Subscribe: It’s Time to Bring Back Game Night
I have so many positive memories of playing games with my brother and parents on rainy afternoons and on family game nights.
Our post on “How to Organize Your Board Games” had a lot of reader feedback. Thanks for sharing all of your favorite games. Your comments got me thinking about how much fun board games are. I think it’s time for me to rediscover my love of games and to bring back family game night!
I’m definitely going to invest in Candy Land, which was one of my favorite games as a kid. But I also want to try some new games too. I recently received review samples of The Clothespins! Game and the Beddy-Bye Baby Game from Briarpatch.
You might not have heard about Briarpatch before since this company wasn’t around when we were kids. But Briarpatch has earned over 270 awards since its founding in 1992, and I like their eco-friendly business practices– such as using vegetable and soy-based inks.
Since Baby Mwah has a few years to go before he’s ready to play games, I invited over some friends and their tots to test them out. I wanted to see if the games would entertain the kids and be fun enough for parents to tolerate.
Beddy-Bye Baby is a sweet game for the pre-school set and is particularly appealing to older siblings who are learning to cope with a new baby in the house. In this game, each player selects a baby and carriage in pastel pink, blue, yellow, or green. On turn, players roll the rattle die and move their carriages down the path to beddy, while collecting a teddy bear, baby bottle and snuggly pajamas. The first player to enter the nursery with all of baby’s needs and snuggly tuck in baby wins the game.
Up to 4 people can play this game, and no reading is required. My tot testers liked rolling the die since it sounded like a rattle when shaken. Since this is a game of chance, one of the kids cried when he lost. But it was a good opportunity for his mommy to tell him about being a good sport. And he happily played another game.
The Clothespins! Game was designed for children ages 5 and up, but the parents I played with enjoyed its fast-pace. (It also gave them a chance to tell their kids what a clothesline was!) The object of this rummy style game is to score the most points by completing all three of your clotheslines, while placing three or more matching laundry cards in your hand on each line along with a finishing pole to close the line. Clever players use their bird cards to swipe laundry from an opponent or move clothes from one clothesline to another. The kids really got into the competition. I would caution parents that some children might get upset if another kid uses a “bird” card to swipe one of their laundry cards. But that provides an opportunity for parents to teach important social skills like good sportsmanship and respect for fair play. Overall, we had a blast playing this game.
Want It:
These games are available at www.briarpatch.com and at Amazon (Beddy-Bye Baby is $9.99 and Clothespins! is $11.73).
Win It:
To win one of these games, leave a comment on this post by 11:59pm on August 27, 2008 letting us know your favorite Briarpatch Game (www.briarpatch.com) or your favorite family game night memory.
Hi, I like their game called “Animal Soup There’s Always One” Game. Please enter me in your wonderful drawing. Many thanks, Cindi
When I think of game night, I always remember marathon games of Monopoly!
we play a lot of scrabble here
Ny favorite game night memory is when we played Monopoly by candlelight during a blackout.
We play alot of checkers here, the boys are learning.
The Goodnight Moon game sounds like fun, the book is my 17 month old’s favorite! We like playing Uno or Monopoly as a family!
phillipsonlygirl at gmail dot com
Lots of card games here
count me in
Trivial Pursuit was a favorite at our house. I think I knew all the answers before I left for college. My husband won’t play with me now. I love the Fancy Nancy card game. I’m going to have to get it for my girls.
goodnight moon game
My fave game would have to be the Fancy Nancy game
jceko77@yahoo.com
Thanks so much for the chance. We love games and this would be perfect for us. Our favorite game to play is UNO Attack.
I think my son would love A Day Out With Thomas best. My memories of board games are always marathon sessions of Monopoly with my brother – each one of us trying to cheat our way to victory!
The Dinosaurs, Extinct? game looks like something my grandson would enjoy playing ;)
We love board games. We are currently playing a lot of Stock Market. My boys would like the Animal soup game.
This game looks like a lot of fun A Little Golden Book Circle of Friends Game. Thank you for the contest!
We like to play Uno on family night.
I like the Do You Look Like Your Dog? game :)
We do a lot of puzzles, so my favorite would be the Bouquet 500 Piece Puzzle Assortment.
We never had a favorite game. I just like the idea that we spent the time together.
My daughter likes Fancy Nancy
We really like the Sea Monsters game.
Dinosaurs, Extinct?
We used to play Rummy a lot on game nights, we would have snacks and everything, and when I think of my family I think those were my fondest memories because we would play all night practically.
legacyofbrutalitysa{AT}gmail.com
game night is a tradition here. before the kids it was cards and backgammon. After kids it was candyland and hungry hippo.
My favorite memory of playing games is with my grandma. Every other Friday night when I was a kid, I’d spend the night at her house and we would spend hours playing Rummy, War, and Old Maid!! She would always try to make the funny face of the old maid….still makes me laugh playing it now with my kids!!
Animal Soup Card Game..Cute!
Newton’s Apples looks like it’d be a fun game. Right now we play a lot of Candy Land and matching games.
