Other Articles from Sharon Mutua
Creating a Special Bond with Family Games
I am the first-born of three children and for as long as I can remember my parents have always played games with us to keep us entertained.
Whether it was in the car or the house or out in a child friendly restaurant we would play games to pass time and have a laugh. At times, when we had visitors we would suggest a simple game to keep them engaged and social.
The most important aspect about playing games with kids is to ensure that they are kid friendly and easy to grasp. My youngest brother started at a very young age and at 7 years he can actually play almost every game as good as an adult.
What was special about the games I played? Here are a few of my family’s favourite games:
JENGA
Jenga is the family’s favourite because it is not only exhilarating but gets you quite engrossed in it. It consists of rectangular blocks assembled together as a stack that resembles a tower. The main aim of the game is to try and release one block after another using one hand without the tower crumbling.
MONEY BAGS
This is a board game that involves counting and accumulating money. Its mostly a lucky game because the dice pretty much dictates how much money you can accumulate throughout the game. It is educational and it teaches you how to manage and save your money.
CAR TRIP GAMES
Car rides can be quiet and tiring without the usual banter and music playing. However, a few games such as the Sentence game, Guess Who I am and I Spy with My Left Eye... make a trip so much bearable and shorter by the end of it all you do not notice how long the ride was.
MEMORY CARDS
My mother is a teacher and she believes that younger children learn faster through games because they easily remember the fun things and their brain is constantly active. The memory game is one she uses to tell how good we are at remembering numbers, patterns, images or words. She gets a card out of the deck and on it are numbers, patterns, images or words that you look at for 30 seconds and afterwards there are simple questions she asks about what we saw.
Personally, this is one of my top favourite games, mostly because I always get everything right *giggles* but my brother really gives me a run for my money.
I believe that games are what you make of them and it can be difficult to find a game that is suitable for all ages. For that reason, my parents have always known what the three of us would enjoy the most and they use that to entertain us. Family trips and gatherings have always consisted of games and lots of laughter; it has basically been a tradition that has improved my social skills growing up.
