Grab the Game on Family Night

When was the last time you played a game with your family? For a lot of us, board and card games were a staple of our childhood entertainment! But today, there are so many distractions that it seems like the last thing on our minds when we have down time.

A few weeks ago, our family took a vacation to Cancun with one of my best friends and her family. There were 11 of us playing—ages 7 to 47. Impossible to find a game we could all play and enjoy, right? Nope!

The young girls in our group decided that we needed a family game night and picked out Wits and Wagers for us to play. It involves a random question about a statistic (like “What’s the average American commute time?”) and each player guesses and writes an answer on an erasable card. Then you bet on which answer is correct and you earn chips based on how close you are to the answer.

The great part about the game is that it doesn’t matter if you know the answer or not. Most of the young kids were far off on their guesses, but they can wager that someone else’s answer is correct instead—so it really levels the playing field.

The game was a hoot and we had so much fun laughing and connecting that we even played again the next night. (And it won out over the football game on TV too!)

At home, we just don’t take the time for game night like we do on vacation. We’re busy with homework, after-school clubs, sports, work and all the usual housekeeping duties. Plus, the kids are often distracted by electronics—phones, the television, video games. Even on vacation, electronics were readily available but everyone still chose to play! It was nice to have that quality time together.

What’s your family’s go-to game for family game night? How do you get the kids to turn off the electronics so you can spend quality time together?