Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Top Games for Little Boys.

I love playing games. Board games, card games, puzzles - I like them all. James really got old enough to play games around two-and-a-half or three. He's REALLY into them now, though. I thought I'd share some of my our favorite games. These would be great as a gift for your tiny Valentines!


1. The Shark Tooth Game. James got this at Christmas this year and it is HYSTERICAL. There isn't anything to it. You push the bottom teeth one at a time and the shark CHOMPS you when you least expect it. Even Will can play this! I LOVE to watch the boys {and my mama!} play this game. They blink, blink, blink when it's their turn and if the shark gets them there is SCREAMING. Hilarious. We've enjoyed this one.

2. Hi Ho Cherry-O was one of James' first games. We had this when I was little, too. It's a simple concept. We played when James was first learning to count and it worked well! You put ten cherries on your tree. When it's your turn you spin the spinner and if it lands on 1, 2, or 3 cherries you put that number from your tree into your bucket. If you land on a dog or a bird you put some cherries from your bucket back onto your tree and if you spill your bucket you put ALL of your cherries back onto your tree. The first player who has picked all of his or her cherries wins!

3. Who Shook Hook was another Christmas gift for James. I have mixed feelings about this one. It reminds me a LOT of Operation - and I am not a fan of that game. It makes me feel all anxious. This one, however, didn't really make me feel that way. You set the board up and place Captain Hook on a hammock. You place the treasures around Captain Hook. You're given several kinds and colors of treasures and a few different tools to pick the treasures up with. Your spin and move will tell you what type of treasure to get and what tool to use to get it. Be careful not to drop a treasure {it will get eaten by the Tick Tock Croc} or knock Captain Hook off {the person who knocks Hook off loses and the others count their treasures}. The reason I have mixed feelings about it is unless I cheat, James CANNOT beat me. He isn't nearly as coordinated and some of the treasures are HARD to get. I do suggest using a certain tool or getting a certain treasure if he has a choice, but that's it. We've played several times and I've won each time because he always knocks Hook over. He loves it and thinks it's fun, though, so we'll keep playing. This would be great for kids a few years older {assuming they still like Jake and the Neverland Pirates!} or for two kids to play against each other.

4. Yahtzee Jr.! I love to play Yahtzee and James had wanted to play WITH us for a while, but I knew the concept would be difficult for him to pick up. I scoured Amazon for a WHILE before I found this Toy Story 3 version of the game. It's not the most recent so I paid a bit more for it {although I don't think I paid as much as it is now}, but the current version out right now is Spongebob and I LOATHE Spongebob. This is such a fun game, though! You roll five dice and start collecting a character. Say you roll two Buzz Lightyears, a Ham, a Rex, and a Mr. Potato Head, you'd start collecting Buzz and re-roll the other three. Unlike regular Yahtzee where you tally your score and you get what you get, you are competing against other players here for points DURING the game. If I have five Buzz Lightyears at the end of my roll but another player has already put their token on the 5 spot for Buzz, I have to take four points for that instead of 5. James picked up on it VERY quickly and we've enjoyed playing!

5. Camelot Jr. We gave this to James for Christmas and while it's not really what you'd think of when you think "game" I'm throwing it in anyway. This comes with a set of wooden blocks and a booklet. Each page of the booklet gives you a set up with a few of the blocks, a knight, and a princess. Your job is to add the additional blocks to get the knight from the start over to where the princess is. James has LOVED it. It's definitely a thinking game and I love that about it. He can't play it without me yet, but it won't be long!

6. We love Joey. This is our "quiet game" at church sometimes. Joey is a magnetic wooden figure that comes with several sets of dress up clothes. James loves to take the clothes off and switch out what he's wearing. He comes with a knight costume, cowboy costume, fireman costume, construction worker costume, pirate costume and superhero costume. There's another boy version as well and if you have a girl you have TONS of options. It's made by Melissa and Doug.

7. Last is Jake and the Neverland Pirates Uno. This has been a fun one to play. James hasn't gotten the concept of holding his cards yet, but he knows how to play the game. It's almost exactly the same as regular Uno. Lots of fun and easy to take on a trip!

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Unknown said...

Thanks so much for sharing these! I have been looking around for something to do when it's too cold to go outside! These would be great!

Anna Catherine said...

The great part about all the games you listed are that they can be used to accomplish different skills. You named games with fine motor skills, counting, color discrimination, sequencing, game play skills, social interaction, etc. games are exceptional learning tools!

Meggie said...

Thanks for sharing these! One or two of them might make great big brother gifts. =)