Holiday Gift Guide: Board Games

Photograph by Thomas Brock and his trusty iPhone

This is the third in my series of holiday gift guides. The first was on electronics and the second on books. This one covers board games.

I’ll admit that board games really aren’t my favorite things. But Mini and AM enjoy them, so, I suffer through. I prefer to get games with some educational value these days.

Apples to Apples is a game based on comparisons. Each player gets a set of cards and has to choose and justify the best comparisons. I want to get this game, or it’s “junior” variant, to help Mini develop good reasoning and analytical skills.

In a Pickle is another game of comparison. In this game, each player gets cards and has to make judgments on the relationships of each item. I’m hoping this game will help Mini understand how different objects relate with each other.

Scrabble Apple is Scrabble in an apple bag. Mini enjoys Scrabble and I like that the game helps her develop a strong vocabulary. The small bag makes storing the game pieces easy and there’s no giant board with which to deal.

Lastly, there’s Monopoly. There’s a half-million different versions of Monopoly these days, everything from sports teams versions to movie versions to some sort of electronic version that doesn’t have paper money (Seems evil, but that’s just me…). The Monopoly Championship edition is the version for us. It’s the same as all the other Monopoly versions, but comes with a family championship trophy. Monopoly teaches strategy and basic money management. The trophy adds a little competition and gives Mini something she can take home…If she wins, that is…

Games are a great way to spend time with your family. There’s a minimum investment and the return is hours of fun and a little education.

Do your Tweens enjoy board games? Do you plan on getting any for Christmas? What are your favorites? Ask questions, share your ideas and ask questions in the comments.