Get the Family Away from the TV with Holiday Boardgames

Family game nights are a great way to bring the family together to spend time together and to get out from in front of the TV. There is such a wide variety of boardgames out there, many designed to be an educational tool, other designed simply to be fun, no matter which you and your family prefer, they make a great gift for the whole family to enjoy.

When purchasing boardgames for the whole family you have to keep a few things in mind. You must think of the number of people in your family since not all boardgames are designed for a large number of people to play at once, and with some of these games you can play as teams, but others may not be conducive to team play. You also want to think about the range of ages that will be playing the games. If you have a very wide age range then you may want to consider getting younger games that everyone can play, and a few older games that you may play with the older children after the younger ones go to bed. Here are some boardgame selections to help make your holiday shopping a little easier.

The Best of Chronology
Age: No age was specified but I would say that you could probably start playing this with middle school aged children.
Number of players: Any
This game is about putting events in order by determining if a certain event happened before or after another. This is a great learning game for a family with older children. My mother bought a chronology game for me and my siblings and it was always fun, although my brother, being a history buff, used to always win. This game covers four catergories: History, Arts, Entertainment, and Sports.

Boggle
Age: 8+
Number of players: 2+
Most people are familiar with Boggle, but just in case you aren't, this game is about finding words by connecting letters on a 4x4 grid. I was never very good at this game, but it does help you learn to think outside of the box, and requires some patience because you may start to feel like you have a lead on a word and then you hit a dead end. This can be used as a great way to expand a child's vocab if you take the time to tell the child what words mean that you come up with that they don't recognize, it may also be a great lesson in spelling.

Card Sharks
Age: 10+
Number of players: 2+
I don't know how many people are familiar with the classic game show, but I loved watching it with my mom. In this game you place bets on whether or not you can guess whether the next card is higher or lower in value that the last card turned over. This game, like the previous two can be a great learning tool if you think about probability when making your bets.

Yahtzee
Age: 8+
Number of players: 2+
My dad used to play this game with me when I was younger and used it as a time to teach me about addition and multiplication. I still enjoy playing this classic dice game and I am sure your family will enjoy it too. All you have to do is roll the dice and decide which to keep and which to roll again in your effort to fill every category on your playcard.

Mentalogy
Ages: 4+
Number of players: 2-4
This game is designed to improve your short term memory by asking you to memorize lists of words, numbers, and images. I think it's a great way to spend time with the family, improve your memory, and probably have laugh when you start to remember things that aren't there.

Dictionary Dabble
Age: No age is specified, but this game would probably be best with middle school aged children and older.
Number of players: 3-7
This game is hilarious! I love to play it with my siblings. You basically make up definitions to obscure words and then everyone votes on which definition is correct and points are awarded to the player who got the most votes and to players who vote for the correct definition. Definitely a great way to expand your vocabulary and have a laugh, I highly recommend this game.

Well there are my few suggestions, I hope you will take at least one and put it under your tree this Christmas!

By Abby Johns www.associatedcontent.com