Planning For A Family Board Game Night

I remember when I was a kid, my parents used to set time and date where we had to gather in the living room and play board games. There were no internet and video games back then so we had not so much to choose from. Still, it was fun. And those fond memories made me appreciate childhood and the value of spending quality time with family. Those times are just memories today. Sad to say, less and less families hardly play board games anymore. With all the technologies and individual activities each family member can do, a family gathering just to play a board game is really hard to come by. So if the opportunity knocks and you really want to tie your family together, board games are still the best way to do it.

Planning for a family board game night is not a very hard thing to do. But if you don't know where to start, read on…

1.) Clear all our schedules and make it an important date. Doing this sends a message to your family about your priorities. It may be hard to gather all the members for a night, especially if you have teenagers. So you have to announce it early and be a role model. Once you have set the time and date, stick to it. The last thing you want to do is to cancel the night because of some important appointments or deadlines you have beat.

2.)No guests allowed. There may be occasions where you want to invite friends, relatives or neighbors to play with you, but this time, it is a closed-door session. If you keep it to your family, every member will realize their role and identity. Also, this is a great opportunity to improve communication among each other.

3.) Do not entertain interruptions. Turn off your cellphones and PDA'S and let the machine answer your phone calls. Make sure that there are no other things that need to be done like homework and chores.

4.) Use different games. No matter how much you love certain games, if you play them night in and night out, the activity can become boring. Once in a while, buy new games. It doesn't matter what type of game you play for the night as long as everyone can participate. Also make sure that games have a balanced combination of luck and strategy so that everyone can have a fair chance of winning.

5.) Utilize this moment as a venue to teach lessons such as fair play and becoming a good sport. Use family night to encourage positive behaviors and social skills that they can use when they grow old and when they interact with others outside the house.

6.) Prepare some snacks. Children love to play but they also love to eat. Easy to prepare and easy to eat foods can be placed in a bowl where they can just dunk with their hands.

Other useful tips:

a.) Introduce board games to your kids as early as possible. Many board games are designed for kids as young as 4 years old so you will not have any problem when choosing the games that will fit to your youngest child.

b.) This night is for your kids so let them decide the games that they want to play.