I love their Goodnight Moon game!
we play uno constantly
I think my grandson would have fun
playing Animal Soup There’s Always One Game.
Thank you!
janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com
Newton’s Apples
scrabble
The Sea Monster Game… my son loves everything and anything related to the ocean! Great contest! I hope we win!
I Spy Private Eye looks like a game I could enjoy with my grandsons.
Sea Monster Game is my fav !
my family likes scrabble.
My favorite Briarpatch game is I Spy!
My favorite Briarpatch game looks to be Nerdy Wordy!
Love Fancy Nancy…thanks!
Fancy Nancy Posh Bedroom GameNew would be awesome for my fancy nancy girl. (we have all the books.)
My dad was a sort of travelling sales man. Except he brought us with him! My little brother and i drove all over the country as kids and man, that was a LOT of hours on the road. I could read for hours but my brother couldn’t since he got carsick. So- we used to play connect 4 and battleship. YOU SANK MY BATTLESHIP!
I always thought he was pretty smart too cuz he loved to play chinese checkers. We had a lot of fun on those car rides, though we would have never admitted it back then! When i had my first baby, her entire wish list was books and games. This year we are going to the beach now that she is 3 and are bringing candyland, chutes and ladders and hi ho cherry O. I cannot wait to start this tradition! a family that plays together stays together.
The Thomas Great Race Game sounds wonderful. They have a great selection of games.
Every year, especially around Christmas, we would set up a folding table and work on a really big puzzle. Our favorite was one with all different Coke bottles, cans etc. It is a fond memory for me since I am so much younger than my siblings and I always had to plead with someone to play Hi Ho Cheerio or Chutes and Ladders! (my personal favorites). I would love to foster the love of board games with my two daughters.
The Good Night Moon game would be perfect for our family.
I like the clothespins game best and I think Good Night Moon would be lots of fun too.
From the two you listed, the clothespin one would be fun. But from their site, my (almost) 4 year old daughter would love the Fancy Nancy Posh bedroom game.
I like the clothespin game
Since my girls adore Fancy Nancy (I have blogged about that a few times) I know they would love the Fancy Nancy Posh Bedroom Game
Growing up we would go visit our grandparents in Germany. Not speaking or understanding a whole lot of the language, in the evenings tv watching was out, so we played a lot of games. One of our favorites was a classic German game called Malefitz.
My favorite game night memories are every time we played games, because my kids and I always got uncontrollable giggles. Thanks!
I Spy
Wordy Nerdy looks really fun!
My daughter would like the Fancy Nancy Posh Bedroom Game
I love Briarpatch games. My son loves the I Spy one and I like the Animal Soup one. Game nights are special around here…I just think of all the laughs they bring and teaching my son to play fair and lose graciously. thanks for the chance, justicecw@hotmail.com
My son would love the Goodnight Moon game.
Animal Soup There’s Always One Game looks fun.
I Spy
They have a vast assortment of I Spy games, and I Spy is my daughter’s absolute favorite.
The I Spy Preschool Game sounds like fun for our children, as well as us parents!
animal soup game
Clue is my granddaughter’s favorite.
I would like to try the Clothespin game.
My family would love to try out DaVinci’s Challenge! We like puzzling and solving things!
We play alot of checkers here.
The Animal Soup game looks fun. Our family plays alot of board games and card games. some of our favorites are candyland (with the young ones) trouble and clue.
We love I Spy games in this family!
The Clothespin game sounds like lots of fun!
This looks fun
I think the boys would also enjoy the I Spy Spooky Night
I Spy Preschool Game.
Trouble!
My favorite family game night memory is when I was about 10 years old and me and my younger brother were playing Monopoly with my dad. He kept pulling these $500 bills out of nowhere and we could never figure out how he made so much money so fast! Years later and I’ve finally realized that he was the banker and was cheating!!! It makes me chuckle every time I think of my dad cheating so he could beat his kids.
We always have a monopoly game sitting on the table.
We are always looking for new games to play.
My favorite game on briarpatch would have to the Sudoku the Ultimate Puzzle Game!
We play sorry often.
Do You Look Like Your Dog? :)
we play uno a lot
I Spy Memory Game 15th Anniversary Edition
I like the I Spy puzzles!
Jackpot is my favorite.
when i used to beat my hub in monopoly he used to take his game and go home..he has to stay now since we are married lol
We would love to try DaVinci’s Challenge.
cherylfrancisco@hotmail.com
Our favorites are Life and Sorry, only the former could only be played when we had a long game night ahead. My cousins and I would play Life for hours!
would like to try the clothespin game – family favorite is Clue
Animal Soup card game for us. I have 2 sisters and growing up with playing games was an important part of our childhood. We would have family game night every Saturday and would take turns on getting to pick the first game to play. Some of the most played games were Monolopy and Clue.
Thank you for the nice giveaway.
Favorite family game night is playing Risk late into the night
I like the go fish card games. They remind me of when I was young.
My favorite is the Goodnight Moon game!
We like I spy
I love the Animal Soup There’s Always One Game!
Family games nights…love all the laughter!
we play a lot of scrabble here
We play Monopoly
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