Bonding Over Board Games

Spending time together as a family doesn’t have to be a big expensive event. You don’t have to go to the movies, out to the mall, or even out to eat. All you need to do to have a fun family night together is to get the board games out. Every family has them in the closet collecting dust right? I remember we had a stack of them in our closet. Growing up I fondly remember playing games with my dad and sister. We had a game night quite often and it kept us together. Of course we argued, and she still says that I cheated but it was the perfect family bonding experience arguments and all.

My husband and I love to play board games together. We played them nightly together before we had children. Now that we have children we have a family game night. We play all kinds of games, Uno, Minotauraus, Monopoly, Don’t Break The Ice, The list goes on and on. It’s funny as I sit here writing this post because tonight was one of those nights. My daughter requested Candy Land and my husband introduced them to a new game Triominos. We played two games, which is big for us. Miles has grown so much this last year because it was just a year ago we couldn’t even make it through one game of Candy Land. He’s gained patience and the ability to take turns. Plus they’ve both learned about patterns, counting, and how to have good sportsmanship even though we don’t take score yet. We’re trying to just teach them that’s it’s fun to play games together. So we play for fun.

My hope is that we continue to bond over board games over the years. As they get older we’ll be able to play more complicated games and game night will be longer. I’m sure we’ll continue to have arguments and laugh at the same time. The important thing is that we’re making family memories together.

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ThriveTime Board Game for Teens

Playing games as a family kept my family together for a very long time. My sister and I would play and my dad would referee for as long as I can remember. Parents should encourage family time and there are quite a few fun games out there for teens too! I just received a came called Thrive Time for teens. Thrive Time puts life into perspective for kids, the players are presented with real life scenarios and you have to make smart decisions. All of the real life scenarios are geared toward teenagers. Do you want to buy a car, do you want to save your money, can you manage money. Money management is something I think should be taught in school. Yikes, I’ve seen firsthand how hard it is for some to learn how to manage money. Whoever gets to the end of the board first wins! Woo Hoo! Have fun, make decisions and be a family! A great board game for teens. Oh, and my favorite part of the game is that it encourages giving to charity. Now that is my kind of game!!

You make decisions and take action!

  • Smart Spending
  • Going to College
  • Giving back
  • Buying a Car
  • Using Credit Cards
  • Starting a Business

 

How to Play the Game:

You pick cards from the draw deck and make decisions based on the information given on each card. Document your decisions on your Game Sheet and move your Player Piece on the Board.
Some of the Choices You Will Make:

  • Is it the right time to buy a car?
  • How will I pay for college?
  • Should I start a part time business?
  • Should I pay for those concert tickets with cash or use my credit card?
  • How will I give back to my community?

How to keep Score:

thrive time score card

While the Board tracks your Thrive Score, the Game Sheet shows the true impact of your choices.
On the Game Sheet you will:

  • Track the money you make (INcome) and the money you spend (EXpenses).
  • List your new businesses and investments.
  • Watch your savings grow.
  • Monitor your credit card balance.
  • See the full cost of car ownership.
  • Follow your college finances.

 

 

How did you do?

 

I received a free Thrive Time Game to review for this post.

Let’s Play together

Oh by, I haven’t posted something fun in a while, well, Delgo was fun.

So, would you like to know about game night in our family. Game night has been in my life sine I was little. While growing up my sister, dad and I would play games every Friday night. My stepmom would take the night to read or something to herself.

My sister still swears that I was a big time cheater, but I don’t remember cheating. I remember getting upset when I wasn’t winning but I don’t think I cheated. I was just smarter than her. No, she is really smart, I just had four years of age over her.

My husband and I are huge card players. If there is a card game that is new we want to try it. We play all kinds of games other than cards as well. We love to play Monopoly. We play

y the board game and before we had kids we would save the board and play as we had time. Some games lasted weeks.

Now that we have kids our games change to what they are able to be around. So yes, we play a lot of video games. We played Halo 3 together. It was very difficult to beat it on the hardest level but we did.

My gamertag is Momstart if anyone is interested.

The Parent Bloggers Network has teamed up with Electronic Arts for another Blog blast. You have all weekend to do your own game night post.

What games do you play?