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Written by Stacey Brzak
Board games can be an exceptional way to expand your thinking, vocabulary or survival skills. Games make excellent gifts for all ages and can be replayed for many years. Nowadays, young children are familiar with computers and the Internet so there are also websites accessible for games like family.ca and disney.go.com, which are best suited for school-aged children. There are also fun interactive websites like fisherprice.com and sesamestreet.org for preschoolers and toddlers.
Tom Brownlee, Owner of Games People Play Inc., located in North Hill Mall, has been selling games for over 20 years and shares his top 10 picks for the best family games.
- Bananagrams. This game is best suited for children seven and up and is best played with two to eight people. You create words with tiled letters and the object of the game is to arrange tiles quicker than your opponents, leaving them with no other tile options.
- Sequence For Kids. This game is best suited for children three and up and is best played with two to four players. Players are dealt cards with animals on them that match animals on the game board. The object of the game is to place chips on the animals and when you have four in a row, it's a sequence and you win the game. Reading is not required to play this game because of the pictures.
- Sorry! This game is best suited for children four and up and is best played with two to four players. Four game pieces race around the game board to the finish line, but there are obstacles along the way. Every time there is a card drawn, players can switch places or send opponents' pieces back to the start of the game.
- Trouble. This game is best suited for children five and up and is best played with two to four players. Players' pieces are moved around the board by a popping dice and players have the ability to send opponents back home.
- Monopoly. This game is best suited for children eight and up and is best played with three to six players. The object of the game is to buy properties, collect rent from opponents and make the most money by bankrupting all of the other players.
- Scrabble. This game is best suited for children eight and up and is best played with two to four players. The object of the game is to earn points by forming letters with seven tiles that are given to each player.
- Card games. Card games can be appropriate for older children as long as they have a good understanding of numbers. Some card games are best played with two people and others require at least four players.
- Too Many Monkeys. This game is best suited for children six and up and is best played with two to six players. The object of the game is to get Primo the monkey back to bed by flipping and swapping cards in numerical order.
- Forbidden Island. This game is best suited for children eight and up and is best played with two to four players. The object of the game is to work together with the other players to survive on the island while it begins to sink.
- Jigsaw puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles can be fun to do for all ages and they are more appropriate for younger children because they are usually a solitary activity. Puzzles can also be done as a team activity and most stores carry a wide variety of them.
Tom suggests that when buying games for your family it's important to look at the game rating, which is usually located on the packaging; this can tell you the number of players required, the playing time and the age range. Brownlee also recommends looking for the Mensa Select award, which is only given to games that have high intellectual stimulation and are definitely worth buying.
Stacey is a full-time student and mother to her two-year-old daughter. She plans to graduate from the Journalism program at SAIT, travel the world and hopes to leave a legacy with her writing.
