*Special thanks to Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser for sponsoring today’s post. As always, all opinions are my own. #GameNightIn #CollectiveBias*
Family game nights are HUGE in the Sinova household (and they have been ever since I was a little girl!) For as long as I can remember, my family’s philosophy has always been “there’s nothing better than good old fashion family fun!” Some of my favorite family memories (and our biggest inside jokes) center around family night game! Like how whenever we play (the classic version of) Monopoly, I HAVE to be the dog! Or how my sister and I would sometimes make up words during Scrabble and back each other up (just to confuse our mom!) Ever since I graduated college last May and my sister moved back home, we’ve revived our old family game night tradition (and I couldn’t be happier!) In fact, our Saturday game nights have become one of the highlights of my week (especially since Sundays are always so stressful for me since all my work deadlines seem to fall on Monday. It’s good to have that stress free night before I have to dive into work!) Here are 5 tips to ensure your family game nights are successful (and tons of fun!)
1. Make it convenient for everyone.
It’s important that family night game fits everyone’s schedule (not just yours.) Find out which day works best for everyone and then block out two or three hours that day (Saturday’s from 6-8PM have always worked best for my family.) Since my sister is moving out (again) in two weeks, our house is a little (a lot) bit of a mess. There’s furniture moved around and boxes everywhere, so our board games have kind of gotten lost in the mix. Not wanting to break our weekly tradition (and in an effort to destress from the hours of packing) we headed to Walmart to pick up a few of our favorite Hasbro® games (and some M&M’s® to snack on of course!) I love being able to pick up all of our family game nights supplies in trip (remember, it’s all about convenience!)
2. Keep the snacks coming.
You know what’s better than landing on ‘Free Parking’ in Monopoly? Landing on ‘Free Parking’ while you’re enjoy a big bowl of delicious M&M’s! M&M’s are our go-to family game night snack (any excuse to add a little more chocolate to the menu is A-OK in my book!)
3. Take turns picking the activity.
It’s important to switch things up when it comes to family game night. No one wants to play the same old game week after week. Last week was my mom’s turn to pick the game so of course, she choose her favorite game: Jenga! My mom is seriously the Jenga master (I’ve NEVER seen her make it fall over!) Best thing about Jenga? When you pull a piece and it starts to move a little bit but it DOESN’T fall (for once I wasn’t the person who caused the whole thing to collapse)!
Move over mom, there’s a NEW Jenga master in the family!
4. Minimize distractions.
The whole goal of family game night is to create a fun bonding experience! It’s kind of hard to bond if someone’s watching TV or texting the whole time. That means no phones, no computer and no TV (unless it’s quiet) during family game night. If anything, those two or three hours can serve as a ‘unplugging’ period (and we all know how important that can be!)
5. Have FUN!
The most important tip for having a great family game night? HAVE FUN! Family game nights are perfect for unwinding, relaxing, sharing (and creating) memories, laughing and just having the best time with the people you love! You couldn’t ask for a better night than that, am I right? We were so busy having fun this weekend that we barley noticed an unexpected guest (don’t worry though, we shared some M&M’s with Gus Gus!
