Family Games to Play Tonight!

Looking for something fun to occupy your family tonight? Here are 15 family games to play tonight!

I confess, I love family game night. I loved it when I was a kid and I love it now. My child always seems to have her face buried in her iPad. I’m always looking for something that will drag her away. Here are a few of our favorites!

Uno – This was my FAVORITE game when I was a kid and I was cutthroat. Funny enough so is my daughter. She quickly and easily caught on to Uno’s rules and she developed her own strategies to win!

Outburst – Kids love this game.  Maybe it has to do with being able to just YELL your answer as fast as you can.  We have an older version of outburst that has questions that are specific to the 1990’s that we skip when playing with the kids (we can do that we’re the adults now) but when a category like things women keep in their purse come up or other names for underwear she is in the game!  Sometimes we now read game cards over dinner.  We end up giggling through our meatballs and gravy. Pick this up at thrift stores everywhere for as little as $5.

Othello – If there are just two of you this is the game! My 11-year-old learned to play this when she was 7. She is now becoming a master! This is a VERY easy game and doesn’t require a child being able to learn to read. Just know the difference between two colors.  She always wants to play Othello.

Card Games – Have a standard deck or two of card in the drawer? Yeah, we all do! Check out the list of games you can play on the Bicycle Cards Website.  My favorites are rummy, and conasta but games likes Guts are easy for everyone. Don’t worry you can always ante up popcorn or skittles instead of poker chips or money.

Charades – Okay if you’ve never seen your child try to act out a Harry Potter book title you need to get on board with this one. It’s easy just pick topic you’re kids will know (ie – Harry Potter, popular song titles, movies they’ve seen, TV shows they know).  If they aren’t able to read you will need to have an official reader who doesn’t get to guess but can help the child with their charade by offering suggestions as to how to act the title out.  Give the little kids some extra time to be fair.  If you’re stuck on what to use for you charades you can use the game word generator on The Game Gal’s website. You can also download her app! It’s $1.99 but then you can have it on your phone for traveling.

Heads Up – Speaking of apps Heads Up is a fun game kids love. It’s only 99 cents so it’s a fast download away.  Just make sure your phone is charged up before you start!

Watch Ya Mouth – This one get’s us all laughing out loud! You use the included mouth inserts (similar to ones at the dentist office) and try to convey the game message without moving your mouth. It’s hilarious. Just be sure to brush your teeth first.

Jenga – This is an old school game that kids LOVE! The  anxiousness of when the stack will fall keeps kids on the edge of their seats all night!

Would You Rather – I picked this one up for my daughter’s birthday after she kept coming home an asking me if I would rather this or that.  The best thing about this game is it sparks interesting conversations.

Shut the Box Dice Board Game – We have a handmade board like this that we’ve had for years.  We just call it the dice game.  Ours doesn’t have 4 sided game play the idea is the same.  Roll the dice and clear the board.  It’s a wonderful way for kids to learn addition.

Kids Against Maturity – Loaded with fart jokes which are favorites of 11-year-old’s everywhere and of course 40-something dad’s too. It’s a fill in the blank type game that will make everyone laugh.

Yahtzee – This is a great game that you can play with the whole family even if they’re far away.  Playing Yahtzee over FaceTime is as easy as propping up your phone or iPad on each side so you can each see each other’s role and faces. It’s a blast. Always has been. Always will be.

Skip-Bo – This is another one I loved as a kid and it turns out my kid loves it too.  So much so that she will play it on iPad.  Skip-Bo came out after Uno in the 80’s and it’s another game of strategy.

Clue – This game has had so many incarnations that you know it will be a winner.  It requires kids to think through the clues (thus the name) and draw a conclusion.  This is a great game if you have a kid who is a perfectionist who thinks they know everything (like mine).  She learned fast that she’s not as cleaver as she thinks she is and not to guess to soon.

Boggle – This is great when you’re kids are learning to spell. I don’t know why but for some reason playing this game makes kids more interested in their spelling homework. Maybe it’s that competitive streak in them.  They want to win.  It’s easy for them to complete with adults because when you get to my age you just don’t see the words anymore.  Turns out me and my 11-year-old end up evenly matched!

Bringing back a family game night is a great way to connect with your kids and kill some time on rainy summer evening or freezing winter nights.