different kinds of animals, so you can collect them all. When you get a female and a male animal in an enclosure, you get the baby animal. The way you build the zoo uses strategy and logic on a level younger kids can understand. Target is selling this in th eir stores now.

 

Don't forget the Logic of English Gamebook and cards. There are some great games in the book.

 

Sleeping Queens uses basic addition, numbers 1-10, matching and memory work.

 

Rat-a-tat-cat uses numbers 1-9 on their cards and you are trying to get the lowest sum possible in your hand.

 

 

 

I love many of the other games already mentioned.

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Our favorite game site is www.boardgamegeek.com. It has ratings and overviews for tons of games.

 

Our family favorites (these are recommended for ages 12+, but bright kids can play with no problems):

 

Dominion

Ticket to Ride

Acquire

Vegas Showdown

Power Grid

Small World

Mega Monopoly

Power Yahtzee

Rummikub

 

I plan on checking out some of the games listed. We are always on the lookout for a new game.

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I think all games can are educational.

 

Two favorites of my kids are:

 

Starfares of Catan

Here are detailed instructions on how to play that also shows you the game pieces.

 

Dominion

Here are detailed instructions on how to play that also shows you many of the cards used in the game

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iPod games my boys LOVE:

 

Presidents vs. Aliens (they've learned a LOT of different information about the presidents on here)

 

Rocket Math

 

Stack the States

 

Stack the Countries

 

Hangman, Doodle Hangman

 

Fractions Kitchen

 

Math vs. Zombies (I don't really like shooting or zombie games, but I *grudgingly* let them get this one, you have to select the correct answer and the zombie gets blasted, turns green, and melts) They like it.

 

Elementals (Periodic table)

 

Freddy Fraction (converting decimals to fractions to get Freddy to the end of the maze)

 

Math Add (it's like hangman with math)

 

My Math App (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division)

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We've been on a cooperative game kick since Christmas and it has been so much fun. Even my youngest can play along fairly easily. Our favorites are:

 

Hoot! Owl, Hoot!

Race to the Treasure

Stone Soup

Max

 

With the exception of Max, all of these games are made by Peaceable Kingdom. We really like their games for younger ages. We're also fans of their game, Fish Stix.

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We are BIG board game lovers! My boys are 10yrs. And 12 yrs. We love:

 

Settlers of Catan - strategy, planning

Creationary - creative play, logic, guessing

Monopoly - money, counting

Blokus - strategy, logic

Quirkle - strategy, logic

Over & Out - math

Scrambles States of America - Geography

Spy Alley - guessing, logic, strategy, planning

Boggle - spelling, language

Scatergories - vocab, language

Scrabble - Vocab, spelling, language

Catch Phrase - vocab, language

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My two first graders love:

 

Ticket to Ride- we have all the maps, but we love the US map. I also have it on my iPad, and I like that we don't have to put pieces away when we're done. ;)

 

Viva Topo- silly game about a cat chasing a mouse but it has an interesting strategy/math component

 

Headbanz- it's super silly, 20 question-like game, where you put a plastic headband on, put a picture in it that you can't see and then have to ask the other players yes or no questions to guess what you are. It's helped in conversational, logic and problem-solving skills

 

Yahtzee- we have both the Hello Kitty and Super Mario versions. :tongue_smilie: They travel well.

 

Left/Center/Middle- a super simple dice game that I actually carry in my purse- it's great for waiting at restaurants. It helped my kids learn right vs. left

 

Kids of Carcassonne and Carcassonne- they're just getting to be able to do the regular one on their own, but we still love the Kids version.

 

Sorry, Trouble, Parcheesi and Uno, the good ol' standbys.

 

There's a Sorry card game we were given for Christmas that I'd never heard of but we really like. It's another "nice to not have to put pieces away" option.

 

We have a couple of board games I've picked up from Lakeshore on clearance. We prefer the sight word ones. They aren't necessarily ones my kids request, but if they're offered during school time I never get turned down. :D

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