Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Board games - a free, fun, healthy family activity

Last night Billy and I took Myles to see Mr. Richard at Chick Fil-A. He plays there one Tuesday evening per month for "Musical Suppertime" and since we hadn't been in a few months, we thought it was time. We met a few friends and Myles had lots of fun in the play area and listening to a few of his favorite Mr. Richard tunes.

But what happened afterward is what was really special. We bought Candyland (the board game) for Myles this past Christmas. We play it somewhat regularly, with me usually recommending it because I'll do anything but spend another minute playing with matchbox cars.

Last night, Myles wanted to play, so all three of us sat down at the coffee table. Myles really understands the game now and LOVES landing on one of the picture squares (unless it's licorice - where you lose a turn - or one of the cards that sends you back to the beginning of the board). We spent close to an hour and playing four games! We played him fair and square and he still ended up winning three of the four. Myles is a very sore loser (he throws a major screaming fit) so we're working with him on how to both win and lose gracefully.

When we put him to bed, he seemed so happy. So were we. I went to sleep knowing we had spent good, quality time with Myles, investing in him and helping him understand another one of life's lessons. So many nights, we just sit down and watch a movie...I think this is a much better alternative.

6 comments:

Southern Living: Preppy Style said...

Hey there: I can't wait until my baby girl can play board games. You're right, too many nights we just watch a movie, we need to engage more!

The swap is fun, if I can get about 20 plus to sign up, I will draw partners and you swap a themed gift - $20-$25 max not including shipping, themed around summer, or cooking or something like that. If you're in, let me know and tell your followers to come over to my blog and join the fun! Afterall, we all love getting fun, preppy packages!:-)

~~Mel~~ said...

You know your post totally reminded me that I've been meaning to get more board games! Ones that I will enjoy too. Riley now we have Monopoly (which Riley loves) and it takes hours and hours to complete a game. Or he's got all his little pokemon board games that I don't understand! lol.

Glad you had so much fun!

Southern Living: Preppy Style said...

Just dropping by to say there is an award waiting for you on my blog!

Yellow Beads said...

we haven't tried board games yet with Amelia, but maybe I should pick one up!

Lee said...

Ooh, Jenna, I so agree with you, board games are awesome! I think AJ started to really love them after age 3, and he had a good run (early age 3) where he was happy for whoever won! Even if it wasn't him, he'd go, "You WIN!"

He's more competitive now so we're working on it, too, but during our recent vacation we played a ton of Uno, which is one of my very favorite games. SO FUN to share it with him!

p.s. Try Cariboo by Cranium. It's one of my faves for little ones.

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