Sweet Shoppe Designs

kristijoy · #1 07-07-2015, 11:39 PM

We are going on a beach vacation with my parents and my Sister and her family. I'm looking for some fun group games to play inside. There will be at minimum 6 of us playing with a maximum of 9.

Our youngest is 8 years old. I'm looking for fun enjoyable clean games. Preferably something that is a bit more thoughtful than 'race you to the button' frenzied type games.

Any suggestions? I would be happy to buy something if it sounds like the right thing!

Thanks gals!

JMC1988 · #2 07-07-2015, 11:53 PM

I know we always take some card games with us when we go to the beach. Favorites for my family are Skip-Bo and Phase 10 (this one might be just a little bit harder for the younger ones though).

KristinCB · #3 07-07-2015, 11:58 PM

cranium is fun and entertaining

misfitinmn · #4 07-08-2015, 12:01 AM

Quelf is a cute one! I can't remember how many players it's for but we laughed a lot playing that one - it's so random! Snake oil is also a fun one but maybe a little harder concept for younger kids.

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jacinda · #5 07-08-2015, 12:11 AM

OK, these might be a little large, but they should print nicely.

jak · #6 07-08-2015, 01:33 AM

Scrabble has and always will be my favourite - sometimes tricky with younger kids if they're still learning to read/spell, but we get around that by playing in teams.

Another recent favourite is '5 Second Rule' where you have to provide three answers to a question (e.g. girls' names starting with K, things that are red, cities in Europe, etc) in five seconds. It is a boardgame but you can easily play without it and just make it up as you go along.

scrap2day · #7 07-08-2015, 10:09 AM

Sequence -- this is a game that children and adults can play together

Whoonu -- this is a fun game where each card has an item listed on it.

You get your cards and one person is the designated person. Everyone looks at their cards and chooses the card they think the designated person would like most. Then the designated person goes through the cards from everyone else and puts them in order of favorites.

The person who gave the number one favorite gets the most points on down to the least favorite gets 1 point. You keep doing this until everyone is the designated person.

So there is a point system but the best thing about this game is you begin to learn more about each other. What they really like and what they don't like as much. And for our family there is also a lot of laughter because sometimes you are left with cards in your hand that it is a struggle to pick a favorite for the person. For instance, let's say grandpa is the designated person and all you have left in your hand is pink tutus or princess movies. The kids just think it is a riot that you thought grandpa liked princess movies…but you didn't have much to work with.

This isn't really a part of the game, but it usually led to discussions like "oh, I didn't know you liked mini golf so much but going to the pool is not a favorite." -- which in turn helps us to choose more wisely when we go do an activity in real life.

If we had a child who could not read the cards I was usually their partner and would tell them what the card said but let them choose which one they wanted to play.

Note: If you have strong religious beliefs, you might want to go through the cards ahead of time before playing. It is so long ago now but I think there were a few cards that we didn't want the kids playing with so my Mom and I went through all the cards and tossed the few that were not appropriate for our family. Obviously this is a family game and they might have been fine for other families we just didn't want our young ones playing with them.

mariewilcox · #8 07-08-2015, 01:24 PM

Clue is still one of our faves - even the adults, and the more people who play the more fun it is.

ashersmommy · #9 07-08-2015, 02:00 PM

Mille Bornes is one of our all time favorite family games! I recently sprung for the vintage one on Ebay and spent under $15 and it's still in great condition too. They sell a newer version on Amazon. It's a pretty easy racing card game but not really fast paced at all. Basically, you have to get a "Roll" card to start moving and then the first to 1000 (or 700 if you are playing two player) miles wins. There are hazard cards you can play on your opponents along the way. It's for up to 8 players and it's more fun the more people that play. One of my favorite memories is playing this as a kid with my grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, and parents.

julifish · #10 07-08-2015, 02:09 PM

We love Quirkle and it takes thought so the same person doesn't always win. There are blocks with colored symbols on them and you try to create a run of shapes (one in each color) or a run of colors (of different shapes). I think the kids learn a lot about strategy with this one!
Also, Yahtzee (I just buy dice and then print off score sheets) and any kind of Minute To Win It Games are always fun.
Scattergories - You can easily make your own categories so the kids can play along too. My kids actually play this at camp at the YMCA on a white board as teams.
Spot It! They are circular cards that have pictures on it. You have to spot different things on each card - it's hard! There are different versions. We play the original and it's small and comes in a tin so it's easy to take along with you.

Pictionary - we just make are own cards and take a chalkboard or small white board and dry erase marker. Easy to play one on one or in teams with a large group.