Summer board games started off with a bang with three classes at my local rec center! I taught Alternatives to Chess, Fun Educational Games, and Mystical Creatures board games. My oldest three children were my co-leaders for these classes, and quite honestly they do a tremendous job and I wouldn't be able to run these classes without their assistance.
For Alternatives to Chess we played: Onitama, Hive, Labyrinth, Food Chain Island, Gobblet Gobblers, and Otrio. My belief that kids should mostly play by the age on the box was confirmed. The younger two kids hung in there and did okay with all the games we played with them but their favorite was Gobblet Gobblers, which is a lovely little upgrade on your standard game of tic tac toe. The older three kids were fans of Labyrinth, which is such a classic and comes in a number of fun versions now. We own the classic, Pokemon, Mario, and an Oceans version!
For Fun Educational Games we played: Race to the Treasure (learning to read a grid), Snug as a Bug on a Rug (pattern recognition), Detective Charlie (reading practice), The Scrambled States of America Game (geography), Sleeping Queens (math), and Draftosaurus (math). There were a lot of requests for repeat plays of most of the games but the favorite two were definitely Sleeping Queens and Race to the Treasure. And for the record, I think all games are educational! Even silly ones like Don't Break the Ice have their merits.
Side note: I've found a key aspect of these classes is giving the kids mini brain breaks and free play time with games that I categorize as play date games. The type of game that you sit down and play with little to no instruction required. I have a few tried and true favorites for camps at this point. These are: Loopin' Chewie, Goat Slingers, a Game of Cat & Mouth, Cat Stax, and The Floor is Lava. The kids seemed to enjoy all of these games but Loopin' Chewie and The Floor is Lava are in a class all of their own.
Finally we had Mystical Creatures Board Games. Lots of dragons at this camp! They played: Dragon Parks, Cauldron Quest, Dragomino, Dragon's Breath, and 5-Minute Dungeon. The younger kids' favorite game was Dragomino and the older kids went nuts over 5-Minute Dungeon. There are some games that I can pretty much guarantee are going to be a hit for their age group and those two are so amazing. I love watching the reactions of the kids as they play.
It was a great first round of camps. I have a couple board game conventions I'm planning on attending next month and then another round of camps in August, it's going to be an excellent summer for great games!
Comments